Intro, Sound and Vibrations?

Hello, my name is Amanda and I have suffered from migraines since I was about 18. I will never forget my first migraine I was at my Gramma and Grampa's and I was asleep, I was a woken to what felt like a vise squeezing my head. I woke up crying it was so bad. Since then, I easily have had 4-5 migraines a week, most of which last for hours some time stretching into the wee morning hours. I am currently on Propranolol which has helped but I will still at least 4 or 5 a month. Not as severe, but they are not 100% gone. I have found that heavy bass, like the kind jerk teenagers drive around in their cars with that rattles your chest. A car that is 300 yards away from me (I live in an apartment complex) can drive by with their bass just a blaring and it will trigger a migraine within in literally seconds. Living where I do right now is a pain sometimes. I am just wondering if anyone else has this same thing trigger migraines in them. My migraines always travel. I like to call the migrating migraines because It can start in a small area in the side of my head and will slowly make its way all around my head, but never my entire head, only small places at a time. Also as of about 8 months ago, I can no longer pull my hair up (avatar is an old photo) burshing my hair can get painful, if my hair is really short (think boy short) in the back when when I wake up if my hair is not laying down it is painful to brush it down. I can no longer wear swim goggles, or my non tight swim cap, anything around my head and it's a no go.

i so understand what you are going through. in terms of the noise, bass sounds, not sure if you have heard of BLACKOUT curtains. they help blockout light plus they also help in noise reduction. i have also found that for me, i turn up my fan to high, the white noise from the fan helps to stop the other noises.

hang in their..............

Welcome! Sorry you are having a tough time. I hope you can continue to try preventatives and find a good fit, either adding to the Propranolol or switching. That you have made that sort of progress is actually amazing though (I have a chronic headache condition, but I haven't had much of any luck with preventatives). Good suggestions on the white noise if you can manage that. I too have a tough time with anything on my head (headbands for example), but can tolerate a ponytail.

I would think that if your migraines are under better control that could improve, but some are so sensitive all the time, even if they have them more infrequently. For chronic suffers, it can be quite common to have symptoms between attacks, whether its a constant thing, or pre & post dome. My migraines are more infrequent, but my daily headache does move around on my head a lot throughout the day. Mostly centered at my temples though.

Do you have a good abortive med plan? If you haven't found anything helpful yet for the pain (and nausea if applicable), press yur doctor to also keep trying you on those meds. Triptans, ergots, analgesics, etc. The good thing is that you are getting these infrequent enough you don't need to worry about rebound (medication overuse headache), unless you also take the same medication for other headaches or something. Its tough to be dealt these cards, but I've learned to cope over time and have made some helpful accommodations in my life to best manage. Best wishes.

chrissygirl wrote:i so understand what you are going through. in terms of the noise, bass sounds, not sure if you have heard of BLACKOUT curtains. they help blockout light plus they also help in noise reduction. i have also found that for me, i turn up my fan to high, the white noise from the fan helps to stop the other noises.

hang in their..............

My apartments have vertical blinds so I can't do the black out curtains, but I will have to try the white noise, thanks

tortoisegirl wrote:Welcome! Sorry you are having a tough time. I hope you can continue to try preventatives and find a good fit, either adding to the Propranolol or switching. That you have made that sort of progress is actually amazing though (I have a chronic headache condition, but I haven't had much of any luck with preventatives). Good suggestions on the white noise if you can manage that. I too have a tough time with anything on my head (headbands for example), but can tolerate a ponytail.

I would think that if your migraines are under better control that could improve, but some are so sensitive all the time, even if they have them more infrequently. For chronic suffers, it can be quite common to have symptoms between attacks, whether its a constant thing, or pre & post dome. My migraines are more infrequent, but my daily headache does move around on my head a lot throughout the day. Mostly centered at my temples though.

Do you have a good abortive med plan? If you haven't found anything helpful yet for the pain (and nausea if applicable), press yur doctor to also keep trying you on those meds. Triptans, ergots, analgesics, etc. The good thing is that you are getting these infrequent enough you don't need to worry about rebound (medication overuse headache), unless you also take the same medication for other headaches or something. Its tough to be dealt these cards, but I've learned to cope over time and have made some helpful accommodations in my life to best manage. Best wishes.

For the most part I take Excedrin Migraine... well Kroger's EM... Excedrin needs to get their stuff together so I can buy it! That recall was how long ago? Anyways before I was on Propranolol, Excedrin was all I took. I more or less self diagnosed my self with the help of the internet. At first I though I was getting cluster head aches, but I researched more of those and realized that was not what I had. Someday I would like to get the botox and see if that can make it so I can go pill free. I hate taking pills.

How well does the Excedrin work? Now that you are getting some medical care, I'd ask about trying some medications which may work better for you. So glad you are finally seeing a doctor and getting a diagnosis/treatment. Even though it seems your symptoms may seem clear cut, do you think the doctor made a good effort of ruling out other conditions? Its pretty standard to at least do a MRI or ct scan, blood work, physical exam, and take an extensive history such as description of your symptoms.

Triptans are the gold standard for migraine abortives. Some are now generic, and doctors often have samples. So, if cost is a concern, definitely say you need generic for any scripts, and ask for samples. However, the samples would be brand name only...so if you get both, they would be different meds of the same class. It varies whether you respond to all, none, or some of them. Best wishes.

tortoisegirl wrote:How well does the Excedrin work? Now that you are getting some medical care, I'd ask about trying some medications which may work better for you. So glad you are finally seeing a doctor and getting a diagnosis/treatment. Even though it seems your symptoms may seem clear cut, do you think the doctor made a good effort of ruling out other conditions? Its pretty standard to at least do a MRI or ct scan, blood work, physical exam, and take an extensive history such as description of your symptoms.

Triptans are the gold standard for migraine abortives. Some are now generic, and doctors often have samples. So, if cost is a concern, definitely say you need generic for any scripts, and ask for samples. However, the samples would be brand name only...so if you get both, they would be different meds of the same class. It varies whether you respond to all, none, or some of them. Best wishes.

my Dr. never had me go in for an MRI. I had changed Dr's at the time and told him that I had frequent severe headaches and that Excedrin was starting to not work for me... I was taking it sometime 2 a day 4-5 days a week. I ask if there was a preventative I could take instead of just waiting for one to strike. Propranolol was the first and only script I taken for my migraines. He never mentioned that it could be something else. I'll complaine of having a migraine around my neighbor has even said that I need to have an MRI done. This Monday I am going to change Dr's as I am not happy with an office policy so when I get my new one, I will mention all you said. I have sometimes wondered if I have a Chiari Malformation. I know an MRI would rule that out.

sorry if this has already been talked about but you should really limit your intake of OTC meds. taking it more that twice a week, puts in danger of getting rebound headaches. and those type of headaches are the hardest the treat.

plus having lived in apartments alot, my mother was a manager for a few apartments for many years. i am pretty sure that you can put curtains if you want to. put them over the blinds. i did. of course you may have to fill in the holes in the walls if you move. plus you might want to ask them first. i have these type of curtains on my windows and i love them, what a difference.

hang in there............

chrissygirl wrote:sorry if this has already been talked about but you should really limit your intake of OTC meds. taking it more that twice a week, puts in danger of getting rebound headaches. and those type of headaches are the hardest the treat.

I completely agree... I have to take Aspirin occasionally for sciatica leg pain; I have no other option for that. However the next day, when the leg pain is gone and I am no longer taking Aspirin, I am just about guaranteed to get a rebound migraine! Probably 90% of the time. So in short taking regular pain meds can actually give you more migraines.

Amanda, my migraines can also be triggered by sounds. Only for me it is high pitched sounds. Loudspeakers and PA systems are the bain of my existence. While I always got sound sensitivity during the migraine, the move to getting sound sensitive all the time is actually called hyperaccusis. For me it occurred as a side effect of Lamictal, which my nuero prescribed as a preventative. It didn't help the migraines at all, left me bed ridden for months with severe nausea, and created the hyperaccusis.

I found a great discussion board for hyperaccusis which pointed me to trained audiologists for this condition. Today I am about 90% curred of it. Great to get rid of a major trigger! You might want to look into it.

http://www.chat-hyperacusis.net/

Vibrations can also set me off..............music from cars with a heavy bass - in fact my neighbor who is not very neighborly participates in some kind of competition that where the winner has the "loudest or heaviest" bass emanating from their car. It isn't even music - just the bass thumping - just the vibration. He even is considering replacing all the glass in his car with plastic because the vibrations are now so strong it may crack his glass. Anyway.....I digress.....when he comes home and his bass is on it just makes me crazy. It feels like the vibration inhabits my body and if it lasts longer than 2 or 3 minutes I start crying. It is a major trigger for me.

One more digression...........I was at a arts and crafts fair and someone started playing a didgeridoo and it set up a vibration in the ground that it seemed only I could feel.....I had to leave it was so bad. So anyway......the answer is yes......vibrations are a big problem for my migraine brain! L

He even is considering replacing all the glass in his car with plastic because the vibrations are now so strong it may crack his glass. Anyway.....I digress.....when he comes home and his bass is on it just makes me crazy. It feels like the vibration inhabits my body and if it lasts longer than 2 or 3 minutes I start crying. It is a major trigger for me.

Honestly, he does this even though he knows it causes you a migraine?
There must be a special place in hell reserved for such people.