Could I have migraines??
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look up a neurologist. he might explain what going wrong in your head, and he will also give you a range of scans such as CT and MRI
It sounds like what happens to me, my doctor says the really bad headaches with nausea and sensitivity to light are migraines and that the other headaches are just that, not migraine attacks. For those I just take aspirin or tylenol. For migraine attacks, prescription medicine.
Good luck.
i have had migraines my whole life (im 33 now). i was diagnoised with atypical migraine. as i do not have nausea or vomiting or an aura. there are many things that make a migraine. each migraine for me is different and there is not pattern to them.. some respond to the medications some do not. i would suggest seeing a specialist, and have a proper exam and diagnoisis. there are medications for prevention ( i have been on these for close to 9 years) and also new and better abortive medications (zomig imitrex maxalt replax ). there are many triggers for migraines, and some are not so well known
http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/healtht...
speak to a dr. life can go back to "semi" normal with proper treatment. in the height of my migraines i was completely useless and that was not an option due to having TWIN toddlers. i could not afford to be in bed for days on end, and be nonfunctioning.
my experience it sounds to me as you could have migraines. again i would speak to a dr and have some proper tests as headaches can have a variety of causes, so simple and nonthreatening, some more complicated and serious.
Migraines vary greatly in character and severity -- sometimes the person experiences nausea and light sensitivity, sometimes the pain is mild and does not prevent the person from carrying on normal activities. Some people experience "aura" (disturbances in their vision, for example, flashing lights) as a warning sign, some people do not. I have had migraines for decades, and have never experienced aura. It is possible some of your headaches are MIGRAINE and some are a different type (e.g., TENSION). You might want to visit the National Headache Foundation website (www.headaches.org -- that is "headaches" with an S) to read about different types of headaches and see if you can figure out if any of them match what is going on with you.
Migraines can be caused by many things, but some of the more prominent reasons would be disruptions in your regular schedule having to do with sleep or food (e.g., getting only a few hours of sleep or not eating at normal times). For women, headaches can be related to their menstrual cycle. You may have specific food triggers -- red wine is a common one, but there are many other possible food triggers. STRESS is another big cause of headache for many people. There are many things that contribute to migraine, and it may be hard to figure out what factors contribute to yours, but when you have headaches, try to notice what is going on in other aspects of life so you can see if there are any possible events or foods or other reason.
If the headaches are frequent or bad enough to be disruptive to your life, consider seeing your doctor. Or if you can go right ahead to a specialist, consider a neurologist. A doctor or neurologist can help you to determine whether these are migraines or another sort of headache. He/she can also rule out other possible causes of these attacks. If they are migraines, there are excellent prescription medications available (called triptans) that can control pain very quickly, sometimes within just a few minutes. For most migraine sufferers, one dose of a triptan will often do the trick. There is no reason to rely on aspirin or other over-the-counter pain relievers if you do not find them effective.
Migraine disease is not constant over time -- personally, I have found that my headaches come and go in frequency and severity. And on the positive side, many people "outgrow" headaches as they age. It is possible that your headaches can be readily controlled by paying attention to what causes them, and finding an effective medicine that will nip the headache in the bud, so you don't lose several hours whenever one strikes. Wishing you good luck in taming the headache beast.
There's a new development in migraine therapy:
http://www.neurologyreviews.com/feb04/nr...
I've had many migrains. The dr. said darken thre room, take motrin and go to bed.! Sometimes they are caused by lack of sleep, lots of stress, certain foods, lots of different things. But mine seemed to lessen each year. Used to throw up all day, until I had no more to throw up. That lessened up too, I don't do it at all anymore. Then I had the spots, in one eye, then the zig-zags in one eye, then the fuzzies. (each different episode) You can also use an ice pack on your head. Coke or Pepsi is also good for the nausea. In fact I just had a migraine thursday, went to bed for a little while, after pain pills, slept for 2 hours, felt better. When you take pain pills and lie down, they seem to work better, because you are not moving, I guess.My migraines are down to once a year, thank God! Good luck and take care!
Migraines don't always come with auras and such and I would recommend you going to talk with your doctor. I am a migraine sufferer and they make great meds nowadays where when taken daily they really do prevent them greatly. They do sound like migraines to me and if your doctor is a good one he should do a head CT just to make sure things are looking pretty good up there. Also mention the drug Topomax to him or her. It works very well at controlling these headaches.
It does sound like some of your headaches are migraines, my son has them, he also gets numbness in his face and slurred speech, the first one he got was horrifying, we rushed him to the hospital because we thought he had a stroke or a brain tumor. Please see a doctor there are many new drugs to help prevent them. There are many triggers for them, in some people there have been links to certain foods triggering them, everyone is different.
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