So I get these migraine headaches about once a month...hard to describe but it goes like this:

vision starts to get blurry in just certain spots of my vision field (I can see if I move my eyes around to see past the "spots"), once that starts I have about 10 minutes before the blurriness takes over and everything is a big blur..I can see well enough that I'm not going to walk into a wall, but I wouldn't dare drive and once while cooking I went for my grilled cheese on the griddle I missed and placed my hand on the cooking surface...ouch

As for headache pain, once my vision comes back a few hours later, I feel fine until I make any sudden movement (cough, sneeze, bend down to tie my shoes)...then a sharp pain on my right side of my noggin...I stop the movement, the pain stops and so I forget about it until I cough again or do something to startle the brain...this lasts for about 36 hours....I can see fine now, just don't want to make a quick move....

Someone needs to invent a machine that allows one to let the doctor "experiance" what the patient is going thru....a broken bone is pretty obvious, but you complain of something that cannot be seen or comes and goes and the doctors think you faking it

anyways, I'm better today, yesterday was a wasted day once the migraine started, luckly Sherryl was at home, but it would have been nice to go into the garage and work on my many late projects......

Thats not good...

I hope you find the route of the problem and its fixable!

Andrew

Sorry... Im not old enough to have those pains... so no shared experience there (although I swear I get mini heart attacks.. had it checked out, found nothing)

Sorry to hear you have these pains.

I have many friends that experience what you have described in varying degrees.

Some have found that certain foods trigger/stop the headaches.
Have you found that to be true?


KT

I get them more often these days. Advil migrane really works well if you take about 30 minutes to relax in a dim room.l

immitrex is a RX for migraine sufferers..

you did not mention if you had seen a doctor about this. with your description i would highly recommend getting a MRI.

if you have already done that did they do it with and without contrast?

then i'd research specialist's in your area and get into see them.

good luck.

Sorry to hear it. I've never had one, but my a college roommate used to get them al the time. His "solution" was to bang his head on the wall. Really. Hope it passes soon.

Excedrin Migraine works pretty well...

Or...

Take 1 Tylenol, 1 Advil, and drink a regular Coke.

Same thing in Excedrin Migraine, acetimonofen, ibuprofen and caffeine.

Sit in a quiet dark room for 30 minutes while it takes effect.

That sounds eerily similar to the ones I get. Fortunately I don't get them very often. The doc gave me Midrin for them. If your doc thinks you're faking it, get a new doc!

Mueller.... I know all about these. They suck to say the least!!! I get the tunnel vision and all. Then the headache feels like there is a steel rod unning through your head from your eye to the back of the head. Haven't had one in a while though....thank god.

Mike

I have been haveing the same thing, plus sore throat, ears plugged, double vision.and tunnel vision since last Mon. I had surgery on my nose for a deviated septom. DAMN, they insert plactic stripts in ,to hold it open for a week. Mon. i go to have them pulled out( ripped) The Doc. told me this wouldn't hurt any more than having a tooth filled.
BULL--IT. I haven,t slept more than two hr. a night since last Mon.
Mike hang in there. For me at least it will end this week ,some time.
It is my understanding that there are Doc. that Specialize in those type of headaches. DAVE

Hey BarberDave......

I had the same surgery 3 years ago.... I'd take a migraine headache any day over going through that again. Got my septum straightened, and they chiseled out a bunch of bone from my left nostril. It was bleeding for 2 days straight. Then there is the golfball sized blood clot that you cough up in the morning. Nice eh? The splints arent too painful when they pull those out. The vicodin helps a little.

Mike

Sorry to hear you are a migraine sufferer too, Mike. Mine started when I was 27 years old and I tore a hamstring during a softball tourney. The next day I had my first migraine. Pretty much the same symptoms but I get 30 minutes to get home after the "aura" starts. My vision has a big spot in the middle. 30 minutes later the pain starts and I am debilitated. I mean in a black hole. The pain is so bad my wife has to keep thing away from me or I would kill myself. The new drugs seem to help, but in reality I haven't found anything to make the pain really go away.

Usually after 2 hours the searing pain becomes a really bad headache. My head hurts if I touch a hair on my head. I normally just go fetal and check out of life. I'm with you on the doctors. Some have them and understand, others say it can't be that bad....yeah...you try being inside my skin when one hits.

I normally take 3 to 5 days to recover. The headaches last that long. Combined with my medication that I only take when I get a Migraine, I'm a veg. And the bugger of it is that once I get one, mine come in clusters. Usually 2 or 3 within a 4 week period, up to 5. Then they go away again for 6 months to a year...building for the next time. My blood pressure go through the roof when I have one, since I have to wait for the follow up Migraine. I've never had just a one off. Always at least two in a row. I can't describe the dread I go through.

I hope you feel better. I can just feel for ya....I don't have a cure.

Bill P.

Hey Mueller, headache pain tops the list 'cause you cannot do a damn thing about it. I have had the same continous headache coming up on nine years now. All day, all night. My current prescribed medication is methadone, it cuts the pain but does not kill it. Sometimes the pain is bearable, sometimes you can find me wrapped around a toilet trying to barf my brain out. It affects the whole family. I have seen Docs all over the country, some good, some are just quacks. It cost me my career, I am now labeled a 100% DAV because of the headache. There are some Very good specialists that know there way around a brain. If you are tired of it and want to contact some of the better ones PM me and I can give you some names and addresses.
MSG L

Not fun, gets so bad I spew. Had the same thought about the Doctor closest thing

I could come up with was a BFH.

I get them about twice a month. I take 2 Advil Migrane as soon as I start feeling the symptoms.

Crap, thats was me yesterday also. I was on the verge of but kept busy until Jim got me some pills and a beer. Still wore my ass out for the rest of the evening and never recovered fully until I went to bed. Lack of sleep does me in for head pain. We also have to be concerned about strokes and high blood preasure which head pain is associated with that once we get older.

panacea=red wine

Pills + Alcohol?

I have occasional migraines (very rarely, thank goodness). A spot in my vision grow and grows, then I yack then I get a normal size headache and fall asleep. In a few hour I'm okay.

I can only imagine how bad it is for some of you.

Wow, I had no idea they were so bad for some of you.

My body ain't much to look at but it serves me well when I consider some of the pains my friends experience. Please do keep looking for better doctors and not just better drugs.

Amen to that A-aron!

I have been suffering from hormonal migraines for 8 years,

for me it's every month and the headache would last for 3 days!

Until..........Imitrex came to the rescue!

100mg tab as soon as I feel that I'm getting a migraine and about 15 min later I am FINE!

Go get it checked out and ask about Imitrex or Zomig, etc.

Lisa

Tha visual aura you describe is very similar to my ophthalmic migraines. Lucky for me, my visual sympoms usually last about 25-30 minutes and are followed by a minor headache, nothing like your symptoms.

Regardless, my doctor wanted to rule out anything more serious, so I ended up having an MRI to rule out a mass, and an EEG to rule out siezure. Final diagnosis was migraines.

Your symptoms sound debilitating. Find a doctor that will take your symptoms and treatment seriously.

Hopefully not when I show up with a machining request.

Sorry to hear it Mike, I get a headache occasionally severe enough to prevent me from going into work. It's just another sympton doctors cannot identify a source...

Mike,

My wife ws experiencing a very similar problem, and does from time to time. She had the same type of issues, until she went to a chiropractor. I am the lst person that would recomend going to one, (no offense) to any members that are Chiropractors, but my wife swears by them. Our old neighbors were Chiro's, and we had a great deal of faith in them. I have heard all the horo stories, including a friend that is in a wheel chair, because of a inept Dr. Find one by referrel. She would go twice a week for about a month, then weekly. She still is going, but twice a month. A different doctor, If she dosen't go on a regular basis, she feels it.

I have reached a point in my life where most medical doctors just pass out pills and move on to the next guy.. Just my .02. Hope you get it taken care of.

For anyone having headaches and vision problems, I hope you've had your blood sugar checked. Those are classic symptoms of low blood sugar. Amazingly many doctors don't check and treat the symptom instead of looking for the problem. Try some hard candy next time you feel a headache coming on, can't hurt.

Home blood sugar meters are available at most pharmacies and online very reasonably, less than $100. Typical range is 80-120 or so.

No... pdf's from me.

Ocular Migraines. Yep, I've had them all my life. Overcast days or dim offices can trigger them for me. Also caffeine. Mine start with a blind spot and then the "aura", somewhat like a lightening bolt. A real pita when you're trying to drive, golf, read music. Then comes the headache.
When you first feel it coming, take Advil and lay down in a dark room.

I would have never known so manny of you have similar migraines to what I have.

Talk about shitty, they are why I got out of the coast guard and grounded myself from flight status. Cant save folks when you cant see them and there aint no back up out in the helo.

I just had one in the middle of my last final on Fri.....I wonder if I passed.

A couple of thoughts for you all:

Migraines are not well understood. Ocular migranes are one thing, but not all migraines are the same.

I was perscribed midrin in the guard and did not like it. It makes me stoned of my ass in a bad way. I tried imitrex and it was fucking horrible! It made a regularly horrible migraine into the worst in my life. Ask ScottB, he was there.
Modes of delivery also seem to effect how drugs will work. Imitrex inhaled works for some people and for others only IV works.
Cafeine is a large part of most OTC meds. It is used based on the premise that a component of most migraines is vasodilation, but this will not work for some and can exacerbate some migraines.

I wish I had some more definitive data for you all as I have been dealing with ones similar to Mikes, but with more symptoms, for about 7 years. As time permits I will be looking into more reacent data on migraine research and would be glad to forward any info that I find onto any interested parties. Kind of like a medical referance librarian.

Mike, if your doc thinks you are faking then they are a complete ass and you should find another one. I was treated the same way by the docs in the guard (and expect to be getting the same this week from the school). Be a medical care consumer, not a passive recipient.

I wouldnt wish these on anyone

My wife is a diabetic (type 2) and I've used her testing kit before (I felt it was only fair to see how it worked and if it hurt or not....hell yes is does, esp. if you have the little needle set too deep...opps....we got a bleeder, hahaha)

As for the headachs...damn, didn't realize they affected so many people and in so many ways..thanks for the advice and now I have some info to arm myself with when I go back to the doctors.....as for the meds, I'm one of those that don't take anything unless it is totally unbearable like a root canal, even then I only took a few vicadin last time...