How I Gave My Migraines the Boot
Entering Room 12, I see a petite lady curled up in a ball on the stretcher, her hands wrapped around her head, large dark sunglasses in place, and she is rocking back and forth moaning in pain and vomiting. Faking? No, she is one of the many women I see daily suffering from a migraine headache. This scene touches my heart deeply, because I had been there and done that, years ago, I want to take away her pain, but I am simply an emergency room nurse, and my job is not to give advice but to follow doctor’s orders. At least that’s my job three days a week; the rest of the time I am an author, so the words of wisdom covered in this booklet, will be from the standpoint of an ex-migraine sufferer, not a medical professional. That said as a nurse I encourage anyone who suffers from recurrent headaches to seek the help of a medical professional, but I would like to share some beneficial techniques and therapies I used that changed my life.
If I can help just one person ease this awful affliction, it’s worth writing about. I spent years strapped to a bed in a dark room missing out on my children’s activities because I couldn’t even lift my head without a sharp pain searing though my skull like a dagger. I often prayed for an answer as to why I had to suffer so much, I was a good person, a good mom, a good wife, yet a prisoner for years in a jail of pain and humiliation. These headaches were a thief stealing my most precious time, and I felt powerless. Migraines are still a mystery in the medical field but new research is being done every day for new answers.
There are many types of headaches, but my focus for this article is migraines. Research shows that migraines tend to run in families, so if your mom or grandmother had migraines, you might too. These headaches can also come and go at different times, like when your hormones are having a really great time like your monthly period, pregnancy, or during menopause. Migraines are vascular headaches and are usually characterized by their recurrent nature, some starting with sensitivity to light, sound, or odors. The pain is moderate to severe and usually located on one side of the head. The attacks can last 3 to 72 hours. As the migraine worsens, the person usually becomes nauseated and vomiting can occur.
Common triggers that cause migraines are as innocent as stepping into an elevator car still reeking of someone’s strong perfume, pumping gas, garlic, scented candles, and bright lights. Many attacks occur on the weekends or when waking up—either way this lifestyle is very debilitating and frowned on by most bystanders. You know what I’m Saying right? The hurtful comments you get like: “I get headaches all the time, why don’t you just take a Tylenol, It can’t be that bad; she just wants drugs.” And my all-time favorite,” You’re a woman, women are always hysterical; you need Xanax.” Ouch! No wonder many women don’t seek help for fear of being labeled crazy or drug seekers. This is just sad and unfair.
Few people know you know a migraine headache actually follows a pattern as follows:
As much as 24 hours before a migraine hits the sufferer might experience food cravings, mood changes, and some women get an increase in fluid retention. Speaking with your doctor about these symptoms, he might prescribe a diuretic (water pill); remember fluid retention can occur anywhere—even in the vessels in the head.
The Almighty Aura— it is common to see flashing lights, or sensitivity to bright light, the sun, florescent light, light from the TV, computer screens, an ipad, Kindle, iphone or any light source can become a hot poker stabbing your head.
The Eagle has landed so to speak--it starts small and builds to such great pain, you really wish for death, or at the least to quietly pass out and wake up headache free. Please note slamming your head against a wall in hopes of passing out only leads to a sore noggin and a large bruise.
It has been said that a migraine is a hairs breathe from a seizure. It is common for a sufferer to be confused, weak, or just plain exhausted up to a day after the migraine. After all, like a warrior, you have used every ounce of your being fighting this monster.
There are about eight different types of migraines: --abdominal, basilar, retinal, menstrual, hemiplegic, ophthalmologic, status migrainosus, and migraine without a headache. I won’t go into these individually but they are worth looking up to see which one is a close match to your own, so you can assist your doctor when he discusses this with you.
However, I do want to stress the symptoms of migraines in children because of the different onset of complaints, and again if anyone in your family has migraines, your children could well be prone to them. Younger children complaint more of stomach pain lasting from 1-72 hours; they may not complain of a headache but instead will complain of nausea and might throw up, and be without much of an appetite. Children with early migraines usually have them at some point later in life. Children easily model behaviors, so I never wanted to discuss these medical issues with my kids, especially the girls as they might have migraines. I didn’t want to even suggest it when they were on their periods, because you can have regular headaches with hormonal changes. If the headache was a true migraine, it would eventually rear its ugly head down the road.
I know I’ve taken the long road to get to the point, but what has amazed me as a nurse is that some migraine sufferers know very little about migraines or steps to reduce them. The first thing you should do is get any old notebook and keep a journal, I know boring but useful. You don’t have to write an essay but pay attention to the time, date, food you ate or not that day, any change or stress on that day. Note when the migraine started and how long it lasted, and if you have a blood pressure cuff, what the heck ,check your blood pressure too. Note that you blood pressure usually goes up with pain. Jot down where the migraine started, crazy, no. Some migraines start at the back of the neck at the base of the skull, move up to the center back of the head, then usually goes to one side of the head. This is really helpful to the doctor knowing how your headache progresses.
Let’s talk elimination: did you know some of your favorite foods are migraine triggers? Some of the big culprits are aged cheese, red wines, beer, lunch meats, MSG additions to food, or out of whack magnesium, or vitamin B levels. See, this is where your journal helps if you are eating one or more of these foods when you get a migraine try to stop eating it for awhile and note if there is an improvement.
The Big Guns, you’ll definitely need a prescription for these bad boys. There are many but some of the most useful include: Beta blockers, Calcium Channel Blockers, Anticonvulsants, and Antidepressives. Used for years and new ones on the market everyday, they are worth a shot if you haven’t tried them. I have seen several patients that have said this is the magic ticket for them.