Migraines - The gift that keeps on giving - Anybody else?

My wife suffers from these optical migraines.

She says long use of Computer screens brings hers on and the only remedy is her sitting in the dark for 30mins or so

I occasionally get the smashed glass vision. If I do, thats the only symptom.

My usual migraines start with hyper-sensitivity to noise. Then I start to trip over my tongue - I know what I want to say but I have....to....speak....very....slowly. Then comes the blinding headache. Twenty-fours later it's the nausea. Sixty hours later and it's passed. There's a very regular rhythm to it.

I've looked at all sorts of triggers. Beer used to be one of them - and I mean in very small quantities. Wheat beers were OK, as was cider. It was something in barley that did it. I don't get hyper-sensitive to light and prefer to carry on being busy rather than shut myself in a dark room. In fact, vigorous exercise relieves the symptoms almost completely - until my HR drops again.

Thankfully, I don't get them anywhere near as often as I once did. I've had very few since I retired. I could easily be persuaded that much of it was stress related, so that's something you might want to consider.

Migraines are connected to stress, even if it doesn't appear obvious, especially as they often occur when "unwinding" and relaxing - and keeping your stress levels high can actually suppress migraines!

There are a lot of triggering factors, from eating cheese to dehydration, it depends the individual. And of ways of dealing with migraines, again it depends on the individuals.

For example one school of thought is that neck tension is a primary cause of migraines and for some people wearing a night guard solves the problem as it reduces teeth grinding and jaw clenching.

My advice would be that you have an open mind and try anything and everything, meditation, avoiding cheese, acupuncture, drinking strong coffee, wearing a night guard, talking therapy, upper body massage, etc etc

avoiding cheese

That’s a bit far (from someone who gets migraines)

I used to get the blinding headache, throwing  up and sensitivity to light and sound variant. Only get them occasionally now but suffered badly in my twenties and thirties. The pain was intense and throwing up medication added to the fun factor! Dark room (or curled around the base of the toilet with that sweet cool porcelain against my head) and lying in an utterly ridiculous position eased them.

Speak to your GP as some meds may work. My wife gets the ocular ones that you describe and Sumatripan works a treat for her.

You have my sympathy.

Have you tried Sumitriptan? Available OTC but it's the usual first port of call for GPs as a reactive medication

There is a lot your GP can prescribe. The trouble is getting them to treat them as more than 'just a bad headache'. However, there's still a lot that's unknown about them. I had real difficulty getting referred to a neurologist, but now I've got to that part of the system, the nurse I'm under the care of is brilliant (the initial consultant, less so).The referral to a Neurologist requires you to hit a certain frequency. But it's worth keeping a headache diary as various people will want to see these as part of the process, and it may help you identify triggers.

Propanolol, Amitriptyline, and Candesartan are available through the GP, and a lot of people react quite well to one of these.

Through a clinic I've tried Fluoxetine and Topirimate. The former did nothing, the latter gave me probably the worst year of my life, with depression, anger, memory loss, and not being able to get words out. But for some people they work really well.

If that fails then there are various other options - Botox, nerve blocks, and CGRP. But these hinge on the frequency.

@ernielynch makes some very good suggestions about triggers. The release of stress kicks them off for my wife -after she's finished a big project at work she'll invariably have a crap few days. But it really varies. For me, for instance, the stiff neck is part of the prodrome phase: it's not the cause but a warning that something is coming. For me, I know some of my main triggers are strenuous exercise, lack of sleep, and alcohol.

My main trigger, rather cruelly, is riding a bike for any length of time at reasonable effort. And that really sucks

If I catch them early enough, triptans get them before they really pick up steam. If I try and ignore it they invariably get much worse, and take much longer to recover from.

I'm currently on about 12-19 per month. Not ocular, but nausea, pain, speech slurring. Side effects of Triptan I'm on (Zolmitriptan) are not great, but they are better than the alternative. About to start CGRP having unfortunately low response to nerve block and Botox. But I have a 20 year old forehead, at least.

The Migraine Trust have some great info on their site that's worth reading. I'm also happy to chat about my experience!

Lots of good advice above but I may as well add my sympathies and extra ideas!

I find that triggers are like a matrix effect - something on its own might not be enough to cause a migraine, but two or three triggered together can. And the right combination of them can trigger a worse one.

Then I have a sort of background/wallpaper for my matrix. Hormone cycle or already having had a recent migraine are definitely wallpapers, and if I add a trigger on top of them it makes a migraine much more likely.

Getting out of a cluster is hard, especially if you don’t know your triggers. I’d try a week of some super clean eating - nothing processed or with artificial ingredients in, no caffeine or alcohol - plus a swim when you feel well enough (for muscle tension in the neck, baths and showers can help too I find), and some good sleep hygiene, just to try and break the cycle of headaches.

After that, it’s a case of learning to spot the earliest signs possible and taking some sort of drugs then. I only need ibuprofen and paracetamol if I can catch them early (overwhelming and sudden tiredness, desire to eat and eat being some very early ones. White shadows around everything are panic station last chance saloon warnings!)

Good luck!

I used to get them quite frequently - like once or twice a week - but that ended with the pandemic. What changed? Basically thanks to WFH I'm getting an extra hour in bed, and as I'm no longer tired all day I've switched to decaf coffee. I'm sure there's a bit less stress than before, but tbh my commute wasn't that bad (albeit that was ~45min each way gone from my day) and the job hasn't changed.

As above it's about finding the trigger, it's different for everyone. Keeping a food/drink and activity diary will help with this

Stress is the main underlier for me, so I've devoted my recent years to not having it. the final trigger will be any sort of sensory overload, could be light (winter driving, flickering tubes) hot/cold (air curtains in shops), strong smells (air freshener, perfume), noise (percussive or high-pitched), emotional (argument/aggression). The only thing for me is to get away from all those things, there is no manning-up.

Mine were triggered by caffeine and stress. Caffeine was easy to stop, stress took a bit longer. I haven't stopped doing stressful things (I work in healthcare) but I have, very successfully, found ways to manage the stress (mostly through exercise and planning my life more effectively). I've been blessedly migraine free for 7-8 years now

I made an accidental discovery. If I wash my tablets down with Red Bull (Ych y fi!) the seen to work better and quicker.

Quite a lot that resonates with me been written here. I used to get migraines a lot but nowhere near as much now. I'm pretty sure that stress is a large factor for me, along with getting badly dehydrated (e.g. big ride in the summer and drinking enough) the day before. Mine have never lasted more than an hour or two.

Then I start to trip over my tongue – I know what I want to say but I have….to….speak….very….slowly

This is the scariest part for me, it didn't happen every migraine but a couple of times I've totally lost the ability to communicate - even by text. Not sure what's going on in the brain there but it certainly concerns me...

For example one school of thought is that neck tension is a primary cause of migraines and for some people wearing a night guard solves the problem as it reduces teeth grinding and jaw clenching.

Interestingly I've been using a mouthguard (turns out I've already ground my teeth flat and left impressions of the lowers in the uppers) for about 5 years now.

I also usually take 3 ibruprofen during the aura phase and it tends to deal with the worst of the pain part for me.

Avid migraine sufferer here…

Interestingly, as a kid I would get PROPER disabling headaches, photophobia, and vomiting ++++.. i had to jsut lie in a dark room, crying, whilst my mum would empty vomit bins!

Then in my late teens they switched… and since then i simply get the ‘broken glass vision’ - akin to having stared at a bright light that ‘burns into’ your retina..this then creeps to take over 60% of my vision (one side only…can’t remember which)… and i basically go ‘drunk and useless’…

i take sumatriptan, which really helps. Technically you’re meant to take it at the onset of the HEADACHE… but as i don’t get the pain any more i just take it at the visual disturbance..

As others have said, triggers can vary and be individual.. and often has to be the ‘perfect storm’.

For me it’s the ‘ideal’ combination of tiredness, probably stress, and then a bright light (i.e flashing sun through a blind’ can then trigger it.
Cures for me are avoiding those triggers.

Additionally, I’m a massive frowner, and can literally feel tension in my forehead.
I get Botox in the forehead about twice a year, and i can literally feel the tension disappear and my migraine frequency really does drop. It MIGHT be available on teh NHS, but unlikely you’ll be offered it in an acceptable time scale TBH.

Mates laugh, and i guess my forehead is a bit less wrinkly, but you can’t polish a turd so I’m not really into the aesthetic component! But the headache resolution is heaven! Try it!

I would deffo see your GP - consider ‘symptom treatment’ initially (triptans) once other issues are ruled out (High BP etc etc)…

i don’t take a prophylactic treatment as I’m happy treating as and when..if they were very frequent i would consider a daily pill.

DrP

I grew out of mine in my 30s. From teenager to late 20s used to regularly get them, then they just stopped. Mine were all triggered by bright light, used to wear sunglasses a lot.

Caffeine gets a couple of mentions on this thread. When I was working in an office I'd be drinking a lot more coffee. That didn't seem to trigger the migraine, but stopping/reducing my intake would. Anything longer than a two-day weekend away from the office and it would almost guarantee a migraine. Bank Holiday Mondays were a favourite, as was the start of any holiday week. I think that was particularly tough on my family.

30+ years of joy here too.

The only really useful thing I can suggest is to identify (really identify) triggers. I went through various dietary things including running around playing sport with a packet of wine gums in my pocket. Cutting out caffeine, chocolate, cheese, booze. Tried triptans (evil things) - all the usual things.

In the end I established that they are nearly all down to muscular tightness spreading up out of my trapezius muscles into the neck and head. I do a lot of neck and shoulder stretches and get the massage gun out if things wont ease up. I probably get one migraine every 4-6 months now.

If you don't know the cause you can't do the prevention. Once it has started it is too late - laying down in a cool, dark, quiet room, smashing 2 × ibuprofen and 2 x paracetamol and waiting it out is the only option.

Mrs Baron used to regularly get them.

The change that significantly reduced the incidence of events was a change posture  - recommended by a physio or chiro (cant remember) - she had issues with her neck due to an old rugby injury.

She stands and sits much "better" than before.

Not much else was changed - same diet, exercise and job (obviously there are may other possible reasons).

Reading some of these comments is interesting; I've suffered from a lot of these with my visual migraines - but thankfully not for as long or intense. The 'tripping over words' one rings true; I know what I want to say, get the first two or three words out and then ... just ... have ... to slow ... down.

I've found two methods for coping; eyes shut, shut down for a while, then feel 'hungover 'and knackered for a day or so
Or, just keep going, keep active - this avoids most the hungover feeling and the knackered feeling, but brings a side order of headache.
Either way, I'm struggling to cope with almost any noise for 12-24 hours. The office is hell.

I think for me it's hydration; I can get very dehydrated and not realise, then if I drink too much water too quickly I'm at risk. Hyponatremia I guess. So over the last few years, I've increased my salt intake in food, and take some electrolyte tablets, which seems to have helped. Knock on effect of reducing postural hypotension which used to floor me - literally, if I couldn't get to support - probably on a weekly basis. Correlation/causation etc. etc...

I think for me it’s hydration

Dehydration as a cause does sound plausible as it causes blood to thicken, and migraines are known to be caused by blood flow issues in the brain.

I'm not sure about increasing salt intake without medical advice though!

I’ve had visual aura migraines for years, but there’s never been anything consistent about them. I could go for months, then get a cluster, sometimes I’d wake up with a slightly muzzy head, and a blurry spot in the centre of my vision, which would inevitably turn into the ‘smashed glass’ (great description, that), ‘C’. I’ve had two follow straight after one another, but then nothing for months again.

I’m fairly certain it’s stress related, there’s nothing I eat that connects to an attack, and fortunately I’ve been able to work through them; having one come on while doing 70 on a motorway with another 200+ miles to go to get the car to its destination would be…challenging to say the least. And it happened fairly often, too.

Yeah, I had one of the ocular attacks driving out of Fort William one day. I could see the road signs and knew what they said, but the words were like someone had cut the sign into irregular shapes and then stuck them back together - badly. I stopped for a few minutes and the attack just passed.

Low cal drinks particularly aspartame I think. Stopped booze a while ago and started to get 3-4 day long migraines a week,laying in darkness feeling sick ones that as I’m self employed were really affecting my ability to earn.my daughter (nurse) asked if I drank a lot of pop which I was due to no booze then thinking I was also dehydrated. Stopped low cal pop and haven’t had one since, although did have the start of the flashing light stuff when I forgot and had 2pints of diet lemonade recently. Definitely worth trying although I never found anything on line about it. Good luck.

I suffer from them and have done since a teenager. Folk often think they're just a headache and don't realise just how debilitating they can be.

I've come to realise that they (for me) act like a pressure relief valve. Because when I get a migraine I tend to find only rest and sleep really helps to recover.

My triggers are essentially when I've been doing too much (this includes exercise or work) and haven't looked after myself as well as I should have ie not enough sleep, not eating regularly enough, or eating crappy foods, or not drinking enough water.

I'd recommend trying to treat the cause of the migraines rather than treating the symptoms. Try keeping a diary when you get one and list out the possible triggers, that way you can build up a picture over time to highlight the likely causes.

Good luck in reducing your migraines 👍

My wife also suffers from them and we sometimes get them around the same time, this often coincides with a change in the weather where a storm is coming. So could be a pressure change thing.

Bright sunny days can also be a trigger.

My cousin's childhood migraines were linked to dairy foods.

Too much screen time can also not be great, especially things with lines like spreadsheets.

Sugar and caffeine are big triggers for me, especially on an empty stomach.

Often it's a combination of triggers that cause mine.

I used to have hwadaches and migranes alot. A headache once a week and migraine once a month regularly.
It then went to "storms" where i wouldnt get any then 3 or 4 in a row.

I was perscribed propanol a while ago now and its really helped to the point where they are a rarity. I still get them (about 3-4 so far this year) but no where near as bad as before.

Propranol is not for everyone though and it has taken a while to find a dose that managble.

I had visual migraines for many years, which would occasionally turn into full blown migraines if I didn't rest soon enough.

My trigger was 100% old style CRT screens. In an early-mid 00s job where I was on computer most of the day I was getting 2-3 migraines a week.

Leaving that job, and the switch to LCD screens for computers meant I've had maybe one or two in the last 15 years.

Ah, recognise many of the above unfortunately, mine have always been ocular.Long story,but motorcycle accident, stress/reduced mobility/depressed eating habits resulting in pre-diabetic levels of blood sugar and increase in eyeball pressure (glaucoma). Diet changes reducing sugar and carb / caffeine intake has reduced down to just light sensitivity/blind spots and slight confusion when it occurs as opposed to the mad ‘visions’/incapacitation previous. Shortly attending clinic to see how we address the glaucoma issue, hopefully no long term damage done.
I did note that during an episode that when I testing my blood pressure it was off the chart.

I would advise getting proper blood and eye testing carried out if you suffer and haven’t already, other underlying health issues could be contributing, and certainly don’t want to mess about with your sight.

Huge sympathies for all of you - I started getting vestibular (vertigo and nausea) migraines during covid after switching to online working. I tried cutting out all triggers (the usual caffeine/alcohol/cheese/aged foods/other fun things) and taking Dolovent (Magnesium, Riboflavin and Co-Enzyme Q10), but this only reduced the duration from 5-6 hours to around 2. Still hugely debilitating.

I kept a detailed food and activity diary though and noticed that I tended to get one just before or 20 mins after eating, suggesting a blood sugar element. After reading ‘The Glucose Revolution’ book I bought a continuous blood glucose monitor and found that my blood glucose levels were all over the shop. There is some limited evidence of switching to low carbohydrate diets being beneficial to migraines, and I’ve been largely migraine free (and feeling a lot more consistent in energy, not really ever hungry) since doing this. There are a load of hacks you can try (eating veg first, then protein/fat, then carbs) but worth reading the book and giving it a go.

My current working assumption is that (for me), migraines happened when I was depleted from stress or lack of rest and sorting out my metabolism helped enormously. Also seeing in real time what eating/drinking certain things does to your blood sugar is rather addictive - luckily it’s too expensive to carry on, so I’ve only used them for 10 day periods (A Dexcom G6 sensor only lasts that long).

Horrible bloody things, anyone who thinks it's a bad headache has never had one.

I've had a couple of bouts over the years, both of which (thank your deity of choice) ended after several weeks as abruptly as they started. The first I'm sure was environmental - a combination of CRT screens, naked strip lights and being pretty far beyond stressed. The second I can only guess.

Mine start as a visual aura, like a curved zig-zig on my peripheral vision. It gradually works its way to the centre, covering the small area you can actually focus on (which scared the absolute piss out of me the first time it happened, I was effectively blind). Then that disappears and a few minutes later it feels like I've taken a cricket bat to the back of the skull.

The only thing that helped for me (beyond sensory deprivation and crying) was Imigran Recovery, which is an over-the-counter-after-cross-examination triptan as others have mentioned. The trick is to get it down you early at the first sniff of symptoms.

I made an accidental discovery. If I wash my tablets down with Red Bull (Ych y fi!) the seen to work better and quicker.

Caffeine can help with drug uptake. Many of the branded super/ultra/plus/etc painkillers are nothing more than paracetamol or ibuprofen plus caffeine.

Always look at the actual drug content, there's zero point in paying pounds for a glossy card box when you can have the exact same drug sloshed down with a brew for 19p/pack.