Do I have migraines?

Knoxville-Horn

Knoxville-Horn

1,000+ Posts
I've never had many problems with headaches. I can also take a great deal of pain. For example, I played a full, 90-minute soccer game with two brokem ribs.

However, I've run into something lately that has absolutely floored me -- three times now.
It starts with vision problems. It's not a blurry thing, like I need glasses. My eyeballs actually hurt. I also see little floaty things, kind of like an illusion - no Gob jokes please.
Then, I'll get a really, really bad headache. Enough to make me stop what I'm doing and seek a dark room.
Eventually, I'll get to the point where I'm really nauseous. I've even thrown up a couple of times.

All this started about 2 months ago after one of my soccer games. It has happened, to the extent that I've been unfunctional three times.
I don't smoke, very rarely drink, don't take any kind of meds. I'm also relatively healthy and am in my early 30's.

Any help is appreciated...

Anybody?
 
Agreed. See a doctor.

Though the symptoms do sound like they could be related to a migraine. I say that based on this blog entry and the 541 replies:

The Link

I read quite a few of them earlier and it made me realize I had no idea what my mother was going through when she said she had a migraine and would go lay down for hours at a time.

But, again, go see a doctor.
 
Sounds like a migraine to me. After surviving through several I learned to take a couple or three aspirin at the first indication which for me is the "floaty things". If I caught it in the first 5 or 10 minutes it would be nothing more than a mild headache. Ignore the early symptoms and I'd be in trouble. I've been able to avoid them for many years, but maybe once a year have to reach for the aspirin. By all means, see a doctor for a full diagnosis.
 
Is the pain always on the same side of your head? If so, it sounds like you are probably having migraines. I have had cluster headaches (a extremely painful, rare variant form of migraines) for 25 years. There are some great new drugs out there now for migraines that have really help me.

I would skip the GP and go straight to a neurologist who specializes in migraine treatment. Dr. Marci Roy here in Austin has made all the difference in the world for me.
 
I've had these the past year. I haven't seen a doctor, but after reading this thread I might.

The loss of vision for me happens for about 45 minutes -- it is a nightmare. I have never had it while driving but heard stories about a teacher who did and he had to pull over and make his wife drive.

Then a real intense, nauseating episode for about an hour. Then the vomit. Then the lying down in a dark room for 3 hours, hopefully get sleep to relive the pain. 50 percent of the time the headache goes away completely after the sleep, but sometimes they stay intense until the next day.

There are apparently a million triggers, and I have not been able to pinpoint mine. My best guess is either the horrible Oklahoma weather (cold & windy outside, then real hot inside of a building), or a constant change in sleeping schedules.
 
You guys really need to see a neurologist. The new triptan drugs work unbelievably well for most people to abort a migraine. You have to catch it early into the headache though. I have also been having great luck with oxygen therapy to abort my headaches.

My surefire triggers are alcohol
frown.gif
and msg so I haven't had a drop or chinese food for 1.5 months during this last episode or clusters. I lost 10 pounds though. A beer sure sounds good.

Having visual auroras as well as intense pain on the same side of your head almost certainly indicates migraine.
 
Sounds like a classic migraine with aura. I get the same ones. I take Maxalt as soon as I feel them coming on, and they are gone within 5 minutes. Otherwise I have to go into a completely dark, quiet room and lie completely still - even so, I'm still on the verge of losing my lunch, and it feels like an elephant was stepping on my head.


I have a pretty high tolerance for pain also, and I used to think people who complained about migraines were wussies. That is, until I started suffering from them. They are completely incapacitating.
 
Yes migraine it is. I have the exact same symptoms. Went to the doctor and he hooked me up with some Imitrex. Its teh pimp...you'll be jumping off the walls in about an hour after taking it if you start seeing those illusions.
 
I would second seeing a Neurologist. It is most likely migraines, but you need to rule out more serious issues like brain tumor, intracranial bleed , etc.. I would also have a good eye exam. God Bless!
 
I used to have the same symptoms with my migraines from about 5th grade all the way through my years at UT. One fall semester I actually had an episode where during the entire exam week I had aura then migraine over and over and over until a couple of days after exams were over. The light sensitivity and nausea had to be the worst part of it as I could control the pain. Back then they'd give you bunch of hydrocodone. Anyways, a neurologist put me on a program to find my triggers. Mine are sunlight in the eyes, lack of sleep while its dark and caffeine. Avoiding those three for ten years now has changed my life. Not to mention Head-On migraine and Excedrine migraine. As bad as those headaches are, you'd think OTC meds wouldn't work, but they actually stop the nausea and pain. I haven't seen an aura in 10 years though, which is the time I began wearing sunglasses. I wish I had known this when I was playing football. Nothing like flying no for a tackle with an aura and whiffing!!! I did that several times. Something about stadium and gym lights that affect me just like sunlight does.
 
Oh yeah, count me in with the "see a doctor" crowd. I did get a CT and MRI to rule out any of the really bad stuff before I started popping the pills. And I found out what my trigger foods are. Caffiene and all artificial sweeteners. Goodbye Diet Coke :-(
 
Yeah, cutting out all caffeine really helped my clusters go from 1 to 2 times a year to once every other year. Weird thing is that drinking caffeine will make a headache go away. It will bounce right back though within a few hours.

If I am not getting headaches then if I drink even just one Coke I get a mild headache. It is like I am allergic to caffeine now. Damn I miss my coffee and Kaluah.
 
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