migrane

[sunflower68]

What is a migrane? How does it feel?  Is it hereditary? Do you get them from birth or is it with age.  Ta muchly.

[shaneystar]

Headache basically. But with side affects. I don't suffer with them but my son did from the age of about four until his late teens..he is now twenty five and still gets the odd one. He says they start with pinpricks of light in front of your eyes and a dizzy feeling..then a feeling like a tight band around the head..then you can't stand bright light and finally sickness to the extent of throwing up. He used to lay in a darkened room with an ice pack on his head.They can last a couple of days at a time.
My older brother suffers from migraine too but didn't start getting them until he was in his sixties. My son always has Migreleve on hand just in case.

[waterhouse]

i suffer with migrains, i went to the doctor with mine though as paracetamol or co codamol didnt work, and the dr told me it was caused through stress.

migrains are a horrid feeling, it feels like heavy pain behind your eyes and at the back of your head. its very similar to a headache. 

[dmsjps]

I think they might be different for different people. My sister used to get them a lot from when she was about 12 to 15; my daughter did too. Other people I know started older, some younger. Some people get them for ever; others it only lasts a few years. Weird things they are, but bad too. After seeing how they affect people, I feel lucky not to have suffered.

[flump1]

Hi sunflower68  I have suffered a few and they are horrible. I know when it is about to start as I get flashing triangular lights in front of my eyes that will not abate. Lying down with painkillers is my only relief. I have had less than a dozen,and they did not start until I was in my 20's . It makes me feel awfully sick and unwell coupled with the splitting headache. I avoid Belgian chocolate as I think that might be my ' trigger' .I do not know if it is a hereditary condition or not, I will watch your posts to see if another aber knows!!!

[sunflower68]

I went to the pub in August, had quite a few too many chardonnays and came home pretty merry. However, the following day I felt appalling; it was well into the afternoon, after having  had a normal morning, not even hung-over.  I have had my share of hangovers and I did not deserve this particular one, which is why it got me wondering if it was something else.

[woofgang]

http://www.migraine.org.uk/

[Robinia]

For me they started in my teens & it's like having an axe in one side of my head!  I don't always get flashing lights, more often a fuzziness or inability to focus.  Oddly enough if I do get the lights I don't usully get the pain, it's possible to have painless migraines. 
I find I can cope better with a left sided migraine than with a right sided one but either way I end up usually having to give in & lie down. I'm not sure how common this is but I also have really bad pains in my legs at the same time. 
Afterwards I feel very strange - usually until the next day - spaced out & wobbly, but I do sometimes have migraines for several days on the trot.

My son has them & my sister started just after having her son.

[Mistopheles]

I get them, but they've simmered down with age - I now get maybe one or two a year. What they are NOT is 'just' a bad headache. (No offence intended anyone - a bad headache can be absolute agony!)

I get the visual disturbances - flashing lights, black holes, things disappearing, inability to focus; the vocal disturbances - can't get my words out, come out with the wrong thing, or slur my words, and various other bits. The strangest one was where my brain was making the wrong connections - someone would ask for the remote and I'd pass them a tea towel.

You can also feel / get sick as well. I agree with dmsjps - they are different for different people. If you get them, take a migraleve straight away, lie down in a dark room, and go to sleep. Much the best way of dealing with them!

[xxlizziexx]

im 15 now and ive had them for many years, i started getting them VERY badly when i was about 11. my mum took me to the docotrs, specialists and nothing worked. i took so many herbal pills, etc and nothing ever worked. i was at a stage in my life were i was very unhappy at school etc and so stress brings mine on. i moved school and gradually they wore off. i had them at least 3 times a week before. after that i didnt have ahardly any about 1 a month? and now ive got my exams and other things which are stressing me out im getting them again...i just take painkillers when i have one now...i get a very bad headake, vision goes a bit blurry you could say, eyes start to hurt and get worse, feel sick and usualy am sick, all i want to do is fall asleep but i can never relax with them and so falling asleep is hard.....i know ive kind of made it into a bit of a story sorry about that! but i hope this helps x x x x

[Mistopheles]

Lizzie, mine were really bad and really frequent, but I started growing out of them when I was about 16 - now I'm down to just a couple a year and they don't last that long any more - so hang on in there!

[Narolines]

I used to get them quite often, starting when I was about 12 or 13; extremely unpleasant and totally disabling. But as I got older they decreased, and since my mid-40s I haven't had one at all.  Mine were very definitely stress-related, though many people believe they can identify a food "trigger".

[JulieEve]

My migraine pain is exactly the same as Robinia's.  Mine started when I hit 40 and I get them before and after my monthly cycle - when my hormones change basically.

I was also told by my GP that they ARE heriditary and can happen at any time of life.

The only thing that works for me is Pizotifen - keeps them at bay for sure - but they make you feel hungry all the time!! 

[papia]

Headache is a pain in the head, scalp or neck. Headaches can be caused by minor problems like eyestrain, lack of coffee or more serious reasons like head injury, brain tumors, encephalitis and meningitis. Taking painkillers continuously can have harmful side effects, so it is better to modify your lifestyle. More information available at http://tinyurl.com/q8696