Migraine

I'm Joi and I have been suffering from migraines since I was a kid...so it's been a good 20+ years now. I get the nausea, visual disturbances and all! Oddly enough although a dark room is the best location for me, sound isn't too bad most of the time, so my poor children (ages 7 & 11) don't have to be silent all the time. Which I have to admit, at least they can be noisey kids...bad enough they have to see me in bed and feel sorry for me all the time. I just got through reading Terri's book and it was truly a blessing to me. I look forward to meeting all of you, and sharing migraine stories. God bless!

Oh yeah, I had elevated liver enzymes show up in my bloodwork so because there may be liver damage I had to stop Topamax and am stuck with pain meds that make me drowsy...not a good look for a working mother!

Hello and welcome to our forum family! Our goal is to provide everyone with the information and support that we all need to manage our Migraines and/or headaches. To that end, we consider this a “safe harbor,” where nobody tries to sell us anything, and we all use “family-friendly” language so parents are comfortable letting their children read the forum with them.

Please take a few minutes to review our policies and guidelines along with the other information in the START HERE folder. For information about Migraines, a good article to begin with is Learning About Migraines - Where to Start

Not everyone experiences phonophobia (sensitivity to sound) when they have a Migraine. I am not so lucky. I get the whole shabang! Nausea, photophobia, phonophobia, dizzy, aphasia - you name it. We have an article, Anatomy of a Migraine, which you may find interesting. I think this is one of my favorite articles on our site. That and the Migraine Preventive Medications - Too Many to Give Up! That one I have a copy of and take with me to my appointments so I know which drug the doctor is speaking of. I've also noted on it, after checking with my insurance, which teir each drug is so I know what the cost will be.

I am sorry to hear about the Topamax! I had issues on that and also Zonegran. Sometimes I don't even read about the side effects until something pops up, just so I don't make them true!

I am so happy to hear you found Teri's book and that it has helped you! I found her book to be my Migraine Bible! So much wonderful information in there, and she has a great way of talking to you and you understand - unlike some books that are all medical jargan where you need another book to help you understand the book you are reading! Teri's book is awesome! I love that she has a lot of the definitions in the back, along with some of the prescription pad lingo (not sure what it's called other than shorthand since my brain is recovering from a doozy yesterday). I learned so much from her and her book. I really thank her for giving me my life back - and helping me gain control over my health and learning to be my best advocate for my healthcare.

Welcome again! Please make yourself at home and post away! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know!

See ya around the forum!

Hi Joi! Welcome to the forum family

I've had Migraines since I was a teenager and oddly enough, have "outgrown" some of the things that used to accompany them. I rarely get nausea anymore and I don't have photophobia anymore either. But, phonophobia is still with me but thankfully, my kids are older now so not quite as noisy as they used to be LOL

Do you know what any of your triggers are? Mine are poor sleep, changes in the barometric pressure, not eating and some strong smells. Have you ever kept a Migraine Diary? It can be useful to track triggers, the effectiveness of medications, and any patterns to your Migraines and headaches. Also, here's some information on triggers you can take a look at:

Common Migraine Triggers

Stackable Triggers

Managing Migraine – Migraine Trigger Foods

Welcome again! And, don't be shy, if you have any questions, just ask and we'll do our best to help.

Hi, Joi, and welcome to the forum family!

Thanks so much both of you! I've tried keeping a migraine diary, but never stuck it out...I know I need to BADLy!!! Light, changes in barometric pressure are definitely triggers, I don't knw if I have any foods that are triggers...and the list of possible food triggers overwhelms me!!!

I'm trying to stay strong and keep my faith strong...but it gets hard!!! I'm really happy to find this site & Teri's book.

Hi Joi!

Adding my welcome to the pile.

I'm glad you found us. I have yet to read Teri's book but I decided to order it. So hopefully it'll come in soon and I'll get to read it too. I can't seem to keep up with keeping a Migraine Diary either. A lot of the girls here swear by there's though. I really need to motivate myself to keep mine up, lol.

I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful information here, I know I have.

Meli

The list of possible food triggers can be pretty daunting. But that's where keeping the migraine diary is kind of spiffy. Once you trigger, you only have to look back to what you've eaten in the last day or so and jot it down. After you've jotted a few days worth, it might be pretty easy to see certain things cropping up each time. It's really helpful in narrowing down triggers when you can narrow down the list of potential trigger foods as you go.

quote:

Originally posted by GodsJoi:
Thanks so much both of you! I've tried keeping a migraine diary, but never stuck it out...I know I need to BADLy!!! Light, changes in barometric pressure are definitely triggers, I don't knw if I have any foods that are triggers...and the list of possible food triggers overwhelms me!!!

I'm trying to stay strong and keep my faith strong...but it gets hard!!! I'm really happy to find this site & Teri's book.