Migraine

Please just call me Adam.

Ok so I have been having Migraines on and off for about 2 years now, with no luck finding the trigger. They have me taking Imitrex, Topamax, and Naproxen. I have read a couple posts on these forums and I see that it is suggested to start up a Migraine Diary.

My case gets a bit more uncommon from what I can tell though. I get two a day. Usually I am awoken between 3am-6am with one and then usually again 12 hours later I get another.

From what I can tell my trigger is coming from something here back home. I am 19 and a college student, and I do not get them at college. I came home Thursday night, and I started getting my migraines again Monday. So far I have had 2 everyday since then. I suspect strongly its something here back home that I am doing or exposed to because I also had them winter break when I visited.

Please, I am in dire need of help. With getting two a day it is extremely hard for me to pay attention to what is triggering my migraines, let alone think straight long enough. Im not even sure how to tell how long something takes to trigger a migraine, what is the time frame usually? Also, can animals such as dogs (fur) trigger migraines? At college there are no pets.

Good Morning Adam,

You are the same age as my daughter who has also finished her first year of college. Welcome to the forum

I would first go to your doctor and discuss adding an antihistime to your migraine prevention program. You are spot on at looking at the differences between home and school as to what is the trigger. Thank goodness you don't get them at school to interupt your studies.

A diary, that includes the animals and what you are eating. Perhpas there is an additive or something in the food that is a trigger that you don't eat at school. Seeing those things in a diary can be very helpful.

Until you can see your doctor perhaps a very complete cleaning of your room to rid it of as much animal dander as possible would be a good idea and keep them out of your room.

Are your sleep patterns different at home vs school? Level of activity? Could you try staying with a friend for a couple of days to see if you migraines stop?

I'm just throwing out ideas for you to consider. I take an antihistime daily. I have many pollen allergies and if I don't, it contributes to more migraines. I've also read that children are given antihistimes for migraine prevention.

Good luck and stick around. We would like to know how you are doing.

Cindy

PS One additional item I forgot. My neice who gets migraines found she was lactose intolerant. When she stopped dairy most of her migraines stopped. Her mom (my sister) would not believe her when she was at home, when she moved out and stopped the dairy, life got much better for her.

I would also add that my migraines always seemed to fall after a stress/event was over, not during. If you are new to migraines and haven't noticed a pattern yet keep this in the back of your mind. It might just be that once finals are over and you have moved back home, the migraine arrives.

I agree with everything Cindy said would just recommend using this summer to get a good migraine diary going, you may not be able to pinpoint all your triggers, sometimes migraines are just sneaky that way, but get a good jump on it before school starts again. The migraines I got at college were the hardest to deal with because there was so much I could not control (cafeteria food, noise in dorm etc)

best of luck
lisa