Migraine

So, Wed morning I went and got my weekly massage. On the way home I stopped and picked up my pain meds. When I got home I had a horrible migraine come on. I was in so much pain and I hadnt eaten lunch (it was 3pm when I got home) so as soon as I got home I ate and took my Nubain shot. Within 2 hours I started having horrible abdominal cramping. So from about 5pm on Wed until Thur at 9:30am when I went to the hospital I was awake with horrible cramps. They werent constant cramps-they were on and off again all nite long. My husband took me to the ER Thur morning. CT Scan showed my small intestines were very inflammed and my large bowel was not as bad but still inflammed. So they admitted me. Of course the first thing the GI doctor said was "probably Crohns Disease."
Long story short all my testing came out negative. Now they did find on a pelvic ultrasound that I had a lot of fluid in my plevis "probably" from a ruptured ovarian cyst. But the GI doctor said it did not explain the three day long cramps.
So, the GI doctor is saying that he felt it was some how related to my migraine attack on Wed. They discharged me with no real answer.

Is this something anyone has ever heard of? With my migraines I sometimes am nauseaous but never vomit. So Im confused..

Hedi-I'm so sorry you went through that; I'm glad you are out of the hospital but not with the fact that you have no real explanations of what happened. Will you hear back about any other tests?

You should follow up with your neuro for their opinion on the cramps being related to your migrianes.

Please keep us posted? All my best to you!

I'm sorry you had such a rough experience.

I've heard all kinds of different gastro complaints related to migraine over the last few years on the forum. It's amazing the impact a migraine attack can have on our innards, as well as our other systems. My naturopath I used to go to would always point out that everything is tied to the gut, either in that imbalances/issues affecting the gut lead things to be off kilter elsewhere in the body, or that anything goofed up elsewhere often manifests in some kind of gut symptoms. So...I wouldn't be surprised at suggestions that it might have been tied to your migraine attack in some way, particularly since the tests came back clear.

I hope so much that you're feeling much better in a jiffy!

I have felt fine today. Mild migraine but no stomach issues. Called my neurologist as soon as they opened and left a msg and never heard back. He has taken on such a patient load that he has become harder to contact at times.

Hi Hedi-Just wondering if you heard anything yet?

Nope. I called at 8am yesterday morning and have yet to hear anything back and its 4pm on Tues. Frustrating.

Hedi, maybe you should try giving your doc another call? Usually if I don't hear back from mine in a day or two I call again.

I think it's possible the cramping may be related to your migraine attack. Mine tend to wreak havoc on my GI system - I'm always nauseous with my migraines but don't vomit, and sometimes get the soupey poopies (which sometimes also come with cramping).

Let us know when you hear back from your doc?

I talked w/ my neurologist today. He said there is no way my inflammed bowels are related to the migraine attack I had. So I see the GI doctor in the morning and my neurologist next week.

It'll be interesting to see what the GI doc's take is on this. Keep us posted, okay? Big hugs in the meantime, because it's so exasperating trying to sort out things like this.

Hmmmmm....I know you'd like an answer by now. Let us know what the GI doctor says. Take care.

quote:

Originally posted by Hedi:
When I got home I had a horrible migraine come on. I was in so much pain and I hadnt eaten lunch (it was 3pm when I got home) so as soon as I got home I ate and took my Nubain shot. Within 2 hours I started having horrible abdominal cramping. . My husband took me to the ER Thur morning. Now they did find on a pelvic ultrasound that I had a lot of fluid in my plevis "probably" from a ruptured ovarian cyst. But the GI doctor said it did not explain the three day long cramps.
So, the GI doctor is saying that he felt it was some how related to my migraine attack on Wed. With my migraines I sometimes am nauseaous but never vomit. So Im confused..

uh oh... good luck finding an answer!!! It seems abdomal stuff is impossible to diagnose. I had similar symptoms as you starting around 9/06 & have never gotten a straight answer (I wasn't taking any meds at the time). My cramps were accompanied w/sharp right sided pain, then a liquidy feeling & then some relief.

ER kept saying it's ovariam cysts after ruling out appendicitus & intestinal blockage. My gynocologist said, yes, while the end result is that I have cysts on both of my ovaries (luteal & follical), it's nothing to worry about (not big enough). The gynological stuff is still under investigation, but no conclusion came out of my recent exam, as my gyn couldn't examine my uterus, because it's inverted (?) she couldn't get in (TMI?)... wow, talk about painful!! I am still cramping.

My GP thinks the pain is due to occasional intestinal blockage or kidney stones (but I get blood & sand in my urine when this happens).

WHile migraines or seizure like stuff (vibrating, etc.) sometimes follow this, I think I just get migraines and/or seizure-like symptoms when my body is under stress. I've wonder sometimes if my body is giving me phantom pain & cramping just to mess with me...I get parasthesias & period wet cold stuff drippign down my limbs & heat, etc. plus smell/taste/see/hear things that aren't present, so I guess anything is possible.

After being to ER numerous time for that reason, I just try to ride it out & take my left over narcotics to help me get through it. I'm not sure what I am going to do when I run out of my pain killers. Unless I am vomiting continuously or I am passed out, I told my partner to NOT bring me to ER, because I found it was a waste of time... I'd rather lay in bed than be stuck under flourescents, making it worse. But that's just me.

Hi Heidi,

I'm sorry you've had a rough time lately. There have been a few studies showing a connection between our "brain and gut" so to speak. To see that information you can click HEREand HERE

Let us know what the doctor says, ok?

Gastroparesis it is called. I think it has not been researched nearly enough.

When I have a migraine, my stomach, intestines, everything, all seem to shut up shop completely. I also have cramping or tightness over the right side of my stomach, which I had always assumed was my Liver or Pancreas under stress. But repeated blood screens have shown nothing wrong. Any food I eat during these times seems to just act like poison, some foods worse than others, making the migraine even worse. Though as unhealthy as they are, I have found that disgusting, greasy chips from McDonalds or similar seem to line my stomach and reduce the severity of the sledgehammer in my head a little. But it doesn't work all the time.

I used to be convinced that these stomach problems were the cause, or root, of the migraine, as it seemed that when I could finally clear my stomach the migraine would lift, but I have found that Triptans (Imigran) can relieve the gastroparesis somewhat, and if the migraine was lifting, it would thus "unfreeze" the stomach anyway, which would imply it was more of a symptom.

The whole migraine cascade is such a messy, confused, overlapping disaster that I still really have no honest idea though.

Wierd to hear it talked about on here, since I've never heard of it, but my bf has gastroparesis. He has irritible bowel and then the pain became constant and horrific... a thousand extremely unpleasant tests later and a specialist they told him he has gastroparesis... or essentially his stomach just ain't moving like it used to. Obviously pain killers they had him on was extremely counter productive, but he has seen excellent results with Metoclopramid hydrochloride in liquid form, which I suppose helps digest the food.

As for migraines, there are a few GI related migraine symptoms. I used to get horrific and violent nausea, but as that became more infrequent, the more bowel related symtoms began, and they can be quite bad, as in 'maybe I got food poisoning and will now move into the bathroom' bad, along with cramping pain. I find any anti-inflammatory med makes this, way, way more painful. I always assumed since I have fibromyalgia and thus the comorbid condtion of irritible bowel, that the migraines can just trigger that. But I have heard others have similar related symptoms. I also have had some severe pain before, which my doctor also refered to as an ovarian cyst bursting, and that pain did linger for three days each time I have had it... but not the same type of cramping pain... but so hard to say where abdominal pain is actually coming from.

My appt w/ my GI doctor is postponed until monday.

Saw my neurologist today. What was weird with all is I had no nausea, no vomiting, no diarrhea, no constipation. Just cramping that came and went and was definitely intestinal. AND I was extremely dehydrated. I drink a lot of water daily but didnt drink much that day because of the pain. So I didnt eat or drink for about 16 hrs before I went to the hospital. I was so dehydrated they coudlnt get an IV on me and had to wait 24 hr for the first blood draw after my IV was finally started because I was so dehydrated. I had to stay on Demerol for 3 days just to keep the cramping under control. And the pain was worse than the kidney stone I had a few years ago. The kidney stone was a pain that is very memorable. I tend to block out migraine pain because that is what gets me thru each day. But wow, kidney stone pain is a horrible pain to have.

I have chronic migraines so I am in pain daily. I have never had vomiting with my migraines. Sometimes I think I have diarrhea related to them but that is all.

And I have been fine since I got out of the hospital which was 2 weeks ago today. Even though they never found anything it could have all been viral and it got flushed out of my system-hopefully that is all it was. I think the GI doctor was just looking for an easy excuse. But the inflammation seen on the CT was very suspicious for a disease process which is why they jumped on Crohns and Ulcerative Colitis as the initial possible diagnosis.

I dont plan on having to go thru this again. lol