Migraine Tips

rockhead - today?

My migraines didn't start until I was sixteen. I was thrown from a horse and hurt my neck. I also had TMJ. The doctors said the fall brought on the TMJ and most likely the migraines. Before the fall I might have had three migraines. I have had every test there is numerous times. The doctors say mine are a combination of genetics and the fact that three vertebrate in my neck don't bend anymore, which was caused by the fall.

After I had TMJ surgery, my migraines were decreased by about 85%. The minute I woke up from surgery I knew there was a huge change. I don't get them all that much anymore and haven't had to go to the ER for over two years, thank God!

So sorry rockhead. They can be real buggers!

yes.

my second nap stopped it and I was able to go work some.

waves of yuck...

Arella, TMJ is the jaw joint thing? I have that..... sort of.

Rockhead, sorry to hear it. Did you take any meds?

Temporo Mandibular Jaw disorder is what it is called. It's horrible! The worst part was if I had a TMJ migraine I could not lay down because the pain was worse. Does that ever happen to you-where you can't lay down because the migraine pain becomes even worse? When that would happen, I would have to head to the ER for a shot to knock me out.

I had to wear a splint for quite awhile before I finally had the TMJ surgery. As far as I am concerned, it was the best thing ever happened to me. I do have just a tiny spot that is numb on my chin but it doesn't bother me.

Yes I have had that type of headache, but I don't associate it with jaw issues. My jaw just gets tense and knotted.

So Sacks followed the evolutionary trail of migraines. Starting with the premise that all emotions are biologically beneficial in some way (often neurologically) and ending with the idea that migraines evolved from these basic emotions and only in humans.

More interesting finding since the field of genetics took off.... Migraines and depression genetically linked.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/715255

Hmmmm ... that rang a bell. I'm pretty sure I overheard that on NPR a week or two ago. Searching NPR's website ...

... ok, I'm not finding the feature on my first try. ButI did find this blog entry, claiming that both migraine-suffering and depression-prone brains also tend to be coffee-craving brains. I think what we have here is a thickening plot....

When Sacks wrote his book, he mentioned a link between mood disorders and migraines, but said it couldn't (at that time) be proven to be a causal link. One can be depressed because of migraines as easily as having one's migraine be caused by depression.

Now there's genetics to show it likely isn't causal, but related.

And the coffee - we're all self medicating.

As the owner of a brain that's much more auditory and much less visual than most, I'm envious and mildly miffed: Visual brains like littlek's get all those funky psychedelic effects, whereas my kind of brain never seems to get anything but a headache. What have migraines ever done for us? Is Sacks talking about any effects of migraines on the auditory part of the brain at all?

Thomas, he doesn't say anything about only visual thinkers having visual migraines. It would be interesting if that were a truism. But, the auras occur depending where in the brain the migraine happens (I think). My migraines tend to happen against the the ocular brain-field. The audio hallucinations tend to be less exciting - tinnitus, for example.

I guess I will wrap up the 'book review'. The last section of the book is more modern than the rest of it, but still quite dated (1999, I think). He discusses drugs individually and in detail. Many of these drugs seem worse than the migraines. But, for those with incessant attacks they must be huge relief. Also he discusses psychotherapy and therapies like acupuncture and hypnosis.

He gets into the newer science that puts migraines on firmer biological footing (EEGs, genetics, etc). But, of course given their nature, migraines will often respond to placebo and doctor-intensive counseling. So, some migraines seem to be purely brain-chemistry and some heavily influenced by psychosomatic stuff. I guess one could argue that the psychosomatics are also biological/brain chemistry.

Many patients don't want to do away with their migraines because of a) personal identity, b) they're interesting to experience, and c) it affords them time to be taken care of (or to dissociate from the world).

So, there has also been good evidence, since Sacks' book was published, indicating that migraines with auras double the risk of stroke in women under 45. Further risks include being on estrogen-containing oral contraceptives and smoking. So, I have two of the risk factors (age and estrogen). The World Health Org says that I should not be taking the oral contraceptives I've been taking.

http://www.arhp.org/publications-and-resources/clinical-fact-sheets/women-and-migraine

Do you know the risk of stroke for women under 45 without the auras and the contraceptives? If it's very small, doubling it might still not yield a risk to worry about. The operative word, of course, is "if".

It's small. And I don't have other risk factors. But, still, the WHO says I should stop.

I had migraines as a teenager and again when I was premenopausal, all related to fluctuating estrogen levels. Yes, I had auras, too. Thank God the migraines stopped a couple of years ago with menopause. (YAY!!!)

For 10 years before that, I took Maxalt whenever I felt a migraine coming on. Stopped it within 30 minutes with no side effects. I loved that drug. It comes in a tablet form (which worked better for me) and a melt-under-the-tongue form (seems to be more popular.) Ask your doctor about this prescription medication.

I'm nodding at Thomas here..

Your migraine doesn't sound typical. Recently, a male patient reported severe migraines and was shown to have a large cerebral cyst as the causative agent.
Removal of the cyst terminated the migraines.

By the way, the numbness you've experienced during your migraines needs to be evaluated. It sounds like a mini stroke.