I am finally feeling human again after having a migraine that has lasted 3 days although I am still not feeling 100% because of all the medication I have taken. Migraines have been the bain of my life for almost 30 years. I take meds to help prevent attacks I have prescription painkillers and tablets to take at the onset of an attack. Usually armed with all that lot I can stop them in their tracks but now and again nothing works and it seems to run its course. I feel sorry for myself at the moment!! Does anyone else suffer and how do you treat/manage your migraines?
Jane

Oh Jane, heaps of sympathy to you!  I have also been a migraine sufferer on and off for 30 years.  I have taken every known brand of painkiller and medication known to man, or so it feels!

My migraines are usually the result of a rise in body temperature so I don't react well in the sun - which is a pain as I've just had to turn down a trip with work to the Sinai because I know I couldn't cope with the sun or heat.  I also don't react well to too much drink (but the who does?).  Hormonally, I've been better since I had a hysterectomy as I could guarantee that I could spend two days per month vomiting and out of action thanks to a blinding headache.  I need to take HRT regularly to maintain the equilibrium in my hormones as the moment they are out of kilter in zooms the pain.

I did find, in the past that taking regular doses of calcium and chromium did help; this tip came from some university research and certainly helped me although my GP disagreed!  I have in the past taken Imigran and now have rizatriptan wafers that dissolve under the tongue and these are effective but the knock me out.  Imigran caused a very strange sensation indeed and soon became ineffective.

At one consultation my GP made me realise that looking after yourself plays a huge part in maintaining a headache free state.  If a headache starts, then stop and rest rather than carry on.  It's easier said than done in this day and age, but I guess it's true.  I don't take any painkillers any more because I know that they really don't work.  I can now manage without a migraine for probably 5 weeks which is just great, more in the summer, less in the winter.

What annoys me (similar to the 'flu thread) is when others say they've got a migraine and carry on working!  One colleague insists she suffers badly and will happily tell me at lunchtime "oh I had a really bad migraine this morning"!!  If I get one, then I can vomit on and off for 12hrs and cannot lift head from pillow for 18hrs.  I certainly couldn't bear daylight and have invested in heavy dark brown curtains so not a single shaft of light can enter!

I hope you feel better soon and I really sympathise.

Sympathy from me too although I feel like a novice as suffered from migraine for 13 years.

Doctor prescribed propanalol to start with and I am sure that's what started helping the weight gain although the GP disagreed.  He told me to take asprin :rolleyes: which I did but of course it never worked.  In desperation I begged a Boots pharmacist to find me something that I could take that I hadn't tried before and he told me about Imigran.  I asked my GP and she (lost confidence in the 'he') was reluctant to prescribe Imigran because it was expensive and you have to have 'bad' migraines to warrant them.  At the time my migraines would be full on for 3 days where I would be totally incapacitated with days after that to get over the totally washed out exhausted feelings. I asked her what was 'bad' then?  I made myself comfortable and made it quite clear I wasn't moving and I got my prescription. 

I also have an anti-sickness pill that stops the nausea. I didn't realise until a couple of years ago that migraines actually shut down the digestive system which was why quite often taking a tablet didn't work. This also explains constipation at this time as well (never rains but it pours eh? :rolleyes: )  I tried Maxalt a few years ago and I really liked it because it didn't have the nasty side effects that Imigran has.  Unfortunately my migraines always rebound within 24 hours and the Maxalt didn't relieve the rebounds which IMO are at least 75% as strong as the original migraine.  Imigran is not ideal but at least I am only out of action for about a day rather than at least 3.

Inthe past, my doctor has said more than once to avoid red wine, chocolate and cheese and it makes me want to scream.  I can eat and drink all those in one sitting and they have no effect at all.  During my "migrainey" time I only need to have half a glass of red for it to trigger a migraine. Mine are definitely connected to hormones but also tiredness and stress. Problem is the triggers seem to be interrelated in a way and although I can control the red wine consumption I can't always control the stress and consequently the tiredness and I can't control the hormones at all.  I get through about 6 tablets a month, some of which I break in two as this might be all I need as prevention.

>What annoys me (similar to the 'flu thread) is when others say they've got a migraine and carry on working!

Absolutely!  Migraines are not headaches or even bad headaches they are something else altogether and there are only 1 or 2 people I would wish them on ;)

Dehydration is supposed to be a significant trigger and most people don't drink enough fluid. I try to make sure that I drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.

I hope you are feeling better soon. :)

Yep, sympathy from me too. One consolation of getting older - if it's hormonal you do seem to "grow out" of them. :D  Not getting overtired or overstressed (easier said than done, I know) and definately not getting dehydrated all help to control it.

Sorry to hear you've had a bad migraine :-(

I also suffer with them, i take Migraleve Duo......They do help if you catch it early enough :-)

I have had migraines forever too, I use Imigran 100mgs they make me yawn a little and can sometimes (not always) take 2 hours to work.
I also take propanalol daily. My gripe is why? sometimes I can drink red wine which I like. Sometimes I can eat good chocolate, sometimes though for no reason at all I can wake in the middle of the night with a 'head'., there just is no reasoning to it.
I have to imigran does it for me after years of different things it was a revelation that something could actually take it all away...
It does go on for two or three doses over a couple of days to go again for a bit of respite but still almost weekly.
I also agree that people are quick to say they have migraine when actually they have no idea.
I dont always know they are coming I get a bit irrational and almost in denial....my family all know before me....
so sorry for you, I can really empathise.
Karen

Those of us who have ever taken Imigran would doubt the effectiveness of Migraleve duo too!  I am glad it works for you justlou.

Maxalt is great but doesn't it make you sleepy?!  It takes me 24hrs to get over taking it, regardless of the headache.   I was shocked when I first took Imigran to find they were something like £18 per tablet!

I once took Pizotifen and blame my current weight on that.

I agree with you , I took a daily preventative wich I think was Pizotifen and piled on the weight!

I used to get the full on migraines (fully understand what's being said about them NOT being a headache :rolleyes: and over after a couple of hours :rolleyes: ) I found they were worse around hormonally unstable times and also had increased migraines on the pill and while pregnant :(  missing meals could start them off and not drinking enough liquids too.  I had full visual disturbances, light intolerance, smell disturbances, vomiting and gastric problems etc.  At one point I was really worried it might be a brain tumour :(

I've been free of them ever since I stopped eating or drinking anything citrus (oranges and grapefruit especially) discovered completely by accident some years ago when oranges around the world had some sort of problem (dry and tasteless) and I stopped eating them for about 18 months.  First time I drank orange after that I had the mother of all migraines, lasting 3 days and took a week to get over it :(    even accidentally eating something with orange or grapefruit in will start one so I'm really careful.  I do miss them tho and try not to smell them (I can smell them a mile off ;) )   NOT going to risk a migraine on purpose,

Dill, I have heard of citrus cauisng migraines.  They don't seem to be a trigger for me fortunately.  Something that definitely seems to bring on a mega migraine though is the Chinese Takeaway.  Heat up Chinese foods from the supermarket are fine but I have noticed that actual takeaways are a big no no for me so I steer well clear of them now.

An interesting article in the Migraine Assoc booklet suggested that withdrawal from trigger foods can cause migraines.  Quite a baffling concept but say you drink coffee everyday and then decide to stop the stopping coffee triggers the migraine.  You actually need to stay off coffee but because it doesn't trigger migraines while you drink it you don't make the connection of it being the trigger

As for medication and sleepiness, Imigran does tend to knock me out but it's sleepiness effect is unpredictable timewise. I might be ok for a few hours before the desperate need to sleep comes over me.  This is particularly worrying when a migraine comes on and I am not at home.  I had one come on during an exam last year (failed), I took the tablet and was fine after about 2-3 hours.  Decided to have some coffee before I set off for the drive home which is a 35 mile drive taking about 50-60 minutes.  About 15 miles into the journey I started feeling very tired and realised how dangerous it actually is to drive and take these tablets, something I can usually avoid doing.

I have tried every over the counter migraine remedy and not one even touches my migraines. Probably depends on the type of migraine you get. I think mine is classified as common whereas Dill's sounds like classic but I might be wrong

>Those of us who have ever taken Imigran would doubt the effectiveness of Migraleve duo too!  I am glad it works for you justlou.

Thanks Jackyjat :-) I am going to ask my G.P next time i see her for Imigran, i was put on migraleve about a year ago....i have to take the pink as soon as the migraine starts and then i can take up to 6 yellow throughout the day if it doesn't go away.

How do these Imigran work?

I think they alter the blood vessels in you brain somehow! They are not a pain killer, as some people think.

Oh right i see :-)

Thanks for that Karen

Good luck to you, I hope you can try them, as I said it was a revelation to take something that actually made my head better after so many years of suffering!
Karen

Sumatriptan works by stimulating receptors called serotonin (or 5HT) receptors that are found in the brain. A natural substance called serotonin normally acts on these receptors, causing blood vessels in the brain to narrow. Sumatriptan mimics this action of serotonin by directly stimulating the serotonin receptors in the brain. This narrows the blood vessels and so relieves the pain of migraine headaches.

Imigran is Sumatriptan.  Hope this helps, but beware, my GP was very reluctant to prescribe - partly because of the huge cost of them.  I think that the cost has gone down over the years but it's still more than asprin.  Of course you would just pay the prescription price.  Please beware the side effects can be quite "difficult" and sometimes counteract the benefits.

One nasty experience was when I was away camping, migraine came on and I took Imigran before conking out inside my tent but with my legs poking out the door.  When I woke several hours later I had almost 3rd degree burns from the sun!

Interestingly, there was something on television recently that linked some migraine to people having a small hole in the heart :) It's possible for people to lead a normal life without ever knowing that they have a HITH - apparently it can allow small particles to escape from the heart and go to the brain causing the migraine :) Closing the hole - a fairly minor procedure - can stop the migraines :)

Daisy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1392080,00.html

That looks brilliant I will speak to my GP next visit as it seems it could be my problem
Karen

You beat me to it Daisy - I was going to mention the HITH research.  I too have ceased having migraines (fingers crossed) since having HRT!

Still very expensive, I have a monthly ongoing prescription for 12 a month and sometimes the box packaging is only for 2 tablets. If by some fluke I dont use them up I cancel off the next months. I did try the nasal spray but didn't like that very much, though it should have been quicker acting. I have never 'conked' out though, just this yawning business.
K

Cheryl,

The way you describe the reaction to coffee is the way I was reacting to citrus :(  I didn't realise it was citrus until I stopped eating and drinking oranges and grapefruit totally ;)  it was only after 18 months of not having them that I could pinpoint the reaction.  I didn't even connect the lack of migraines :rolleyes: just thought that maybe I wasn't as stressed or maybe I'd just 'grown out of ' them :rolleyes: or perhaps I was eating more regularly ;)  The reaction was pretty dramatic tho and left me in no doubt ( on several occasions ;) )

Interestingly my sister was allergic to oranges when she was little, and so is my son - so maybe there's an allergic component?

Dill, sorry about my muddled way of writing (its how I think :rolleyes:) but I don't actually react to coffee generally.  Sometimes coffee has been found to be a benefit though.  My friend read that taking medication and coffee at the same time can help the meds to work quicker.  Obviously be silly to do if you knew coffee was a trigger. Interesting though.

My trigger seems to be red wine but only at certain time.  When my SIL and I go to Spain on hols we drink cheap red wine every night and in all those years I only had one migraine on holiday.

A lady I worked with finds that onions is one of her triggers.  Even the smell is enough to bring on a migraine.  She suffers very badly and the doctor is often called to inject Imigran.  Poor woman

Tuna does it for me. Shame, because I enjoy tuna, but luckily it's something I can live without. If it was citrus that was a trigger I'd be desperate.

I'm so lucky the smell doesn't seem to start it, although I try not to make any effort to sniff the aromas, it's just too tempting once I smell them - I miss them sooo much :(

My life has changed so much tho since I managed to stop them, I can even go for days out now (dog shows) which were once a big no-no :)

Hi All, thanks for the replies. Treatment seems to be similar for all. I too take propanalol daily. I take Zomig at the start of an attack. If I wake with it sometimes it is too late and once the sickness starts I know that because my digestive system has stopped the pills will not work as they are not absorbed. I too cannot find a food trigger but stress and tiredness play a major part in causing my migraines. It has been good to hear other peoples experiences and it feels like I could have written all of the posts myself as I can so identify with what you have all written. I also suffer with fibromyalgia and this also contributes to my migraines. I will check out the link about the hole in the heart. I almost hope that I have it so I can be cured of migraines. I sometimes get an aura ( flashing lights, tingling in hands and face and I have difficulty speaking) which I find very frightening but if my migraine starts with that the actual headache when it comes is not as painful.
I also wonder how people can work and carry on normal everyday activities whilst suffering a "migraine" I have trouble lifting my head off the pillow and need a dark quiet room. Even after migraine lifts it can be 24 hours before I feel anywhere near normal. Thanks for taking the time to reply it is really appreciated. Take Care all
Jane

Me and my mum take SYNDOL tablets when we have a headache or migraine. They take about 20 min to work but they always work for us. The headache completely goes. The only problem is that they can make you feel very sleepy and its so hard to stay awake! Its worth a try though :)

Jessica

I suffered badly years ago- couldnt sit in a lit room, had to black and silent and cool temperature!

went to have brain scans and all other sorts of tests cos the doc was v. worried, thankfully all tests were ok and i was just told i suffered with extreme migraines that lasted sometimes upto 10 days! anyway i was given this medication that i took twice daily for a month, and since then (8 yrs ago) i have only had one or two bad migraines again!

feel for you that suffer- cant eat, sleep function normally at all.x

I have a fan in my room which helps when I get hot.  I also get strong visual disturbance which is worrying if I am away from home when it starts.  Most of mine will start early morning or in the middle of the night, apart from when I've been out in the sunshine and have overheated.

Syndol is simply paracetamol with caffeine (strange it should make you sleepy!) and for those of us who suffer badly, painkillers aren't an option as the stomach is the first thing to completely shut down - often sending remaining contents up again!  The Maxalt (Rizotriptan) wafers that I take dissolve under the tongue and you don't need water or even to swallow.

I agree that it's been good to see how others experience similar symptoms and as always, great to feel you aren't alone or losing sanity. 

I can offer a little comfort - my BIL had very severe migraine for many years. When he got into his fifties it did get better (although hasn't disappeared completely) - he can even eat/drink a little coffee and chocolate now which used to be absolute no-nos once :)

Daisy

yep- i couldnt eat/drink citrus fruits- oranges esp. cheese, milk, choc, coffee, tea.

Syndol does make me really sleepy! I literally cant keep my eyes open! Its more than just Paracetamol and caffeine it contains Paracetamol, Codeine Phosphate , Doxylamine Succinate and Caffeine as the active ingredients. (Sedation is a common effect of doxylamine that is used in syndol)   It does warn on the packet not to drive after using it as it can cause drowsiness in some people. It really does affect me and my mum strongly with the drowsiness but it is worth it as it works for us very well. My mum used to suffer alot with migraines but if she takes some syndol as she feels a migrane is starting then it usually stops it. Im only trying to offer some help - its worth a try anyhow. Heres a link to info about it http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100002516.htm :)

I have used syndol and it makes me feel woozy, it never worked for migraine but if it was a normal(whatever that is) headache then it was great!

I don't get the flashing lights but do lose peripheral vision. Not sure if I actually do lose it or whether it is just sheer lack of concentration but definitely cannot think when have a migraine. Very dangerous to drive and I find if I have a migraine coming on or am even just in that phase where I feel I am likely to get one then car head lights cause a piercing pain to the back of my eyes. I do find that I am very sensitive to sound and when I worked in a call centre there was no way I could work when I had a migraine.  Noise or direct sound (very difficult to explain) hurts in a way I cannot describe. When I first started getting migraines I wasn't convinced that's what they were because of the intensity and symptoms.  I used to get a tingly face and hands and once I lost sensation completely on one side of my face.  I thought I was having a stroke. I also used to get tingly teeth. 

Jane, for the sickness you might like to try Prochlorperazine maleate buccal.  These are anti-nausea and you put them between your top lip an gum and they absorbed directly into your blood stream.  The sickness wears off very quickly and then the migraine medication starts working.

HTH

Do you find that one side of your head will be in agony, but if you cover that eye you can function?

No.  If I touch my eye onthe side of the migraine though the back of my eye feels very tender and I don't even want to go there and think what that means   The area of the migraine is intense to the point I feel if I could just reach in I could pluck it out but it's there whether I have my eyes open or shut.

BTW I cannot sleep when I have a migraine.  The meds usually knock me out at some point but a migraine will actually wake me inthe middle of the night and until the meds kick in I will not sleep. I actually hate lying in a darkened room but prefer to slob on settee.  So long as it's not too loud I prefer the distractions of TV even if I can't really watch it

No!  :rolleyes:

Definitely one sided but covering doesn't help! 

Another sign telling the difference between headache and migraine is that you certainly couldn't get to the bathroom to throw up if that meant getting off the bed in a darkened room!

With mine often if I blank off the eye (with a cupped hand or something) on the affected side I can cope enough to function on a basic level because the other side's virtually unaffected.

Have to say re people who claim they 'work', read, or 'carry on' while having a migraine :rolleyes:  IMHO if you can stay at work, function normally, then it ain't migraine ;)  It's so debilitating, just staying in a lighted room or being around normal sounds and smells can be excruciating, even changing position from sitting to lying down can be a huge achievement when having an attack, and thinking becomes impossible, not to mention all the other variations.  My heart goes out to those of you who still suffer with them, and I hope I NEVER get another one - I won't even eat orange or grapefruit flavoured sweets, and avoid anything with either of them in.

I had really bad migraines for years, from around 11yrs old to my late 20's. Following a lower back injury, I visited a chiroprator. After having spine X-rays it was found I had some really bad whip-lash injuries, which he felt could be the cause of my migrains. Anyway, having had a lot of work on my back I found that the headaches that had plauged me for years began to ease. he said that very often it can be a neck problem that can cause megraines, and i just wonder if this could affect you? Just a thought :)

I have heard of this recently and it is definitely something that I will be checking out at some point.  I don't get neck pain but get some shoulder pain since the advent of VDUs so bad posture might have something to do with the shoulder pain.  Anything is worth checking out.

A friend of mine her shoulder manipulated by a chiropracter. He told her that women often have misalignments caused by childbirth.  Didn't cure her migraine though

Anyone tried reflexology?  Love it and the only time a migraine went away without medication was during a reflexology session.  I can't afford them these days otherwise I would go every week

Oh God its awful isn't it! Anyone who has never had one just thinks it's a bad headache. No it's not, it's pain that you can't ever imagine unless you suffer from them.
I remember being in primary school when i first suffered, i can remember exactly what i was doing and we are talking approx. 30 years ago.
First to go was my sight, flashing lights, sort of a windmill affect. Then a funny smell. Then the headache and throwing up.
There was nothing i could do but go to bed in a dark room and try to sleep until it was over.
They started to get quite frequent so my mum took me to a very unsympathetic dr. who did nothing exept tell me that i was suffering from migrains.
Then as suddenly as they started they stopped. I think i had my last one at around the age of sixteen.
Years later at the age of 29 i fell pregnant and back they came with a vengance! I went to my Dr. and asked him what i could take for migrains whilst pregnant and sadly, not alot.
As the Dr. explained to me it was obviously hormonal and that was why i suffered them in puberty and again in pregnancy.
When i was young it was:- Chocolate, Cheese, lack of sleep, too much sleep and even heavy atmospherics!! Not one Dr. ever hinted that it could be due to hormones. I gave birth and away they went. 3 years later and pregnant with my second child and back they came. Gave birth, that was nearly 6 years ago, and have not suffered another since.
I am 38 now and am not going to have anymore children but am really worried that when my change comes am i going to have to have the misery of them then, cos for me, as they are hormonal, i really think i might.

gosh this thread is bringing back all the horrid memories of suffering! at my worst i couldnt talk even, i managed to go down stairs to get something and my sister just asked me a question- i just burst into tears and collapsed on the counter- jsut the sound of her voice cracked through my head and felt nauseous- mum was so worried when she found me- she thought i was having a mental breakdown- didnt realise it was pain. i couldnt sleep it off either and missedlots of school.

luckily my doc was great and did the necessary tests and gave me some great treatments.

my thoughts are with you if you still suffer x

I can really relate to all of you and especially ruby tuesday as i also suffered when i was pregnant.
I have had mgraines since about age 10 and i had my first one when i was riding my pony. suddleny i couldn't see properly with lights flashing and i had to rely on the pony to get me home!

they continued with various meds, including some steriods to stop the weekly attack, until i was about 17 when they got less frequent. I got pregnant at 18 and had no probs with migraine, in fact i never gave it a thought, until my son was about 2 weeks old and then they started again. i'm sure they didn't help my PND! My very (not) helpful GP just advised asprin, i asked if that would be his prescribed choicec for a broken leg as that was more the pain level we were talking! Moved to another Dr who also had children that suffered and she was helpful and sent me away with her 'wonder drug' the silver bullet that always worked so she said. Except on me that was1 I was gutted as i thought i'd found the key but dr was more so as she hadn't found anyone that it hadn't helped before. can't remember what it was but it was one of the triptans, it only made the pain worse.

Anyway long story short and all that,  when i got pregnant with my daughter the migraines came back in a big way. my doctor had said that it takes 2 years to recover from a pregnacy and i was still affected and that another child may 'reset' the hormone levels and help with the migraines. a bit drastic though! In the mean time she said that brasil nuts contained phyto-oestrogen (sp?) that may help if they were hormone related. mine were as the always occured at a certain stage in my cycle.

When i was pregnant i had a migrine every third day for 9 months as well as horrid morning sickness for 5 mths. Was i ever glad when she was born and i could take some proper pain relief.........except i didn't need to. apart from the aura and a mild (normal) headache on day 3 after she was born i have not had any hint of one since. (i am touching all the wood i can find BTW!!) she is 10 mths now and the dr blamed the blip on day 3 to the hormones settling (baby blues time)

So hopefully that is it for me until the menopause as i am not going to risk anymore children. I would love a third child in the future but i couldn't bear it if it started them off again so two will do!

Sorry to be so long winded and i hope they find a magic cure. appparently some researchers are working on a chip that you have inserted into your brain the same as for  parkinsons disease and adapting it for migraine so there may be relief for sufferers in the future. My only hope is that my children don't inherit it as i did from my father and him from his mother.

I've been in bed since 4pm with a migraine :-( I went to bed with it, and i've woke up with it

Oh justlou Im so sorry. I hope you are feeling better soon. Having just recovered from a particularly bad attack I can really sympathise. I was afraid to go to sleep on Saturday night in case I woke with another migraine as I had woken for 3 days with one. I almost feel panicky after an attack dreading the next one so much that it rules my life. I feel I can't plan anything in case I have a migraine and I always try to look for a reason for the cause of an attack so I can avoid whatever it is like the plague. I am worried about being stressed in case it causes a migraine Im scared to relax in case I have a migraine it is a vicious circle. For some reason this last one has left me feeling particularly vulnerable. I feel for everyone who suffers migraines but it has been such a help and comfort to hear how other people cope.
Jane

>Having just recovered from a particularly bad attack I can really sympathise.

Hope your feeling better now Jane :-)

I hate not being able to concerntrate :-( I'm sitting here with a candle light, just so i can see to write this :-D

Migraleve aren't working :-(

I used to get a lot of migraines, but less these days.
I found that the Feverfiew herb really helpped me (you can eat it in sandwiches - suposed to taste horrid, or get capsules from health food stores) and you can take them daily as a preventative and as a cure when one comes on.

The other thing, and it sounds really weird but works for me, is that the temperature in your left hand drops when a migraine is coming on.. so if you can feel one starting or are in a trigger situation, then if you can keep your left hand up to temperature, it really helps the situation.
The last one I had I had colour vision distortions, through the pain and the sickness, it was quite pretty really, like having a prism on the side of my eye ... normally they are in b/w.

Hi,

Talking about the temperature in one hand dropping remined me of something i read about running water (warm/hot) over your hands if you feel one coming on. Also vigoursly washing your hair to stimulate blood flow can help.

I always know when one is coming as i get flashing lights or blindness in my left eye. I also get numbness down one side or in my face. Once when i was younger my whole tongue went numb and i couldn't speak!

What i noticed with all the ones i had when i was pregnant was how much more quickly they were coming on. Normally the flashing would start and i would have about an hour before the pain, but that changedso that the blindness filled one eye and half of the oher within seconds with the pain not far behind. Luckily it never happened when i was driving.

Had my first migraine attack when I was 4 years old, about twenty years ago :D The doctor who developed Imigran was my neurologist, so I have been taking this medication for a long time. It is the only thing that works for me and on average I still have two migraines a month. Horrid things!

Hey Helen, That was just like me when pregnant. There was no warning, just bam! Blind spots then about 10 mins later the headache.
I did find though that my migrains were not as severe as they were when i was younger. Eg. I didn't feel sick, and they never lasted as long.
You are the only other person i know that has suffered them again because of pregnancy.
Because of this fact , i am dreading the menopause.

<i am dreading the menopause  
Me too RT!

However as i am only 23 then i should have years yet! Hopefully there will be better treatment by then as well. Don't know what effect HRT would have on us as being hormone triggered the balance would have to be EXACTLY right wouldn't it?

I can't say that i found the headaches were any less painful than when i was younger but my denial and despair at them was certainly stronger!

Also found out that the contraceptive pill i had been taking for several years was a definate no-no as there was a huge risk of thrombosis with my type of migraine just as well i changed doctors

Did you find that after your child(ren?) the migraines went away or did it take more than one pregnacy to get rid?