Do you have migraines? Tell me your symptoms please.

I had a troubling episode today. I was wondering if you could tell me your experiences so I can see if this is just a run of the mill migraine and I will be able to sleep w/ out my brain exploding. BTW: during a migraine, put an ice cude on your back molars (like bite on it), it will help. 3 ice cubes works for me usually.

Do you have?
Complete numbness on your left side?
Tremors?
Completely blurred vision in one eye (not just a flash)?

DH gets migraines quite frequently. Here are some of his symptoms:

Stabbing pain (especially in the eye area)
Dizziness
Sensitivity to light

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Posted by FutureMrsH

I had a troubling episode today. I was wondering if you could tell me your experiences so I can see if this is just a run of the mill migraine and I will be able to sleep w/ out my brain exploding. BTW: during a migraine, put an ice cude on your back molars (like bite on it), it will help. 3 ice cubes works for me usually.

Do you have?
Complete numbness on your left side?
Tremors?
Completely blurred vision in one eye (not just a flash)?

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Your symptoms seem a bit more serious than migraine symptoms I've heard of. Perhaps you should get that checked out. Feel better

i first start seeing fuzzies (it looks like you are looking at a tv when the cable goes out)
that takes over my eyesight and for a while i can't see at all
then the pain comes..starts at the eyes moves toward the back of the head slowly and then moves back..
At the end i feel sick, like i am going to throw up

i get migraines. aside from the pounding in the back of my head, i get dizzy, have extreme sensitivity to light and i vomit. because the symptons are so extreme, i often don't know where i am and get very confused. my migraines have become less frequent over the past 5 years, THANK GOD, but i do take precautions. no red wine and very limited chocolate intake and i drink lots and lots of water.

i hope you are feeling better.

No one has the numbness??? I am getting checked out on 3/24. The problem is...and you doctors out there listen up!!!...the medical profession has a tendancy to descriminate when it comes to age. I have had this before and have been sent to the ER and the dr does not even look at me...just says i am having an anxiety attack and to go home. I had bronchitis & they try saying it's an anxiety attack! Meanwhile if i walked into a hospital w/ these symptoms at 60, they would admit me! I am very upset right now because this should not happen...not w/ a family history of nuerological issues (my mom had her 1st stroke before the age of 10!). Most of the symptoms seem to be migraine, but the numbness is throwing me off. The headache was not even that bad today, but I am not sure if it's because I took the advil immediately. my stomach got a little upset, not much. My vision was wavy like, and like someone said, like when the TV goes out. Once my left hand went numb, I got really scared.

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Posted by FutureMrsH

No one has the numbness??? I am getting checked out on 3/24. The problem is...and you doctors out there listen up!!!...the medical profession has a tendancy to descriminate when it comes to age. I have had this before and have been sent to the ER and the dr does not even look at me...just says i am having an anxiety attack and to go home. I had bronchitis & they try saying it's an anxiety attack! Meanwhile if i walked into a hospital w/ these symptoms at 60, they would admit me! I am very upset right now because this should not happen...not w/ a family history of nuerological issues (my mom had her 1st stroke before the age of 10!). Most of the symptoms seem to be migraine, but the numbness is throwing me off. The headache was not even that bad today, but I am not sure if it's because I took the advil immediately. my stomach got a little upset, not much. My vision was wavy like, and like someone said, like when the TV goes out. Once my left hand went numb, I got really scared.

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That's what concerned me when reading your symptoms; the numbness and the blurred vision as well (though I have heard of that as a symptom). Glad to hear you're getting it checked out. If your family has a history of neurological problems, your doctor should be a little more concerned. Do you take Advil Migraine, or regular Advil?

my migraines stem from the back of my head and i often feel numbing in that region of my head but i've never really thought much about it! i've just thought it was from the pain have you had a cat scan or mri? perhaps your should insist on one just to rule out any neurological problems. i understand your frustrations with MD's. my doctor has blamed my migraines on stress. umm hello, i've been getting them since i am 21 (i'm 29), are you really telling me i've been stressed, non stop, for 8 years??? i hate doctor's!!

also, i've had several prescription med's for migraines, but honestly 3 excedrins work better than anything i've been prescribed!!

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Posted by FutureMrsH

Do you have?
Complete numbness on your left side?
Tremors?
Completely blurred vision in one eye (not just a flash)?

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Yes, I have had all of those symptoms as well as nausea and sensitivity to light and that massive headache.

Hope you find a pain medicine that works for you!

Edited to add - I've had that numbness too and it is so scary. Go see the neurologist. They sent me for MRI & CAT scans just to make sure everythign was ok.

I get temporary numbness in my hands & 'Auras' (blurred vision) at the beginning of a migraine. Then tremendous pain on one side of my head, nausea, etc... for 7 + hours. I'm on daily meds. to prevent them it got so bad. I know a great Neorologist in Huntington if you need one, he really helped me.

I had migraines for years! And I too experienced numbness..my entire left side went numb (arm, face, leg). It was really scary..they thought for a second it might have been a stroke but after testing, determined it was a bad migraine. I was treated and felt fine..went on to have two more migraines but not as severe.

FM me if you have any questions...numbness is a classic symptom of a migraine.

The first sign for me is the 'floaties' in front of my eyes. Then come the horrendous pain and nausea. Of course, being the 'Princess of Doom', I always think I'm having a stroke so this then causes anxiety.

My sister had a stroke when she was 34 and they said it was caused by a 'silent migraine'. So, I guess you can have a migraine with out the pain.

I get really intense headaches, but don't know if they would be classified as migraines.

Can you help me?

The pain usually comes on suddenly and is very severe, usually on one side of my head, eye/forehead/temple area, sharp pain.
Sensitivity to light and sound.

Usually I just lay in bed with my head under the covers and try to sleep. Sometimes it hurts more to close my eyes then to keep them open.

BTW: My brother gets migraines, he gets the nausea, which I do not.

FutureMrsH .. Everything you wrote and said hit so close to home, and I really know your frustration about not being taken seriously by doctors when they see you are relatively young! I am glad you will be getting this checked into more thoroughly, but I cannot tell you how many times I took myself to the ER and was 'dismissed' The first neurologist I wennt to practically laughed at me when I was sitting in her office crying about the pain - its the most frustrating 'disease' out there because everyone thinks 'its only a headache, just DEAL with it'

I have experienced the numbness , and it is the most frightening thing out of all the symptoms (IMO) because you truly feel like there HAS to be a bigger reason than just a 'migraine' But it is actually a common symptom, so please try not to worry. WHen i first started getting migraines it would entirely be on my right side.. the feelign like someone was stabbing in the back of my neck, up into my head, behind my eye.. the numbneess going down my arm into my hand.. my vision was entirely blurry also.

I had 2 MRIs, cat scan - all came back fine. I truly didn't believe it could be a migraine since outside of the headache and numbness, I never got any of the 'traditional' migraine symptoms (I never got nauseous, or the 'aura' .. and for me laying down made it WORSE, whereas most traditional migraine sufferers feel better laying down in a dark room)

Until you have experienced any form of migraine, noone can quite understand what you are going through!

I have been to 3 different neurologists, a headache clinic in NYC , and unfortunately there is a difference of opinion on how to best treat migraines, since the same medications and treatment do not work for everyone. NONE of the 'traditional' migraine medications work for me - in fact, they made it worse. I was put on a tryicyclic antidepressant medication which has been proven successful in treating migraines, and it helped me greatly for about 6-7 months , but it was causing me so many side affects that I was forced to go off. Now I'm praying my migraines do not return -- for a few months I've been using a combination of natural herbs and vitamins that have been studies with success in preventing migraines from returning. It hasn't been 100% effective, but so far I'm keeping them at bay

I also recommend this website for information about migraines (and us fellow migraine suffers) as a valuable resource:


M.A.G.N.U.M. - MIgraine Association



Good Luck !!!!

Before I stopped the pill...I got these symptoms:

Blurred vision
Nubmness and tingling of the face
Slurred speech
followed by a headache
and the rest of the day and night i felt very weak.

With migraines, it is common to get 'stroke' symptoms.

Ever since I stopped the birth control pill I only got one in about 6 months which is a HUGE improvement.

ETA: If you are using Imitrex and it doesn't work...I now use Frova and it works wonders. If you get aura, you have to deal and wait for that to go away but it does wonders for the migraine itself.

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Posted by tp329

Ever since I stopped the birth control pill I only got one in about 6 months which is a HUGE improvement.

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You made me just realize that I haven't had a true migraine, since I went off the pill!

Thank you everyone for posting your experiences. I feel a little better today, although I STILL have a headache. I wish doctors would treat this more seriously...migraine sufferers do have about a 25% greater chance of stroke, and they should really monitor it better. MY left hand seems a bit week still. I am having a hard time typing a bit...just some fingures (my ring fingure for example). The new nuerologist is in smithtown, he now treats my mom. When I go there I am demanding a few things. I had an MRI done years ago when this first started and my nuerologist did not say too much about it. That was in 2000, so it's time for another one.

It's incredible how many of us have migraines.
My first one was very scary because I didn't know what was happening, got the 'floaties' aura but then myvision started blacking out, like I was fainting, and i think I had some numbness, too. I thought I was having a stroke or an aneurysm for sure.
I stopped taking the pill and I've had one migraine so far, and it wasn't so bad, but I always feel so weak after! Like the shakes or something.

Excedrin Migraine works for me to keep the pain manageable but I have to take it immediately upon getting the aura and with caffeine. I tried immitrex but the side effects were too much for me - worse than the migraine itself.