Migrains

[freqlord]

Cluster headaches started from my Dad and passed on to me. I had gotten them a few times before I joined the Army and now, I get them at least monthly where it feels as though someone took an axe to my skull and started to scalp me at the same time. Don't jack around with primary care, go straight to a neurologist. In fact, if I can find the docs name I'll PM you.

[Gman]

So how do you guys even get to sleep during a migraine? Sounds like a nightmare to me.

You don't...at least not very well. When you finally get past it, sleeping is about all you want to do.

I sometimes get positional headaches from congenital Arnold-Chiari malformation. I call them "blinders" and I usually wake up with them. It's similar to a "spinal headache" if you've ever had a spinal tap/lumbar puncture. I didn't realize my skull was too small for my brain until I was in my mid-twenties. I had a migraine that lasted for 3 days, blew my nose, and then had a weird light sensation in my left eye...like someone was shining a flashlight toward my eye. CAT scan made it look like I was hydrocephalic. I had ultrasounds of my eyes and optic nerves, and several MRIs later, the neurologists knew what I had. I had blown out a blood vessel in my left optic nerve...and I had a congenital deformity.

I've lived with headaches since I was about 13, so I can still function. I just don't try to do complicated math in my head. My parents never understood and thought I just didn't want to cut the grass in upper 90's TX heat.

They've been better since I moved to CO. If I get overheated or dehydrated, I can also get severe migraines. I haven't had one so bad that I was vomiting in quite a while.

I also will get immediate onset headaches when the barometric pressure changes. I can usually tell how bad a storm will be hours in advance.

Get the kiddo checked out. Make sure it's nothing serious. Could just be a phase and he may grow out of them. Best of wishes to you guys!

[10mm-man]

Man I am always blown away by this forum! When I have something I want answered, I post, and generally someone responds either from experience or with a backed up fact. I knew someone on here would have experience with the issue, but never figured so many people!

Once again thank for the well wishes and comments! Doc is clearing a spot for him and will get him on to the neurologist..... Tomorrow I will know more.

[Special Ed]

Gman, you've got A-C malformation too? Holy shit! I've got a killer scar on the back of my head and neck from the A-C decompression surgery I had 12 years ago. I am also minus my C-1 vertebrae and part of the back of my skull but in their place I got a bovine heart tissue implant they installed to open my CSF path into the head from the spine. For three years after the surgery I had zero headaches...and then all hell broke loose again.

10mm-man, please keep us posted on your son's progress.

[Gman]

Yeah. First neurosurgeon consult said I needed a "re-roof job" to take my skull apart and then put it back together with spacers between sections to increase the volume. Others were talking about a shunt to allow the flow out of the ventricles. I've chosen to deal with the headaches and other issues. I had a flow test done via MRI and imaging contrast. My malformation isn't so severe that I'm always affected, but some mornings it's a bitch to get out of bed and start the work day.

Prayers to you, Ed. It's something you really can't describe to people in a way they can really understand what it's like.

I'm also having issues with C-5/C-6 foramenal stenosis. I have the joy of at-home traction to boot. Old sports injuries coming back to haunt me with gout and arthritis....Wheeee!!!

I wonder what it must be like to be pain free most of your life, because I think i had one of those days about 4 years ago. I just keep on keeping on....and some day, I know I'll be leaving this damaged shell behind me.

[Special Ed]

I had become pretty much useless, Gman, and the neurosurgeon said that it would likely only get worse but still told me I could wait on the surgery. "It's only going to get worse?!?!?...Cut me open!" I have to say that had I known how painful the recovery was going to be, I would have likely opted to deal with the headaches instead. I would rather have clusters, migraines and meningitis again before undergoing that surgery. The good news is that it did what it was supposed to. The MRI of my brain before and after show quite a change in the room in the back of my head. And the scar....shit tons of fun when you go to get a haircut. I always flinch when they cut across my scar even though I can't feel a thing there. I almost feel bad for the girls because I suppose it's a mean joke to make them think they hurt me

Sorry you're dealing with so much pain, brother. I hope you have more of those rare good days.

[Richard K]

I've been lucky not to have been cursed with them, but my wife had them daily for years (same synptoms as your son) She tried a lot of different meds, none of which helped. She learned of a new procedure that entails a "brow lift". A plastic surgeon implants, for lack of a better word, threads that pull the skin of the forehead up into the hairline. It's been two years and she's only had one or two migraines since. It was expensive and not covered by insurance (then). As the procedure becomes more commonplace maybe insurance will cover it. Good luck with your son, my wife's were certainly debilitating.

[gnihcraes]

Gman/Special Ed, know what ya mean.

Brain AVM, birth defect, didn't know until age 34.

Bleed/Stroke 2001, gamma knife 2002, surgery 2012.

Need my subtitle changed to Drain Bamage.

MRI 10/2012


Post surgery.

[Special Ed]

That's one hell of an impressive incision, gnihcraes! How has the recovery been?

[MED]

I started to get them after I had West Nile.

My triggers are stress, dehydration, and caffeine.

The best thing I can tell you about migraines are know the early symptoms. If you catch it early, you can avoid the major symptoms. I know I am getting one when I start seeing auras, and my vision becomes impaired. If I take a large dose of liquid filled ibuprofen within 5-10 minutes, I won’t get a migraine. If I don’t, then I will get pretty sick.

Every person is different. Make sure he is well hydrated at all times. Definitely watch his water intake vs. diuretics.