Make my migraine stop, PLEASE

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I keep getting migraines with certain sensory overloads (bright or flashing lights, sharp sounds, some smells)--headache, nausea, dizziness. It's gotten worse and more frequent the past year, but I'm wondering if it's partly the stress of the new diagnosis, trying to find a new psychiatrist who doesn't treat me like an idiot or a faker, talking to work about accommodation, etc. I also get allergies so it could be relating to the advent of spring.

A trigger can set off a migraine for days. This latest one has lasted for 14 days (triggered by bright sunlight) and all I could do is just go to bed today. Over-the-counter stuff doesn't work.

Any suggestions? is this common for ASD? or something non-ASD? what helps you?

I guess migraines must be more common if you often experience sensory overload, but migraines are a circulatory problem that's often genetic and sometimes caused by some specific drugs. It's linked to abnormal blood pressure in some cases. Women have more migraines because of periods.
Wear sunglasses, stay in the dark, avoid watching screens and blue lights (blue and white lights trigger migraines contrary to yellow and red ones, a few experiments have shown evidence of this), drink something loaded with caffeine (a large cup of black coffee = about 100 mg caffeine works for milder migraines), and once you've read this message turn off your computer and other light and sound sources, it's all you can do immediately. (And contrary to the rumor, chocolate doesn't give migraines, you can actually eat dark bitter chocolate to relieve pain a bit.)
From experience, whatever GPs say, level 1 painkillers are rarely effective for medium and severe migraines, as they work much better for the more classical tension headaches. The only medications that are known to work very well against true migraines are prescription only ones (often a background treatment like some beta-blocker for example, treatments for attacks combining a triptan against the migraine itself and metoclopramide against nausea), and a neurologist specialized in migraines will find the right combination for you. Opioids are sometimes given but only if nothing else works, doctors often prefer to prescribe triptans ; not every triptan works for everyone so it often requires trying several molecules until you find the right one for you.
GPs rarely know what exactly to prescribe, and if you can't wait for an appointment with a neurologist specialized in migraine management, I'd suggest that you directly go to the ER to see one. You'll be given painkillers there. You'll get injections or an IV if you can't swallow anything. Psychiatrists don't know what to prescribe for migraines, as they aren't specialists.

Sorry to read about the migraines being experienced. I imagine they could be caused by a number of different reasons. In my family, a member figured out he develops terrible migraine type headaches after drinking diet soda. He believes it could be the artificial sweetener causing the problem. Even taking a few sips of a diet drink will cause him issues.

My sister can develop them also, and last I heard she hadn't figured out a solution to what causes the migraines. Thankfully, if you can say that, the migraines happen infrequetnly for her.

A health information sight I enjoy is Dr. Briffa's. One of his articles has a mention on how he found magnesium supplements helped some patients over come migraines. It can be read below. He also found that some pain medications, instead of preventing can cause bad headaches.

"The headache pills that cause headaches"

http://www.drbriffa.com/2012/09/21/the- ... headaches/

In the past I've even find to the emergency room for migraines. I get them much less often now. I believe mine are partially hormone-related. Certain other things do trigger them, however.

Anyway, a cup of black tea works best for me. Not coffee, for whatever reason; I think my body doesn't react well to coffee. Painkillers don't usually help, unless taken in the very beginning. Perhaps prescription ones work better.

Sounds like a form of cluster headache! Im no physician, but had a friend who has them and she uses oxygen to relieve, I heard there was another medication aswell recently, i cant remember off the top of my head, but as soon as mi do i will post it here... But let your doc know, which im sure you may have done already! and plenty of water/electrolytes... as as you probably know, can increase migraine tension aswell if dehydrated

You could try asking a doc/psych to let you try a beta-blocker. They're sometimes used to help with stress & can help migraines. My mom used to get headaches fairly regularly before she started one. She was very stressed out with her job.

So I wound up in the emergency room with the headaches and vomiting. The vomiting turned out to be a bleeding ulcer and they thought the headaches were either from the anemia caused by the ulcer, or by the very obvious case of sleep apnea the nurses observed while I was sleeping. They admitted me for three days so they could give me three units of blood and an endoscopy. Now I have to try the CPAP breathing machine again which I HATE because It feels like I'm being smothered.

Have you tried to identify which sensory issues are causing the headaches? If you can create a sensory profile for yourself to identify certain triggers, it will help you to understand what to avoid.

Yes, I'm pretty clear on what are triggers, but they are hard to avoid. Most of them are part of my commute to work (on a subway train)--sirens or horns honking as I walk to the station, sunlight, florescent lights, flashing lights, loud noises, if the train's loudspeaker is too loud, perfume, the burning smell from the train's brakes. I do wear sunglasses and earplugs, but sometimes I don't think to do so until it's too late.

My mother used to suffer from migraines and found caffeine actually helped. Apparently it restricts the blood vessels, which can lessen the pain. She always had diet coke on stand by.

I've had a low-level migraine for days. It comes and goes. The caffeine makes it go temporarily. I actually do not typically get extreme migraines anymore. When I was a kid, I would be in immense pain for hours.

I get tension headaches, too. Very often. I hate them.

But I never got auras or nausea. I'm one of those people that practically never throws up. I have had optical migraines a few times. Very odd experience. I couldn't see properly because of a hazy gray crescent that appeared in my vision in one eye for hours. It happened maybe twice over the span of a few weeks and never again.

But anyway, of those people that get severe ones, I think they usually get better over the years...But before that typically people just have to suffer. Medicines and treatments don't seem to work well.

Hi, GodzillaWoman. I hope you're well today.

I get migraines, too, and they do progress to the point of vomiting. Taking any kind of pain reliever while I was in the midst of a migraine seemed to give me an upset stomach, and I would vomit. But then one day, I forget how or why, I discovered that if I didn't try to 'tough out' a headache, and 'wait to see' if it would become a migraine, I could take 600 mgs. of ibuprofen, and the headache wouldn't ever turn into a migraine, and I would never get sick. If I feel a slight headache these days, I just take the ibuprofen, and I don't feel bad about it. It's better than getting a migraine!

I do think everyone is different, and responds to treatments differently, though. Also, you have to find medicines and treatments that work with your body chemistry, and medications you already take, and conditions you might already have. Avoiding triggers is another solution I see you're already working on. I've found that lentils give me a migraine, so I don't eat them.

Here's a link with a bunch of herbal things that you could learn about, and maybe try, too. I'd research herbs just as carefully as medicines, though! Some herbs are very strong, or have side effects you'd want to avoid. Use your best judgement!

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... s&tbm=shop

My wife finds some relief in caffeine as well.

Instead of drinking coffee or Pepsi Cola she will sometimes use "NoDoze" (spelling?), a product used to keep you awake when driving, etc. Each of these little pills is the equivalent to one cup of coffee. She says they all work about the same, for her.

World Health Organization pdf - Headache disorders is on page 70, chapter 3.3:

http://www.who.int/mental_health/neurol ... lenges.pdf


You might also want to read this pdf from the WHO about malnutrition, which mentions migraine:

http://www.who.int/mental_health/neurol ... lenges.pdf