Mental Illness and Migraines

Hi Amber - Yes, I've suffered from migraines just about all my adult life. They are just hideous and mine are severe (they completely incapacitate me - I get sensative to light and noise, and spend the entire time throwing up. just yuk). Mainly they are related to my period (ie tend to come on monthly), but also triggered by stress (also, alas, wine 😞 )

But I've never had as many as you and your son in a week - that must be terrible! (most I have got them are fortnightly), which was quite enough. And I'm not sure if there is a link between mental illness and migraines. Definitely think genetics play a role too (my mum and my nana had them)

The biggest thing for me is medication - catching it early with imigran. I also try and minimise triggers as much as possible - avoiding red wine, MSG. I think exercise has also helped manage stress.

Have you talked to your doctor and/or a psychiatrist about it?

Just did a bit of a search online and there is some research to suggest a link between migraine and bipolar:

see:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032798000822

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006.00469.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

As well as affective disorders:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10194-010-0282-4

Hi Amber,

How debilitating for both of you! It is amazing that you function at all.

Yes I have bp and I suffer from migraines. I don't get them very often any more thank god. I'll list what I have sussed about mine and hopefully some of it might help:

Reducing them by:

- keep well hydrated, plenty of water particularly

- minimise caffeine (max 2-3 cuppas/day for me) and alcohol intake

- wear sunglasses on bright days (don't need to be flash -from the harware store about $15) even if cloudy and/or mid-winter

- minimise stress, lots of quiet time, as high BP makes them worse/more frequent

- sleeping well, if not sleeping try to rest in bed during "usual' sleep hours (even if reading because a bit racey or triggered)

- avoid SSRI drugs (my worst ever migraines, unrelenting for weeks and could barely function, caused by these meds) not recommended for bp anyway I'm told by my psych

- deal with the underlying (emotional and/or physical) issues causing the tension

Treatment:

- when needed treat it early if possible; rest, quiet, paracetamol, sleep, Mersyndol, Imigran (worked for me when I could get the nazal spray) - in roughly that order

- strangely someone once told me that having a caffeine hit (Coke or latte) with ibuprofen (and food) was good, and it did work for me sometimes but as both of these are not great to take lots of I don't use this one any more

- avoid Tramadol as a treatment (some doctors prefer it), made my nausea worse - also very slow acting

I hope at least some of this is helpful. It is amazing that you can care for yourself let alone your son too. Take care.

Best regards,

Kristin

I'm the same, I've always suffered headaches and migraines and last year started getting what I labled pop up migraines. They'd appear out of nowhere, make a lot of noise and then go. Mind you I'd have to lie down with a heat pack on my head but it'd be all over inside half an hour. I ended up on a massive daily dose of asprin in an attempt to prevent them which did work but obviously I couldn't keep that level of asprin up so thankfully they seem to have abated back to a more managable level again.

My kids are also prone to migraine and my dad is on medication for them so guessing it's genetic in our family.

This is a very interesting topic for me. I have got migraines for the past 2 years or so & never been able to pin point what triggers it.

I agree with what some of you have said about catching it early - dark room, closed eyes, paracetamol.

There has been 1 thing that has worked as a preventative is going to the Oesteopath - apparently I'm quite tense in my shoulders and clench my jaw - and the Oesteopath helps out with that.

Thanks for bringing up the topic - it's given me some tips.

I clench my jaw too - have to catch myself and make myself relax. Some of that deep breathing stuff helps there!

Thank you so much everyone - I didn't think there would be so many helpful replies. I have been down many paths to no avail - allergy specialist (food), acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopath, massage etc., dental mouthguard, tablets, preventative tablets, pain specialist, injections into my head. The only thing I am left with is to take imigran with two extra strength panadeines and go to bed. Unfortunately, I am allergic to asprin and antiflammatories so I can't take them.

I do find that stress has an affect on how many migraines I get. Many years ago I ended up in hospital with a suspected brain tumour, which they ended up saying was "only a migraine". It went on for days.

My son has recently been prescribed special glasses with prism lenses. They are rose tinted. He is finding them helpful, but not a total solution. I said I would get him a pair of prism sunglasses for Christmas.

I also know that you can have an operation to cut the nerve down the side of your neck to stop the pain signals, but I think it may be a bit risky. Botox is another option, but very expensive.

I will follow up some of your links however. I am ever hopeful.

Amber

Hi Amber,

I notice some others mention jaw-clenching, which you appear to suffer from too if you've tried a mouthguard. This is something I have suffered from very much, to the extent of breaking a tooth and damaging others. I don't tend to grind them. The worst part about it is that when I am extremely stressed by triggers associated with my past (particularly being abused) I clench my teeth when asleep, not in the daytime. I can even go to bed and try to consciously relax my jaw to sleep normally, but in my sleep I will clench my jaw and twist my head as far to the left as possible. This causes extremely bad migraines.

When I was doing a course last year with Eastern CASA I went through a couple of weeks of this and could barely function because of the migraines I was suffering. The two things that helped alleviate it were working directly on the trauma, both in therapy and using midfulness techniques to allow some distance from the intensity of my distress; and having very gentle relaxation masssage (especially head /neck /back /shoulders) from someone very respectful and professional who could cope with me sobbing my heart out. At the time I was going through this I realised that the clenching and neck twisting is something I have tended to do when triggered, which in turn was causing most of my migraines.

I now get very few migraines thank goodness, as I finally seem to be less inclined to clench my jaw or twist my neck when asleep.

I hope this might shed some light on some possible things to look out for/try with your migraines.

Kind regards,

Kristin