Fibromyalgia headaches and migraines.

[Buffy1970]

Has treatment been effective or been a waste of time?  
(Another note:  has anything made headaches/migraines worse?)

[artlife111]

my husband also divorced me because of my sickness...fibro and migraines.  I am so sorry to hear that.

[Buffy1970]

Hang in there you guys.  

To post your vote to the poll don't forget to hit the "vote" button.

Gotta run.  Head's killing me.

[FurballsMom]

The poll didn't even show the right results.  My migraines are only somewhat controlled by meds.  I have had better results from Botox.

[pinkcourage]

Hi there! I been having bad headaches and so sensitive to light and my eyes hurt so much, but it only last for a few days and also came with burning in my arms and pain in my neck, back and hands, I think is a flare up, normal for me especially when I am stress out, a lot a things going on with my life now, I have a breast lump biopsy coming up soon so I think is because of that. What I try is breathing exercise, meditate, think positive and happy things, I know it is hard but within days I star thinking and doing things that distract myself from the pain, of course that's when the headache goes away, other wise will be impossible, lol ... keep been positive my friends, makes wonders.
Regards

[geminigirl1963]

I had migraines off and on growing up - mostly seemed menstrual cycle related.  However, since both my lupus and fibro diagnoses, these migraines have gottten much worse and much more frequent.  I know for a fact they are no longer menstrual cycle related as I've had a complete hysterectomy.

My doctor recently tried me on Imitrex to see if it would help the migraines.  My first dose shot my BP up to 178/106 and gave me horrid chest pains.  I wasn't 100% positive it was from the meds or if the headache had just "gotten away from me", as my BP does go up when I'm having one (I also get horrible nausea/vomiting that can sometimes cause stomach pains, but never chest pains).  So the next time I felt a headache coming on, I tried the Imitrex again and had th esame reaction, so I've not taken any more and my doc has advised me to definitely stay away from it.  He has referred me to a neurologist just to make sure that there isn't anything else going on other than "regular" migraines.

I've found a couple of things that sometimes do trigger my migraines - chocolate if I've eaten too much (a little is ok, but if I eat too much I'm in trouble); MSG has always caused me problems, so I avoid it if at all possible; too much caffeine - while a little is good and will actually help a headache, too much for me will cause one; dairy/milk - I had an actual milk allergy as a child and still to this day, if I consume too much (like a bowl of cereal in the morning and cheese during the same day), it can bring on a headache.

Some people have found artificial sweeteners and/or gluten bring on their headaches.  I've tested both for extended periods of time and neither one affect my headaches at all.

Right now, I'm mostly only treating symptoms when they occur - anti nausea meds, pain meds, stay in a quiet, dark room, etc., etc.  I do sometimes find that an ice pack on the back of my neck will help ease the pain some.  I also sometimes put a cool cloth over my eyes when I'm laying down trying to get a headache under control - that sometimes seems to not only help a little with pain, but also the nausea (but of course, the pain brings on the nausea so it could be just when the pain subsides, so does the nausea)

Doc is now trying me on an old BP med that he said they have also found to be helpful with migraines sometimes.  I do normally have trouble with my BP, so trying this new med (for me) hopefully will help both issues.

I do also sometimes get what they refer to as "abdominal migraines" where the symptoms are GI related - the tightening in the abdomen, nausea, pain, etc. - they usually do end up expanding into a "headache" migraine, but not always.

My appointment with the neuro isn't until January 4, so cointinuing with current "treatment" and dealing with them as best as I can.  It's horrible when a miserable headache keeps you from enjoying friends and family - especially at this time of year.

[Phtartist]

NoLights, thank you for sharing your info. I never knew this about migraine. I always thought of them as only head related.
I had for a while had tightening in my diaphragm for days with pain. At the end it would kind of explode upward and cause me to be in a fugue state, coherent but not able to communicate.  Could that be migraine? It was always post stress.

Buffy, any time I see a post I can relate to, it's you LOl.  I take Topamax also.
I have had migraines since puberty. They worsened in the late 90's. 9008 I had a constant migraines with pain 5 days a week, sometimes a cluster migraine.
Topamax cut that down to almost zero. Adjusting to the med was strange. Warning, do not go to someone else's family party adjusting to this med LMBO. I think they call me the weirdo next door now. :-o

I still have CDH, chronic daily headache but it is more related to neck muscles and the Lymes.

[NoLights]

I have atypical migraines which attack the same area as the fibromyalgia...intestines. I get nausea, bone pain in my core area and intestional distress with a slight headache. Feels like the flu. I take topomax for the migraines morning and night which helps. I am so light sensitive that I have to stay home most of the time and have blackout shades. The diet for migraine is different than fibromyalgia so I walk the fence and follow a modified diet that is organic and healthy. Hard to get exercise. I have no friends. My husband divorced me when I got sick and could not make money anymore. Try to keep a up attitude as much as possible. Researching Stanford Study for Fibromyalgia and Migraines.