9 migranes in 6 weeks

[PatriciaWaitley]

Hello, I am really here because my husband has had 9 migranes in the past 6 weeks. He is 39 years old and has never had any real health problems. He runs 5 miles 4 times a week ans swears he is healthy. I began logging his migranes in Septmeber and had him see an optomitrist to rule out his eyes. She stated that his eyes and glasses had no reason to cause such migranes. We went to our GP an dshe ordered a CT scan, but the insurance company recommended an MRI. He got the results back 4 days ago. Although I did not speak to the GP, my husband satted that the MRI showed nothing wrong in his brain. The doctor said there are 2 unspecified spots on his brain that she is not worried about. I am still worried. What are unspecified spots??? My husband has refused to tell me when he has a headache anymore because he believes I am overreacting. Am I?

[penn1023]

Try going on Magnesium Glycinate 200mg 3x a day or 250 mg 2x a day. I have not had a migraine in six months. It's takes a month or so to take effect.

[marileew]

Hi there!

An abnormal MRI result does not always indicate disease, which is why a doctor needs to look at the results in order to interpret them. If the doctor says that the MRIs are fine, then they should be fine. Sometimes spots on an MRI can just be mistakes or shadows, probably because of movement during the MRI. Also, I believe that sometimes there can be small amounts of plaques or even small lesions in the brain that absolutely do not indicate disease and can be completely normal and asymptomatic. A doctor would know if this is the case, and so a doctor would tell you if any sort of abnormal result would indicate any sort of concern. It's a relief that the MRI results showed nothing wrong with his brain as in cases of migraine, usually an MRI result should show nothing wrong with the brain, so it is good that this was the case for your husband.

Migraine is a genetic neurological disease that people are born with. A person can be extremely healthy and still get migraine headaches every now and again because they were born with the neurological disease migraine. It is possible that a person may not suffer a migraine attack for many years and then one day they will. The reason for this can have to do with age or with migraine triggers. Migraines are very connected to hormone levels and hormone levels change as we age, which is why migraines can appear and disappear during different times in our lives (for some people they may disappear during adulthood or begin during adulthood). Migraines also have triggers, most of which are outside of our control, such as weather changes and seasonal allergies, although sometimes they are within our control such as stress levels and certain food triggers (such as red wine, caffeine withdrawal and MSG). If your husband recently experienced any sort of change in his life (physical, mental or emotional) this could explain why the migraines have appeared just recently.

Migraines don't have a cure, but they can be prevented and controlled to some degree and they can also be aborted quite effectively with acute medication.

Did the doctor prescribe anything for your husband's migraine headaches, for him to use as an acute treatment? I ask this because if your husband it getting a lot of migraine headaches, it is important that he does not rely solely on over-the-counter pain killers such as Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen to treat his migraine headaches. Using these types of pain killers multiple times a week WILL cause rebound migraine headaches and that means he will get more migraine headaches. It is important that your husband get a prescription for acute migraine medication, a class of medication called Triptans, especially if he is suffering from multiple migraines a month. Triptans will not cause rebound headaches and will abort the migraine headache and stop all associated migraine symptoms including nausea and aura. I am not a doctor so I cannot suggest medications, but I personally believe that fast acting triptans (Orally disintegrating tablets or Nasal Sprays) are the best triptans out there because they will work in 10-30 minutes where as the regular tablet versions of the triptans will usually take at least an hour to work. Examples of fast acting triptans are: Zomig Nasal Spray (what I use), Zomig-ZMT, Maxalt-MLT and Imitrex Injection (although the Injection Triptans are only prescribed in the most severe cases usually after all other triptans have been tried, so don't ask for the Injection kind).

Penn1023 made a great suggestion with the Magnesium, as that is one preventative measure that can be taken to reduce the amount and severity of migraine attacks. Magnesium, at high-doses, can have some side-effects such as stomach upset, so if your husband experienced such side-effects at 600mg a day, then scientific studies has been shown that anywhere from 400mg to 600mg is effective for the preventative treatment of migraines and he could go down to 400mg and have the magnesium still be effective. Your husband should also check with his doctor before taking anything over the recommended daily dose of magnesium, which I believe is somewhere between 300mg-400mg... although as long as your husband does not have other health conditions and is not taking other medications, your family doctor should approve the magnesium. I personally take anywhere from 300mg to 600mg of Magnesium citrate a day, and so I think that the magnesium is great (although due to stomach upset issues, I think not going over 400mg a day at first is a good idea).

The other two supplements that have been shown to prevent migraine headaches are 400mg of Vitamin B2 a day and 300mg of Coenzyme Q10 a day. Again, your husband should always check with his doctor prior to taking anything over the recommended daily dose of these vitamins.

I know how awful migraine headaches can be... I get chronic migraine headaches myself and they are very disabling, so I completely understand your concern for your husband's situation. I wish your husband the best. Let us know how it goes.

[roflol]

Sorry if you have mentioned this anywhere, but are these 9 migraines the first ever for your husband, or does he have a prior history with a recent increase in episodes?  

To expand on what marilee mentioned - you mentioned he is active with jogging.  Two things I wonder about.  I don't know where you are, but where we are there are still active pollens, molds, etc, and perhaps he is sensitive to something that's now in the air he's jogging through?  

Also here the weather patterns have been rollercoasting with the barometric pressure being up and then down, temperatures high then low, and as a result even my increased dose of Topamax fails nearly every other day, and that's not normal.  These are just considerations to keep in mind; maybe they've already been ruled out?

As marilee stated, triggers are so very key and it's important to find out what your husband's triggers are.  If they are something he can control, great!  If not, time to up the ante with chemicals.

Penn1023, I had not heard about mag glycinate before... will have to look into that and give it a whack.  I don't think I can up the Topamax any more... that extra 50 mg daily really makes me dumber than a box of rocks!  :-]  But I'm glad the stuff's around; it usually works like it should, and when it doesn't quite work it still reduces the pain of any migraines I do get and buys me a little more time to get to the Imitrex tabs or shots.  :D

[roflol]

Sorry, did not address your final question and it a *very good question*.  

Are you overreacting?  You're his wife and you care... that's a good thing.  But maybe just follow his lead right now.

Migraines by themselves are not fatal (last I heard).  They hurt like the dickens and can feel like we're dying, but usually they eventually go away and sounds like in his case he gets a decent break of several days between them.  

So keep tabs on him and help him where you can, but if it gets to the point where he is withholding information because of what he considers an extreme reaction on your part you just might have to back off and let him take control of his own situation.

If it gets worse and he doesn't seem interested in finding out causes or seeking something that will help reduce them, gently ask why.  Maybe he's afraid it's something worse than he's been told?

[whisperwolf]

Just a couple of clarifications;

People who get migraines can have spots on their MRI.  Untreated migraines can make a person more susceptible to a stroke because the blood flow in the brain messed up, or even a heart attack because of a raise in blood pressure.  

I take Imitrex as an abortive (to stop) a migraine, but recently had to be put on Topamax to help prevent them as I was starting to have them every day.  It has made a huge difference.  Sometimes I still have to to go the ER to get a IV of a "headache cocktail" if those meds don't work.  


Tell your husband not to give up getting help.  The Opthlmalagist's job is to rule out eye problems and the brain scans rule out brain lesions.  So now he needs to see a neurologist to get on the right Migraine medication!