contant headaches

Since the sudden death of my grandmother I have had migraines. I went to Nurologist and he diagnosed me with migraines. They are sometimes intenses with the feeling of passing out comes over me. It scares me and I since them I have become somewhat of a hyprocondriact. I have all kinds of test ran and they have found nothing. I use dual monitors at work and thought maybe I should go see an eye doctor. Does anyone else have the same symptons? They are sudden feeling of passing out, burning in the face, followed by a headache that last 3-5 days, and the feeling of being sick.

[marileew]

Dear chick0,

I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your grandmother. My condolences go out to you and your family.

The loss of a family member is an immense loss and a great amount of stress. What you are going through right now is extremely difficult.

Migraines are a neurological disease that we are born with, but individual migraine attacks are triggered by individual stimulus such as the weather, food as well as physical, mental and emotional stress. Any sort of change in our lives can trigger a migraine, so it makes perfect sense to me that your migraines are worse right now.

In order to control your individual migraine attacks, it is important that you have a good acute treatment plan. First line treatment for migraines are triptans. There are currently seven triptans on the market, plus one triptan that is also mixed with an NSAID called Naproxen. I believe that fast acting triptans are the best in most situations because they work the fastest. Fast acting triptans come in orally disintegrating tablets or nasal sprays. I personally use Zomig Nasal Spray and find it works extremely well. I also have found great success with Maxalt-MLTs. Although, everyone is different and all of the triptans on the market have been proven effective in clinical trials, so please discuss with your doctor which triptan would be the most appropriate in your situation.

Other acute Migraine medications include analgesics and antiemetics. An analgesic that is often prescribed for migraine headaches is Naproxen. It is often advised that over-the-counter analgesics should be avoided since they are usually not very effective and can cause rebound headaches. So instead of treating a migraine headache with an over-the-counter analgesic, please talk to your doctor about prescription for a suitable migraine medication first.

Antiemetics are another option. Antiemetics are normally prescribed to control nausea and vomiting. Metoclopramide is a good medication to discuss with your doctor because not only does it stop the nausea and vomiting associated with migraine headaches, but it will also help to stop the pain associated with migraine headaches. Metocloprmaide can be taken even if you do not experience nausea and vomiting, it can be taken along with triptans and analgesics in order to improve the pain killing power of your other migraine medications.

It is important to take your acute migraine medications at the first sign of a migraine attack. Do not wait for the headache to get bad. If you take your acute migraine medication at the first sign of a migraine attack, then you will abort the migraine and stop it from taking place.

I think that your idea of going to an eye doctor is a good idea. I went to an eye doctor, got glasses, and it helped reduce the number of my migraine attacks as eye strain can be a migraine trigger.

Remember though, migraine is a neurological disease that we are born with and there is no cure for migraines... BUT, you can successful control migraine attacks by avoiding triggers (such as eye strain) and by using acute migraine medication at the first sign of a migraine attack.

I hope that helps. Again, I am very sorry to hear about your loss. If you ever need to talk, I'm around. You can always send me a message on MedHelp or leave a note on my MedHelp profile.

- marilee

[chick0]

Thank you so much for your answer--I have made an eye appointment and hopefully all goes well. Thanks for your condolenses--they are greatly apprciated.
have a great day

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you?  My condolences also to you and your family.
How was your appointment with your eye doctor? What test were done?  You may also benefit from a complete blood count to rule out anemia, hypoglycemia/diabetes or other medical conditions that may cause you to experience syncope or feeling of passing out. Take care and do keep us posted.