Adult onset of Migrain Headaches

[NMK]

My daughter-in-law has severe headaches. This all started when she was in the military. She had never had regular severe headaches before this time. They started after she had been in Mexico. Three days out she became very, very sick with a fever of over 103 + degrees F. They were going to airlift her the day her fever broke so she continued back to base. She has had an MRI and CAT scan. They can find nothing wrong. Some possible causes told to her are hormones, swelling of the lining of the brain, emotional reasons, and/or depression. They gave her the normal migraine drugs and anti-depressants, which made her sick. Then the doctor lied to her and gave her a “new med”, but when she went home and looked it up on the internet, it proved to be another “anti-depressant” She became angry and gave it back to the doctor in an angry way. Because these are military doctors and they will not allow her to see another doctor for a second opinion. Obviously, she and this doctor do not have a very trusting relationship as he thinks it is all emotional. She has one every day, some bad some not so bad. Some of them so bad she winds up in the emergency room, is knocked out, and sleeps for two days.

She can tell when a storm or clouds are coming before they arrive. Exercise triggers headaches. She sometimes has low blood pressure. She has had trouble with irregular periods. I would like to know what kind of doctor she should see… endocrinologist, chiropractor (she could have hurt her neck or back on her bunk) another neurologists, disease specialist or ?

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW]

Migraine headaches that start for the first time over the age of 40 years are suspicious and should be fully evaluated for another cause ie MRI etc. I do not know how old your daughterin law is.

Migraines can be triggered classically by exercise, stress, illness among other things - we do not know why

Presumably she may have had some kind of infection with the fever - if this infection affected the central nervous system, it could have led to chronic CSF drainage problems and increased rpessure in the spinal fluid space - this can cause regular severe headaches - diagnosis is by doing a spinal tap and measureing the CSF pressure

If migraine, and the headaches are frequent, one should use a mediaction to prevent migraine such as nadolol, topamax, or some meds used also as antidepressants but also effective in preventing migraine (such as amitryptaline, effexor). To treat acute attacks other medications can be used such as triptan, and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs. A headache neurologist would be the best person to see if one is available.

[racquelmorris]

Military life can be really stressful. Is it possible that your DIL is grinding her teeth? This can bring on a lot of severe headaches. A night gaurd can help and sometime surgery is needed to correct bite problems. When I was in my early 20's I started having severe headaches at least 4-5 times a week. I was in the ER at least once a week getting a shot because the rxs did not get into my systme in time and had full blown migraine. After many years of suffering I went to TMJ specialist. I tried the bite gaurd and soft diet. This helped some but did not correct it. Then I went to an oral surgeon who after a big work up found that my jaw grew incorrectly. This caused my bite to be off and was creating pressure on the condyles in my jaw. This pressure, popping, grinding in the joint was triggering the migraines. I ended up of having a lower osteotomy. A surgery I have never regretted even though recovery was very hard physically and mentally. Now I will have a migraine every few months. When they come now they are really bad and require ER trip however I went almost 10 years without a migraine following surgery. Only recently have my headaches returned and they are nothing like the ones I had prior to surgery.

[jan]

Often people get offended or misunderstand the dr. because they recommend antidepressants, but they are used for more than depression.  They are used often for pain mgt.

[FlowerDogsMom]

Hi - I am a "Chronic Daily Migraine" sufferer - and have become disabled by migraines. I have been unable to work for over 2 years because of the disease. I am 34. And, in my 3rd year of marriage. And migraines are ruining my plans for my life. My husband and I are having to make lots of adjustments. Like your daughter-in-law (I believe it was) I was diagnosed as an adult onset of migraines. Boom! One day they were there... I was treated locally...then after awhile I gave up when that wasn't working. I started researching who was great at migraine treatment and started going to Diamond Headache in Chicago. I went there for a year and a half every month and sometimes more than once a month. For the past year, I'm now a patient at Mayo Clinic. The migraines are no better, and I have many other problems. I've tried lots of alternative methods as well as daily preventative medications. And, yes, anti-depressants are huge in preventative migraine medications. So are anti-seizure medications. Basically, medications that change the brain chemistry of the migraine patient. Also, ones that work on the blood vessels. There are many excellent resources out there - I suggest support groups for migraines, or chronic pain. Also, The National Headache Foundation (which is online) has an excellent monthly newsletter - as well as a very informative website. Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, New England Center for Headaches, all have good information on the web.

I think it's possible your daughter-in-law may find what I found, and that is, if she requests her medical records back to high school, she may have had mild forms of migraines all along, just misdiagnosed/mistreated. That's what was discovered in my records. The migraines that send people to the dark, in bed, vomiting, etc...those are the more severe forms of migraine. There are lesser forms. And, people have headaches all the time but may not count them as "migraines" or mention them to their family or doctors until they are severe. I had no idea that was the case. I just never thought about it. I was told I had "sinus headaches" and sinus infections that were chronic, and severe allergies. I was sick all the time. My MRI and CT scans, though, never showed a sinus problem, and my physician never confessed that and sent me to a specialist. It wasn't until my late 20's that I saw a neurologist....and then found out that "sinus headaches" don't exist. They are migraines.

If I can be helpful or supportive for your daughter-in-law in any way, I'd be happy to. I have been told I have no more FDA approved medications for migraines to try. I've been through them all. Nothing has "cured" me. I'm on Topamax, Neurontin, Cymbalta, Metoprolol,and Seroquel all related to my migraines now. I have several other meds for other problems,too. I have similar triggers - weather pattern changes, any scented perfumes, soaps, etc, sleep - too much/too little, bright or flickering lights, loud noises, certain foods... I've tried alternative medicines related to TMJ, accupuncture, trigger point massage, electric sti mulation, chiropractic care, deep breathing, biofeedback, allergy testing, delayed allergy testing, herbal supplements, prayer....

I can go on, but you get the idea. Again, if I can help your daughter-in-law, my email is ***@****. Take care!

[needhelpandprayers]

i need help. my name is katy wilburn i am 16. my mom has been in the hospital for 3 weeks. every couple months she gets these realllly bad headaches and its kind of like vertigo but last night she had a seizure. all her scans have come back looking normal. i dont know what to do the doctors are stumped, and i am afraid that if we dont act now she will die. please if anyone can help we need you now. she also, along with myself, has an immune defficiency and get immunogloubulin every 3 weeks.  if there is any doctor that can help please i need you.   thank you
   katy

[plv]

TO ALL ABOVE CHECK OUT WHAT msg AND aspartame CAN DO TO YOU AND HOW THEY CAUSE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS.............I BET YOUR DIET IS FULL OF THE BOTH OF THEM ,,EVEN CHEWING GUM WILL CAUSE HEADACHES THEY ALL HAVE ASPARTAME IN THEM