UNUSUAL MIGRAINES

[zorothegreat]

My 21 year old son has suffered from the following symptoms for 12 years and has been told it is migraine. It is not a classic migraine. I wonder if anyone has any ideas - he has a migraine once a week and has had for the past 12 years. His migraine is usually in that he only has it on awakening in the morning - he never has one any other time of the day. He goes to bed the evening before and as he tries to wake up in the morning he has no vision at all and a blinding headache - his vision usually returns around 11a.m. and his headache lasts all day but usually subsides towards early evening. This is the same pattern of headache every week for last 12 years. We have been through all NHS avenues, he has had ct scan and we have tried alternative therapies and all diet related things over the years. He has tried lots of medication and nothing made any difference so now he is on no medication whatsoever.He has a good job but his sickness levels are now becoming a problem and we need to find a solution to this. Please help if you can - we have no more things to try.

[zorothegreat]

Many thanks for all your comments - i as hoping that someone would have the same symptoms i.e. only having migraine in the morning. I think he had an mri scan as well as a ct scan and at the time they mentioned a small cyst which they said was not causing his headaches and was harmless.  We have tried everything including excluding foods, drinks etc.

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine him I can not offer him the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that he needs, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about his health concern.

I can understand your worrying concern about long-term migraine headaches and no sure success treatments that you have tried. First & foremost, I would like to tell you that you should not try any medications without consulting a doctor since they can be very harmful in long term use although can provide a short term relief in your symptoms. The mainstay of the migraine treatment is always to identify the triggering factors and to avoid them. Triggering factors could be different foods such as cheese, chocolate, alcohol and even few fruits. Other factors that may induce your migraine attack may be pills, stress or depression, bright lights, loud noise and traveling. I would suggest careful record of events that have proceeded with the attack and avoid those factors. In addition, try to rest in a dark & quiet room, meditate, have a balanced diet and avoid taking unnecessary drugs. Even then, if you suffer continuous headache, please arrange an appointment with a neurologist right away who will evaluate the further underlying disorders here that may be the main reasons of your migraine attacks and can provide you an appropriate treatment. Hope this information proves helpful to you.Take Care & Regards!!!

[mmix1423]

i advise that your son gets an mri. a ct scan will not show alot of things trust me. cluster head aches are very common in men his age and have similar symptoms and certain types of brain tumors or cysts have similar symptoms. go to a different doctor until you find one that will give him an mri. i have had severe loss of vision with head aches that occur at the same time of day and had a ct that showed nothing. after 4 years of my doctor not listening, i found a doctor that would and got an mri a week later. I have a complicated cyst in the pineal region of my brain