Stroke risk greater for migraine sufferers

[wildflower]

LONDON (Reuters) - Migraine sufferers are twice as likely to have a stroke as people who are not afflicted with the debilitating headaches, Canadian and American scientists say.

A review of 14 studies into the link between the headaches and stroke showed patients who have auras, or light effects, with their migraine are even more at risk.

"The results of our study strongly suggest that migraine may be an independent risk factor for stroke," Ali Samii, a neurologist at the University of Washington, said in a report published online by the British Medical Journal on Monday.

Three studies in the review indicated that women who have migraines and who take oral contraceptives were up to 8 times more likely to have a stroke than those not taking the pill.

Samii and Mayhar Etminan, of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and their colleagues who collaborated on the review, believe the raised risk is due to the reduced blood flow to the brain that occurs during a migraine.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=637653

[aquart]

1. Gee, thanks.

[wildflower]

3. Sorry...should I not post health news here?

I had another health news item to post but I'm wondering if I should post it in the health care forum.

[The empressof all]

2. Great.....

I woke up with the mother of all migraines this morning. I'm amazed I can even prop myself up here to post this.

I only get them once or twice a year but they are the most miserable painful things one can suffer with. I wonder if I hang my head over the side of the bed if that would increase the blood flow to the brain!

Can't wait for the drugs to kick in.

[thecrow]

4. Try taking a course of elavil for six months

I used to get sledge hammer migraines but then my Dr. put me on a course of elavil for six months. After that ... NO PAIN! only I still do get the aura but that passes quickly and is a definite improvement over lying for days with a sledge hammer hitting your head.

[The empressof all]

7. Thanks

But since I get them so rarely, I don't want to take anything on a daily basis to prevent something that happens once or twice a year.
When I was younger I got them more frequently but since I hit 40 they have decreased. I still get benefit from the old tried and true Fioranal with caffeine. The medication and a dark cool room work wonders and I'm usually good to go again in 6 to 8 hours. I do have great sympathy for those who suffer more frequently than I do. I have a good friend who has had good results with Imitrex.

[Tace]

8. Yeah, I Went 25 Years With Severe Cluster Headaches -- Elavil Works

Cluster headaches are similar to migraines. Doctors tried about 25 different drugs when I was in my teens, but nothing worked. Then, about eight years ago, I got a severe attack of them, and Elavil worked like a miracle. I took the Elavil for several years as a preventative. Now, I just take it when they return. Also, the side effects aren't too bad. Helps sleep at night too. Cheers.

[yorkiemommie1]

10. my daughter takes elavil too

a very tiny dose. it works for her. this is scary about the strokes though.

[floritexas dem]

18. elavil rocks

I take 10mg every night. It not only means I get fewer migraines, but the ones that do make it through are more responsive to drugs.

Scary about the stroke risk, but not really new - the last couple times I've gone in to renew my BC pill prescription, I've been quizzed on my migraines. They seemed OK with giving them to me once I told them I don't get auras, so I guess that's an important factor.

The other tip I got from my doctor is over-the-counter -- the advil liqui-gels go into your bloodstream much faster than pills, so they work well if you can catch the pain early.

[flygal]

31. Water water water...

I swear this helped me. Drink it till your urine runs clear. Also, take some aleve and eat some starch (potatoes are good). I had migranes in college - I think they were associated with stress.

[flamingyouth]

5. It actually is not terribly surprising

When I get a really bad migraine, my blood pressure also skyrockets. Migraines suck, to put it mildly.

[thecrow]

6. I had the mother of all auras once...

swimming through the hallucinations as it were...
But then I was also having a stroke.
I've had migraines all my life, taken all sorts of "remedies" and a six month course of elavil was the winner. (see below)
It makes more sense to get to the migraine before it gets to you.
One home remedy that worked was a shot of whiskey and a couple of aspirins when the migraine came on. This was also pretty good, but not as effective as the elavil.
I don't know why it worked, only that it did.

[Tace]

9. With Clusters, Alcohol Is Bad -- I Chug Hot, Black Coffee

It helps with the particular headache, but I think I get rebound headaches as a result.

[TahitiNut]

12. There is such a thing as a caffeine withdrawal headache.

I periodically "go on the caffeine wagon" ... and I'll invariably get withdrawal headaches starting on the second day.

[Stand and Fight]

11. Oh fan-frickin-tastic!!!

Guess I have to be wary of one more thing in life now! LOL

;)

[bluedeminredstate]

13. I've had them since age 11

I'll be 43 in two days. Nothing has ever worked to prevent them and I've tried every Goddamn thing there is from Elavil and other antidepressants to anti seizure meds to Imitrix to blood pressure meds to heart meds - calcium channel blockers.
I find if you hit it early and hit it hard with pain meds that'll do the trick. A lot of people freak over narcotics, but having done this for over thirty years I feel like I've tried it all and I know what works for me.

[ilovenicepeople]

15. A pre-emtpive Happy Birthday to you bluedeminredstate!!

:party: :toast: :party:

[dansolo]

19. Have you tried Maxalt?

Maxalt is the first thing that I have tried that works on my migraines, and I have gone through many failed attempts to find anything that would work for me.

[ender]

25. yeh...

due to the nature of my headaches, the only thing that the doctor will give me is narcotics.

some people are terrified of them, some people abuse them, and for some people, they are the only thing standing between them, and a very serious health issue.

its a shame that some doctors are afraid to prescribe these drugs when theyre needed, for fear of retribution of some type.

[bluedeminredstate]

29. I have a very nice pain doc

and if you're in DC we may have the same one! I've tried all the triptans in answer to the poster above. Nothing. The h/a's just come back and no doctor will let me take any triptan more than once a day for days on end.
I've had 9 day h/a's before and that's no way to live.
There's a witch hunt on docs that prescribe pain meds for legitimate pain. For the life of me I don't know why they put up with the aggrevation. In my case I'm glad they do...

[depakid]

27. depakote worked great for me

I hadn't had a migraine in over 5 years on the stuff. Recently titrated off it- and lo and behold- I had a doozy on Saturday- with nothing to take for it. Aspirin, as you know, doesn't do shit- so basically I just turned off all the lights, had the obligatory pukes and just lay there dealt with the searing pain. And finally got to sleep. But man, I was ragged all the next day. Those things fry your circuits.

I used to use cafergot- and that worked OK- provided that I took it right as the flashy lights started and got somewhere quiet and preferably dark.

Threre is a new class of meds available now called triptans that apparently work much better for relief, but my understanding is that you don't want to overuse them. Bad for the blood pressure is what I hear- which is not a good thing, considering that this article says we have a heightened risk of stroke.

Not that that surprises me....

[nashville_brook]

14. nice... i had a migraine all weekend! n/t

[megatherium]

16. Swell. I had a migraine with aura just last night.

Kind of a scary experience: I had scintillating scotoma (flicky effects in my vision with zones of blindness in parts of my vision). I took ibuprofen and benadryl which dulled the headache.

I get migraine with aura only every couple of years or so (but I think I get migraines without aura more often, like when I wake up with a bad headache that doesn't seem to be connected with my sinuses). The neurologist on call mentioned prescription medicines for me to get, so I'll being seeing the doctor hopefully this week.

Of course, it's my own damned fault: I ate migraine triggers like a pig at a Christmas party the previous evening, and I had a Reuben for lunch yesterday (Swiss and saurkreut, and nitrates, are triggers).

I hope the stroke bit doesn't apply to me, since I am fairly active and slender (I'm a runner). I had an MRI (MRA) for this three years ago, nothing abnormal about my blood vessels.

[davidinalameda]

17. my ex gets migraines

I just him a link to this


thanks for posting it

[GregW]

20. I used to be completely debilitated by migraines until ...

I discovered Imitrex. This wonderful drug gave me my life back, to the extent that I have had NO downtime due to migraines in the past year.

[Sgent]

21. Caffine...

My neurologist suggested that I eliminate caffine -- by eliminating one soda a week. He said any more quickley could cause migraines...

Something else that has helped me -- according to him, Naproxen (Alieve) was the primary anti-migraine medication before the news ones came out (Maxalt, Imitrex, etc.). When I have gotten caught without any medication, I find that 2 Aleive can work in many cases. If not, I head for the narcotics, as the news ones haven't worked for me.

[CountAllVotes]

22. be careful with any of these ibuprofen drugs

They cause your blood pressure to go up. I found out the hard way myself as I have migraines as well and was taking tons of ibuprofen. Next thing I know, I've got high blood pressure. I cut way down on the ibuprofen and I now taking Vicroprofen for the headaches. Vicroprofen has only 200 mg. of ibuprofen in it - not 900 mg. as some forms of ibuprofen have.

My blood pressure returned to normal since I got out those huge doses of ibuprofen. They don't bother to tell you about this "side effect" of a seemingly innocuous over-the-counter drug. Pretty scary stuff IMO and as for migraines, I've been getting them for 20 years now and I'm sure they took cause your blood pressure to go up just because having pain causes it to go up.

Be careful and be your own doctor if you can.

[thecrow]

30. Aleve is not ibuprofen; it is naproxen sodium

and it has been long used for arthritis pain.
I'm taking it now instead of Celebrex.

[CountAllVotes]

33. still the same, naproxen is of the same drug class at ibuprofen

I know, I used to work for a pharmacist - its called a "NSAID" = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ...

Be careful in any event.

[Eurobabe]

23. migraines result of magnesium deficiency?

I have been researching this all week, for another topic. My neighbor gets them too, I've had a couple of the ones with visual field disturbances. So far, magnesium supplementation looks like a promising thing, don't know the mechanism, but it is an electrolyte imbalance.

Alot of it is hormonal too (aren't we women blessed??).

[depakid]

28. Hormones are part of the mix

migraines are genetic- although the etiology includes "triggers" and environmental variables.

Interestingly enough, it's commonly comorbid with Bipolar II- a condition which is also affected by hormonal interaction.

I hadn't heard of the magnesium deficiency thing. I'm pretty good with the vitamins, but maybe I ought to be taking more magnesium or being careful to see whether I'm absorbing it right.

Thanks for the tip.

BTW the International Headache Society has an excellent site with new 2004 headache classifications.

http://216.25.100.131/members/Sections/members/login/Temp_Frame/frameset_26_06_02.htm

[karlrschneider]

24. That's discomforting, my SO has migraines...

:-(

[gaia_gardener]

26. I'm not really surprised

the first migraine I had, I thought it was an aneurysm, then I wished it was. I just wanted it to explode and put me out of my misery.

My grandmother had a massive aneurysm at 57 and I've always been a little leary about my headaches. I really need to get to the doctor and have them put me a little more at ease.

[genieroze]

32. I knew this, have migraines, had two mini strokes.

The strokes scared the crap out of me. Gotta stay away from those triggers.

[tokenlib]

34. Thanks for posting this...

Some of us never get to the issue specific forums. I'm another headache person--who finds this "joyous" news. Sarcasm aside, the headaches are bad enough. Thank God for the meds--I use a cocktail of Ibuprofen and Tramadol. Though as with many of you I try different things every few years it seems.