What do you take when you have a migraine?

[LoZoccolo]

I think someone said that Tylenol or aspirin doesn't work or makes it worse, so I was wondering what I should take. It's not a terrible one, it's just...annoying. I'd like to enjoy the rest of my evening.

[Skink]

1. Get in a dark room for a few...

[mopinko]

2. there are migraine blends

out there, like extra strenght exedrin, which is aspirin, tylenol and caffiene. you can get genreics of this. it works pretty well. ibuprophen works well for me. that's what i usually take.

[short bus president]

3. marijuana and sleep.

fucking migraines are EEEEEEEVIL! Mine always used to start with a weird visual disturbance, and then the minute that faded away I'd be slammed with an incapacitating headache. Haven't had one in almost 15 years now.

[fluffernutter]

6. same thing happens to me. i don't get them often,

but i still do every now and then. they were killer when i was a teenager tho :cry:

[short bus president]

12. I attribute my lack of migraines over the last 15 years

to my strict regimen of preventive schmoking. :smoke:

But yep - they made high school a real bitch for me. Even missing school was no fun when I was laid up in a dark room with a total absence of stimuli.

[fluffernutter]

15. is that otherwise known as

prophylactic pot? ;)

i didn't know that helped them. does it really? maybe that's why i never had one in college...

[FuzzySlippers]

8. I know this will shock you to the very fiber of your being

but not everyone has a big cache of weed.:P

[short bus president]

14. Hrm.

Perhaps this is why some people still suffer the migraines?

:P

[FuzzySlippers]

19. Yeah, like me.

Could you send me some, pretty please?:)

[short bus president]

23. I dunno WHAT yer talking about!

CRANK CALL! CRANK CALL!!!

:P

I'd love to hep ya Miss Fuzzy. But I'm afraid I don't know anyone in yer neck o' the woods.

[LoZoccolo]

9. Yeah I had the glowing blind spot that grew too...

...and after that the headache lowered the boom on me. It's not as bad as most of the aura ones I've had, but it's still a waste of time!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

13. Now THAT'S a real migraine!

I used to get them like that as well, after I got a knee behind the right ear, getting tackled playing touch football as a kid.

I took an elixer of Demerol and Ergotamine. Really. That's what they gave you back then.

[radwriter0555]

4. A trip to the chiropractor and a masseuse. Most migraines are tension

and crookedy neck related.

[fluffernutter]

5. ugh, i just had one the other morning.

i took some Excedrin Migraine with a horkin glass of water and closed my eyes until the aura spots went away, and it worked wonders.

hope you feel okay, they can really suck so bad.

[sam sarrha]

7. sometimes you can avoid them by not eating some foods.. like cheese and

red wine.. different people have differint 'triggers'.

some people can learn to stop or reduce the intensity of the event by biofeedback.. learning to will your hands warm when you feel the headache comming on.. you can learn to do that fairly easly.. it releases some chemical that effects the process..

surf biofeedback and migranes

[alfredo]

10. A hot shower, lot of liquids and rest. Ibuprophen might

help, some people respond to coffee. Everyone is different. Do what helps.

I use Imitrex, but that is prescription, and heavy duty.

I have heavy 3-4 day migraines.

[davsand]

18. Caffeine can help a lot.

Works to constrict those blood vessels in your head that are causing that pain. Take a couple of Ibuprofen and drink a glass of any high caffeine soda or even a cup of coffee.

I usually only get a few each year, and can usually head them off before it gets too bad.

If that caffeine won't kick it, I just take some kind of prescription pain killer. Depends on what I have in the house. The Doc writes me an annual scrip for something for Migraine--usually either Tylenol Three or Darvon.

[alfredo]

21. Duradrin is good.

but sometimes nothing works.

[lcordero]

11. viagra n/t

[warrens]

16. Here is what works for me, and the only thing that helps...for me

A Huge cup of really hot black coffee, sipped regularly, and Aleve. It gets the pain to recede enough so I can sleep. I've tried nearly everything and that is what works for me.

[vixengrl]

17. A sick day. But I know that's a little flippant, so here's what I do--

(I had what the sports docs call a "stinger" about five years ago, my head was smacked and my neck got popped in like a reverse Rock'em, Sock'em robot,and ever since, I've had tension headaches to add to the occasional menstrual migraine). I take it easy. I dim the lights--draw my shades, lower the brightness on my t.v. and computer screen, so I can still do what I normally do. Because I know my neck is responsible for a lot of my headachy-ness, I go for heat cures--along the base of my neck, where the troublesome muscles are. But for real throbby, *hot* kinds of migraines, sometimes an ice pack along the front of the head near the temples kind of...shrinks the blood vessels or whatever (I'm sure there is a scientific reason--sounds good.)

I have not found any pill that really does a good job on headaches, but some people swear by Excedrin. I drink extra water, and I do take Naproxen if I have back spasms with the headache--but Valerian and Damiana are two good herbal muscle relaxant-type things you might want to try. And take it easy! I think a headache is a sign you should baby yourself a bit.

[LoZoccolo]

20. Thank you all! n/t

[Maddy McCall]

22. Excedrin makes a Migraine formula now...

I swear by it. Best over-the-counter remedy available.

[Califooyah Operative]

25. YEA, excedrin.....

excedrin, excedrin migraine, excedrin headache, if you look at the ingredients their EXACTLY the same. They change the label so people think its different. Excedrin is the best for migraines, but dont take it more than a day or two in a row. Its easy to get addicted to and get rebound headaches. It's got caffeine which helps, but can keep you up.

[saracat]

24. Fiorinal.

Or its generic. Only thing that works for me. That and some caffeine .Rest and its gone in 15 Minutes!

[St. Jarvitude]

26. Day/Ny-Quil does the trick.

Either one works just as well for me, so it's not the al-ke-hol.

[On the Road]

27. Maxalt (prescription)

It's the nuclear option, but if a migraine goes full-blown, it's the only thing that stops a complete meltdown.

[sakabatou]

28. Tylenol and soft classical music.

Does wonders for me.

[Maine Mary]

29. You can buy gel filled eye patches that you keep cold in the fridge....

You take a couple of tylenol (preferably PM's- if you have the time for 8 hour's sleep)---- otherwise regular.

Make sure you are going to be nice, warm, snug, and un-interrupted by the telephone or anything else. While in bed, ask your SO to please massage the painful area. Believe it or not, it really helps.

And finally, the eyepatches... It may make you look somewhat silly but OMG,it-sure-does- help!!!! My (not so elequent) description of it is that it feels like the pain is be "sucked out of you". My sister,an RN claims that what the gel eye patch does is constrict both the veins and arteries (in that area) thus shutting off the painful pounding.

All I can say is that it works for me and you might want to try it. :-)

Ps-My advice for you was meant for someome having a severe headche or migraine pain. But always ask your doctor about anything new.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. Multiphase approach

I usually wake up with them. If there's no nausea involved (and if there is, the only cure is throwing up), I employ the following methods in order:

The hottest shower I can stand, aiming it especially at the neck, shoulders, and face
Strong coffee
Tylenol
Hot Asian soup for lunch (My local Vietnamese restaurant serves a killer soup with red pepper, lemongrass, tomato, and pineapple)

[yellowdogintexas]

31. a nurse told me this one:

600 mg ibuprofen
800 mg tylenol
CocaCola to wash it down.

It does help


I used to get these near migraines monthly before I had "the surgery", now I seldom have them. Funniest thing, I used to crave frenchfries and coke when I would get these headaches..kept my stomach settled, though.

Now I only get them if my neck gets in a strange position and compresses a nerve or whatever it does that triggers it. Heat compress helps a lot, sleep also.

[Baja Margie]

32. Oh shit MIGRANES !!!

Drink some really cold straight pepsi and knock yourself out with Excedrin PM's.


I've had migranes all my life, and now I'm on Elevil - 20mg. per night. Your Internist should decide if this is the route for you, because there are different types of migranes. The elevil at low doses acts as a muscle relaxant, and only in a Blue Moon do I get them now, strangest thing, I get them when the barometer makes a sudden change.

Someone around here knows about herbal and natural treatments, but I don't know who that is or what the treatments are. I'm staying with elevil.