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Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

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41–50 of 57 posts

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#41
I found some relief by holding my breath several times a day (using Wim Hof's breathing protocol).

Not sure about the mechanism of action, but it seems that breath-holding causes vasodilation in the brain.

See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10472977

And: https://www.migrainekey.com/blog/10-reasons-why-the-wim-hof-...

(disclaimer: IANAMD)

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#42

My migraines have mostly gone away now that I exercise regularly. For me it was cardiovascular. I'd see an aura and I'd get ready for the pain when I was a kid. Later in life I discovered that taking a simple Advil as soon as I saw the migraine would head it off. When I was a kid chocolate covered almonds and OJ would almost always hit me with a migraine. I discovered this by keeping a journal of what I ate. Changes…

I used to suffer from painful and paralyzing migraines, especially when sunny days took over bad weather. I don't have any anymore. A few years ago, I decided to carry Ibuprofen wherever I'd go and take 400 mg as soon as I felt it would come. Doing this for a duration of 6 months made them become less and less frequent. My father who was also suffering migraines told me he had met a doctor that gave him the same advi…

how much savoury food do you eat?

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#43
I usually have strong auras and medium pain, and it can take between weeks and months between attacks, though recently I had an attack two days in a row and I felt like I had aura-like issues with my vision for weeks. Not a fun time.

Most of my experience is typical and mirrors things already mentioned in this thread:

Triggers are a combination of stress, lack of sleep, strong light (particularly sunlight), and sudden increase in coffeine intake (people have mentioned a change both ways, and I'll have to pay attention if that's the case). Possibly red wine and nuts, but I don't think they're big factors.

Regular exercise seems to decrease the frequency, and 400mg of Ibuprofen taken once I notice the aura helps the pain.

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#44
Quick temperature changes. Bright light. Weather changes. Wearing something tight-fitting on the head. Large changes in stress level. Caffeine withdrawal is a big one. Getting 10 hours of sleep (first night) then 5-6 hours of sleep (second night) is a common cause for me.

I think the #1 underlying cause for me has been not getting enough hydration (or having electrolyte imbalances), though. As I've upped my daily fluid intake, they are occurring less often in general.

Though, it's changed over time. At one point my most common trigger was stress. Since I've changed jobs, that also has helped reduce the frequency, very noticeably (was getting multiple a week at a stressful/hated job)

It's odd because different days, different pain meds seem to work better. Aleve/Naproxen has the best overall efficacy for me, though. That, and/or putting something cold on my face and neck and being in a darker room.

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#45

Does anyone else get migraines from... relaxing? Like having a few weeks of from work? Like I can wake up and after having enjoyed a full night of sleep and a steady breakfast and have the aura break out one hour after waking up. Christmas, easter, long weekends etc are times when I expect them to arrive. As a child and young adult I just came to the conclusion that I got em when they felt on arriving.... They were m…

Back in my previous job I was super-stressed non-stop through the week, so I got used to that being the default - and then would wake up with a migraine every single saturday morning as my body didn't know how to handle happiness :P

Eventually it got so bad that I was going blind and having amnesia in work, so I went to the doctor - she suggested that going from high-to-low stress would cause headaches, and high-to-extremely-high would cause blindness and amnesia, so I should try taking a break from work.

Shortly after that I got an offer from another company, which turned out to be a much healthier place to work, and I've been fine ever since :)

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#46
How I reduced my headache frequency by at least an order of magnitude. I still suffer from sinus headaches, but that physical cause is easier to deal with than other causes.

1. Take a long vacation someplace where it's possible to stay the entire day in bed with no light & no sound. (2-4 weeks).

2. Gradually reduce caffeine intake over the first half of the vacation, with no caffeine for the second half. Suffer through the withdrawal.

3. Go back to work, using caffeine in small amounts only for medicinal purposes. (Caffeine + ibuprofen works a lot better than just ibuprofen)

4. Fix sleep issues. The lack of caffeine will make this a lot simpler.

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#47

Does anyone else get migraines from... relaxing? Like having a few weeks of from work? Like I can wake up and after having enjoyed a full night of sleep and a steady breakfast and have the aura break out one hour after waking up. Christmas, easter, long weekends etc are times when I expect them to arrive. As a child and young adult I just came to the conclusion that I got em when they felt on arriving.... They were m…

I've heard that lots of people have headaches during the weekend (I know there's a difference between regular headaches and migraines though), which is caused by caffeine withdrawal. Some people drink way more coffee during weekdays than they realize, and they don't as much during the weekends, causing the withdrawal.

Maybe that fits a little bit with your experience?

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#48
post #36

Long term migraine-with-aura-without-headache patient here. I've found reddit's /r/migraine to be a pretty good resource/support group over the years. I've not been able to find a source, in spite of years of logging all kinds of data. The only thing I have noticed, but which I don't want to contemplate, is that I have more frequent migraines when I have more sex. Much fun. I take magnesium supplements and sometimes…

You're not alone:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sex-headaches...

Use of porn can aggravate the condition:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030384671...

Here's a support forum for related conditions (warning: not secure http):

http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#49
post #47

Does anyone else get migraines from... relaxing? Like having a few weeks of from work? Like I can wake up and after having enjoyed a full night of sleep and a steady breakfast and have the aura break out one hour after waking up. Christmas, easter, long weekends etc are times when I expect them to arrive. As a child and young adult I just came to the conclusion that I got em when they felt on arriving.... They were m…

I've heard that lots of people have headaches during the weekend (I know there's a difference between regular headaches and migraines though), which is caused by caffeine withdrawal. Some people drink way more coffee during weekdays than they realize, and they don't as much during the weekends, causing the withdrawal. Maybe that fits a little bit with your experience?

The coffee situation is actually the reverse for me. The coffee at work is the worst and I refuse to drink it heh. So I only have the one in the morning.

On the weekends I enjoy multiple cups but when I get an attack then I usually only would have had time for one since I mostly get them early after waking up.

Edit: I'm prolly a bad example on migraine triggers. I sleep too little, I use a lot of nicotine, I don't eat breakfast, I go out multiple times a week, I eat too little during the weekdays...

Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?

#50

My migraines have mostly gone away now that I exercise regularly. For me it was cardiovascular. I'd see an aura and I'd get ready for the pain when I was a kid. Later in life I discovered that taking a simple Advil as soon as I saw the migraine would head it off. When I was a kid chocolate covered almonds and OJ would almost always hit me with a migraine. I discovered this by keeping a journal of what I ate. Changes…

I used to suffer from painful and paralyzing migraines, especially when sunny days took over bad weather. I don't have any anymore. A few years ago, I decided to carry Ibuprofen wherever I'd go and take 400 mg as soon as I felt it would come. Doing this for a duration of 6 months made them become less and less frequent. My father who was also suffering migraines told me he had met a doctor that gave him the same advi…

Glad to hear. When I was a kid the doc prescribed T3s since normal Tylenol wasn't working. I wish we would have tried other fixes first because T3s barely helped. They would just make me high and didn't solve the underlying problem.
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