My Experience of Migraines

When I was sitting my A-levels I started to get cluster headaches (although I didn't know what they were then) - this was my first attack, About 6 months ago I got them again and after several visits to the doctors and weeks of worrying that I have a brain tumour (or something else as equally serious due to the pain I was experiencing) I learnt that I ws experiencing Cluster headaches. My typical cluster headache cycle appear just before spring begins. The attacks generally last 4 to 8 weeks and I usually have between 2 - 5 intense attacks a day during this time, each one usually lasting about an hour to 2 hours and they often occur at night, and during the ...  Read the complete review

I didn't realise I suffered from migraine until I was in my thirties. Strange, really, because they do run in my family somewhat. However I had never really understood what distinguished a migraine from other headaches, until another migraine-sufferer explained it to me. * * * * * * * * * * * What does a migraine feel like? * * * * * * * * * * * * The 'aura' * Migraines are best known for the 'aura' that precedes them, which is often compared to seeing stars or flashing lights, or having the world appear in strange, wobbly colours. I have never seen anything as dramatic as this, which is why it didn't occur to me ...  Read the complete review

How many people out there can truly say they are migraine sufferers? Have you lost 3 days at a time of your life stuck in a dark room, avoiding all noise, avoiding movement, unable to relax or get comfortable, feeling extremely nauseated (leading to regularly being physically sick), scared to open your eyes because your vision has narrowed and it is like someone has a strobe light constantly flashing at you, and on top of all that you have a blinding headache, the pain of which you have never experienced before? Sometimes I might be lucky and only be out of action for a day or two. For me these are the signs and symptoms of the migraines I suffer, ...  Read the complete review

After years of misery, pain killers and lots of tests I was diagnosed with Chronic Daily Headaches. These are in the same group as migraines, they get the name cause I suffer from the pretty much all the time apart from the odd day here and there. They started when I was a teenager and have grown increasingly worse and more regularly. Initially I get pain through my right eye and cheek bone, this pain gradually works its way across my head. It's like a pressure in my head rather than a thudding headache if that makes sense. I find I have headaches usually 4 days out of 7 but sometimes I could have the headache lasting for a ...  Read the complete review

As several other people have commented under this heading: non-migraine sufferers have a patronising tendency to dismiss migraine attacks as merely headaches- when they are in fact a seriously disabling medical condition: and one which has been the bane of my life for the last few years! Migraine attacks are caused by a massive increase of blood flow to the brain, causing an intense, unbearable pulsing pain, which can also be accompanied by other fun symptoms such as severe nausea and aura (sensory disturbances, such as the appearance of flashing lights in your vision). Frustratingly, no one really knows WHY migraines happen, or why some people are more prone ...  Read the complete review