A right royal pain in the...........head! :~0 (My Experience of Migraines)

Member Name: sparkymarky1973

Product:	My Experience of Migraines
Date:	29/07/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I have found something to ease my discomfort....

Disadvantages: It is only a matter of time before I get another attack...

The world is divided into two kinds of people; those who suffer from the agony of migraines and those who dismiss migraines as "just a bad head-ache!" This latter cateogory of people have obviously never suffered an attack as I can speak from experience that migraines are a bitter pill to swallow!!

I am lucky in that I only suffer infrequently and that most of mine are only brought on after periods of extremely bad stress; this is as opposed to ordinary stress which I suffer regulary in my day-to-day job as a chef in a busy kitchen. For me, I normally get an attack the next day or several hours later when everything has calmed down. But I also can get them when there is no hint of any stress around me either! Why this is ~ I don't know, but if I am going to get a migraine through stress, it is always sometime later as I attempt to relax never at the moment of heightened anxiety! The symptoms for me include being unable to bear any forms of light, needing absolute quiet as any sound threatens to make me want to scream and scream and an unbearable pressure on my frontal lobes- normally on the right side of my forehead. If I can sense the onset of a migraine quick enough, and you need to be quick as they come on like a tornado with very little warning sign except to someone who is very alert to the possibility of an attack, then sometimes a paracetamol or ibroprufen will work and prevent a full blown assault. On most instances though, there is very little warning or I just feel as though I am very tired and then the storm breaks and I am no good for anything!!! These prelimary symptoms I describe as stress-headaches as they are not bad enough for me to call them migraines. For me, my definition of a migraine only starts when I have become totally put out of action and cannot move without it causing me pain and agony.

There is a solution that I have found helps me enormously and that are Kool 'N' Soothe patches. I am not going into exact details, as I will save that for a review of the product itself, but basically these are cool gel patches that you keep sealed in a packet in your bathroom cabinet until needed at which point, you remove one, cut to size and stick to your forehead in the most afflicted area. I normally find that if I apply one of these, stick my head under the duvet or eliminate all natural or unnatural light from my room and have a nap for say two-to three hours, then when I wake up, unless it is a paticulary bad attack (I have gone through three of these patches at my migraine's worst) then I will be feeling better. For some reason, they don't seem to work for me unless I have a doze but if I just doze off without one, and this is aimed at you cynics out there who might suggest that all I need is a good sleep, then the attack usually persists with greater force. These patches are the only thing I have ever found that for me seem to work.

Other symptoms that fellow sufferers have reported to me but that I don't often get myself include sweats, spots before your eyes and total dizziness. But even without any of these, a true migraine is not to be sniffed at. We sufferers know just how bad an attack can be and it is quite hurtful to suggest that is all in our heads though that is, by a migraine's very nature, at least partly true! :)

Certain foods have been supposedly proven to aggravate migraines and these are labelled as "head-ache foods". These include strong coffee, dairy produce, chocolate and bread. If you begin an attack then it is probably best to avoid these products. Personally I have never found my diet made any difference but that could be because, at the time, I am more concerned with my head not exploding like that bloke that was in the opening scenes of Scanners!! And though this may sound like an exaggeration, I do actually feel sometimes that, in the midst of an attack, my head will just split like a ripe watermelon from the intensity of the pressure! When a migraine is at it's height, it is surprising just how irrational your thoughts can become. I find my entire thought process is turned on it's axis- no doubt because my brain switches off non-essential functions to try and fight such a savage attack.

My sympathies lie with those who suffer more frequently and with a stronger condition than me. It has been a while now since my last proper migraine but I know that I have not seen the back of them and that one day they will return...

Summary: I hope this helps fellow sufferers!!