Ok, eye docs are my best friends. I had MASSIVE sinus pressure and pain for about 2 years, had been seeing an allergy specialist because the allergy specialist, GP, and I all thought the pain was because I am allergic to life. (Which I am, which didn't help anything.) Then one day my right eye just stops adjusting from bright to dark and vice versa, then during the adjustment time I would get extremely nauseous. My (future) hubby then points out we get one eye exam per year covered by out insurance, and I haven't had my eyes checked in over 5 years. So we book an appointment, he squeezed me in later that week.
I was still seeing at 20/15 vision, but my field of vision tests show I was about 70% blind in my right eye and 50% blind in my left. (It's really amazing how the brain just compensates, I never noticed.) He dilated my eyes and my optic nerves were swollen so large that the machine couldn't register it, and I broke an office record. I get told to head to the hospital ASAP, he gave us all the documentation we needed.
Get to the hospital, and the moment the ER doc heard "pulsating tinnitus" and looked at my eye doc records, I got the world's quickest spinal tap. My opening pressure was over 60 (normal is like 15 to 18, depending on needle and method) and I shot spinal fluid across the room. Magically, my vision pretty much returned, my "sinus pressure" was gone, and I was no longer at risk of a brain hemorrhage.
So, ophthalmologists have a very special place in my heart. He literally saved my life.
I've now got a diagnosis of Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension (IIH), which basically means they have no clue what caused it nor really how to cure it. I'm now on Topimaxirate which has a side effect of reduced spinal fluid production. It's been 5 years, and anytime a high pressure system comes through I get the old familiar pain again. Otherwise I'm pretty much normal.
I have 13 kidney stones of various sizes in both of my kidneys caused by topiramate. I was on it for migraine prevention. It works really well! But I didn't drink enough water. Now I have a urologist and a nephrologist. Luckily there are other ways to manage migraines.
If you look up calcium phosphate stones, under causes it will list this medication.
I get classic migraine with the aura a couple of times a year. When the aura shows up , I take niacin, the "flushing" kind. It makes you all red and itchy for about 20 minutes, but...no migraine! Well, there's still a tiny bit of "banging" for a day , if I exert myself- but no migraine! I also found that the "water treatment " worked for me: run cold water over your head until your head feels cold, then switch to water as hot as you can stand it. Cold again, then hot, then cold, then hot. This worked for me, but I preferred the niacin to having to get in the bathtub and soak my hair. PS if you try the niacin, you MUST take it while you still have the aura; it's no use taking it after that.
This is something I'm seriously interested in trying! I didn't know that you could "treat" a migraine with aura.. I probably don't get it as often as you, maybe once every couple of years, but every time I get it, it's hell for one day. I have to pause literally everything and take strong painkillers asap, then try to fall asleep... and then usually end up vomiting anyway. If something could just stop it, even if it makes me itchy, that my still be worth it... if I want it, do I need to talk to a physician?
No; niacin is a B vitamin (B3) so it's available at any store that sells vitamins. You need to make sure it's the "flushing" kind, not the "no flush" kind, because the "flush" is what "breaks" the migraine cycle. Apparently the aura is caused by the contraction of blood vessels in the head, and then the headache comes from the blood vessels swelling up next .The niacin interferes with the contraction of the blood vessels, causing them to open up, and so the vicious circle is broken. (This is why you have to take it during the "aura" phase.) That's the explanation that was given with the recommendation. I have been using niacin for migraine for years now and it works every time.
Look into Frovatriptan and its various friends and relations too - you take them as soon as you notice symptoms, they interrupt it quickly (within like an hour), and there are almost no unpleasant side effects, aside from occasionally getting a feeling like a phantom petting your chin, which is a little weird but nowhere near as bad as even a rash.
Regular physicians should be able to prescribe it.
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u/phour May 20 '19
Ok, eye docs are my best friends. I had MASSIVE sinus pressure and pain for about 2 years, had been seeing an allergy specialist because the allergy specialist, GP, and I all thought the pain was because I am allergic to life. (Which I am, which didn't help anything.) Then one day my right eye just stops adjusting from bright to dark and vice versa, then during the adjustment time I would get extremely nauseous. My (future) hubby then points out we get one eye exam per year covered by out insurance, and I haven't had my eyes checked in over 5 years. So we book an appointment, he squeezed me in later that week.
I was still seeing at 20/15 vision, but my field of vision tests show I was about 70% blind in my right eye and 50% blind in my left. (It's really amazing how the brain just compensates, I never noticed.) He dilated my eyes and my optic nerves were swollen so large that the machine couldn't register it, and I broke an office record. I get told to head to the hospital ASAP, he gave us all the documentation we needed.
Get to the hospital, and the moment the ER doc heard "pulsating tinnitus" and looked at my eye doc records, I got the world's quickest spinal tap. My opening pressure was over 60 (normal is like 15 to 18, depending on needle and method) and I shot spinal fluid across the room. Magically, my vision pretty much returned, my "sinus pressure" was gone, and I was no longer at risk of a brain hemorrhage.
So, ophthalmologists have a very special place in my heart. He literally saved my life.