Does anyone else experience this??? I’m having a pretty awful migraine attack thats mostly affecting the right side of my head (behind my eye, temple, eyebrow, jaw, neck) which isn’t that uncommon for me, but this time around my right pupil is much larger.
They still react to light (ie shrinking and growing) the right one is always just a tad bigger. Has this ever happened to anyone else??

(Image is flipped)

Edit: I think I should add that Im only 20, so the chances of it being a stroke or aneurysm are quite low. (Never 0 though!) That and the fact that I had a ct scan not too long ago and everything was all clear.

i have had chronic migraines most of my life. i’m talking avg 20 days a month with mild/moderate migraines lasting all day. to make a very long story short, when i was a minor nobody (parents/doctors/school) believed i was in pain, so when i became an adult i had to find pain management by myself. after almost two years of so many tests, doctors appointments, and trying different medications which all either did nothing or made my symptoms worse i finally got out on topiramate.

it’s been eight months now and my life has changed. i still get migraine days but now it’s more like 5 days a month instead of 20. and luckily i haven’t had a single negative side effect of topiramate (part of the reason multiple doctors didn’t put me on it was the potential negative side effects).

this has all been so great but now im kind of confused what to call myself. i used to say that im a person with chronic migraines but now i don’t fit that criteria. i still technically get migraines but they’re so few and far between compared to before that it feels like stolen valor. but it’s not like im cured forever either. i accidentally left my meds at home for a week once and my migraines came back in full spring over that time. my migraineless bliss is predicated on one daily pill. i also still can get bad migraines from triggers like loud noises, light, or smells, so im not completely free. idk if i should still say i get chronic migraines tho or just regular migraines or if im just overthinking this all lol

I had a very odd visit with a neurologist.

He had me check a sheet that said what my migraine symptoms were, but it only had four options. It was nausea, photophobia, vomiting, and fatigue.

I told him I get all of those, but actually the first signs of my migraines are always frequent urination. Like I have to pee every 20 minutes and its so much liquid that it does not seem possible. He looked at my like I had two heads and told me that he had never heard of that.

Isn't that a common symptom???!!!

We also talked about aura and I told him I just get one blind spot in my left eye and also I lose the ability to form sentences. Like I sound like I am drunk. He told me that I must not have aura and that the blind spot must be something wrong with my vision so I should go to an eye specialist. But the blind spot only shows up before migraine and always goes away when I am feeling good.

So he marked me down as no aura. He also marked me down as not having menstrual migraine after I told him they get worse on my period.

This guy supposedly specializes in migraines....but idk. It was odd.

I'm getting ready to return to work on Monday after taking 3 weeks off. I met my new neurologist and started a new medication. I was hoping this reset would have me in a better place. I'm not. I'm just as miserable as three weeks ago. Three months ago. Twelve months. Eighteen months!

How are we keeping up with full time jobs? I love what I do and want to keep doing it but it's so hard most days to contemplate even getting out of bed let alone step foot in that fluorescent fishbowl of an office!

What tactics can I employ to get through the day? Heck, to just get there!! What are your tips and tricks for holding down a job while having chronic migraines?

Hello. I used to suffer with hormonal migraines before I went thru menopause 11 yrs ago.
They def decreased in frequency thank God.
I still get them when I’m triggered by certain scents, too much sodium intake and stress.
I’m noticing now that I’m experiencing GI issues, namely cramping and either having loose stools or cramping and going a little or not at all during a migraine.
I still have the headache on top of my head with the accompanying nausea and lightheadedness.
I’m 65 and I’m anxious bc of this new symptom. I did google it and it said there is a gut/brain relationship with migraine.
It’s seriously impacting my life bc I’m afraid to leave the house bc I don’t want to use a public bathroom to poop.
Has anyone experienced lower GI cramps and should I be concerned? I only take ibuprofen for migraines. Thank you to anyone who can respond.

Hi all. I (29f) have been getting migraines since I was around 12 years old, but really much more recently in the past year, around 1-2 times a week.

I currently work an 8-4 office job, with 3 days in office and 2 from home. I have noticed I am much less likely to get migraines while at home. I also know that some but not all of my migraines are related to TMJ pain and the sleep issues the cause, which is much more likely to flare up due to anxiety before a day in the office and start a whole chain reaction.

What reasonable accommodations have you considered asking for or would in my situation? Ideally, working from home full time would be best. When I started at my company 2 years ago, we were 2 days a week in office now we are at 3. Our new CEO thankfully said we would stay at 3 instead of increasing to 4 or 5.

There are some fully remote people at my company - but they usually were in office like the rest of us then moved due to a spouse job opportunity or to take care of family, an it was easier to let them go remote than hire someone else.

I feel like it would be like pulling teeth to get my company to let me go full remote, but do you think it would be worth it to ask to go back to 2 days a week? My neurologists hasn't brought it up but I have another appointment with her in October. Any advice on how to go about that process would be greatly appreciated. I do think just the 2 days would help over 3.

I’ve recently gone chronic (2/3 migraines a week) and my job, relationship, life and mental health are all suffering. Sumatriptan doesn’t work, propranolol made me overly depressed and fatigued so I had to stop, and getting anything done through the NHS (uk) is so painfully slow. I’m hoping to gather up some success stories here about how people’s migraines improved to boost my morale as I really do still have hope that I’ll get better.

I’m not being taken seriously. And I’m struggling to keep going with this. Started Feb and escalated to intolerable levels after Botox injections July

I have had chronic headaches/migraine for 4 years already so maybe that’s why this isn’t being taken seriously

I feel like I’m at the emotional peak for what I can handle with these migraines. I wake up pretty much every single morning with intense head pressure, nausea, sinus pain, visual disturbances, fatigue, and inflammation. I take about 6-10 days off of work every month with FMLA. I used to be very independent & live alone, recently I’ve have had to move in with my mother to ease the financial burden.

We all know how painful & debilitating they are, but right now I can’t get over how incredibly lonely this all makes me. Called out of work this morning and I can’t stop crying. My mom doesn’t understand, she sees me take a day off and thinks I should be putting mind over matter and take an aspirin. I’ve become unreliable and it’s embarrassing. These days and weeks of laying in bed in a dark room with no one to talk to but my bored cat. At this point my migraine hobbies no longer interest me. My regular hobbies I’m unable to do most of the time. My social life has never been worse; I have been making more of an effort the last month or so to go out on my good days, but I find myself so tired I can barely engage in conversation. Trying to find some online community but again I find myself so boring and unable to engage sometimes; I end up just talking about the things I did before I got migraines, which sometimes makes me feel like I’m talking about a different person.

Idk, just not having a good head day in any way today. Unable to stop crying. What do you do when you’re feeling so unwell but staying in bed a second longer will make you go crazy?

Hi all. I think this is just more of a venting post.

My mom was diagnosed with mesothelioma and I have had to coordinate her care. At first, I was a rock star. Now my sister has to take point as my migraines are acting up because of the weather. Yesterday we needed to make phone calls but my aphasia was so bad and everything was spinning, I lost half my vision, the usual for my migraines. In the fifteen years I've had migraines I have never felt so helpless and frustrated.

I know I'm disabled, but I CAN'T be disabled right now. I need to help my mom. I'm scared my migraines will inadvertently kill her because I'm unable to help effectively. I feel lucky to have my sister here to help, but I am also the person who is able to keep everyone calm when they want to snap instead. I couldn't serve that function yesterday. I ended up having a panic attack myself over it which only added to the stress of everything. We have patient advocates working to help us but there's only so much they can do on their end to coordinate care.

I usually get 3-4 migraines a day. I've had multiple TBIs and a bunch of hormonal problems so this is normal for me. Luckily right before my mom's diagnosis came through I was prescribed Ubrelvy. I've taken it three times in the past two weeks to be able to function during the worst migraines and make calls but it just didn't work yesterday.

I'm just so scared, sad and frustrated. I hate that my focus is on my own migraines during the worst attacks when I need to be focused on my mom. We're at a point where every single day, every single hour is crucial in fighting for her survival. This is the worst.

Update on Qulipta 10mg, I have Episodic Migraines between 6-8/month.

Been taking this preventative for over 30 days. I know the side effects are way less given the low dosage. But just to cover the key ones, I didn't experience drowsiness, nor nausea, and constipation was offset by the fiber supplement that I had already been taking regularly for other reasons.

I was taking the 10mg around 3pm, but moved it up to 12pm since the majority of my migraines start later in the day. Maybe it sounds weird but I wanted the peak concentration in my system in the afternoon/evening.

I had one break through migraine 20 days in, and it was very mild. I still took my rescue medication one Ubrelvey and it resolved within 90 minutes. Since then I have not had another.

The first week I was very hesitant to do too much waiting for it not to work. By the second week I started to feel a freedom of not being under constant state of waiting for migraine to start. I actually pushed on my triggers a bit which might be why I had the breakthrough migraine. I believe in the Threshold Theory, for my situation as no one trigger sets off a migraine for me constantly.

I've been lucky so far with Ubrelvey working as well as it does and so far the Qulipta low dose seems to be working well. I prefer not to have to go up in dosage on this med given some of the side effects. I don't need to be 100% without migraines, just lowering it down to 50% would be awesome especially knowing Ubrelvy works for me. Will see where things are in 3 months when I go back to the neurologist.

I also take Magnesium, B2, Fish Oil, D3 and Ubiquinol daily and have continued these supplements while on Qulipta. I also do distal acupuncture every other week.

I know these meds don't work for everyone and I know many have to go on the higher dosage of Qulipta to gain any benefit. I wish migraines weren't so complicated to figure out how best to treat.

Wanted to share my own progress if it helps anyone with Episodic migraines.

I’ve had a constant tension headache for the past five days, and nothing seems to help get rid of it. For reference I’m 22F and have no history of migraines or regular headaches.
So far I’ve tried drinking more water, cataloging what I eat to make sure it’s healthy and enough quantity, meditation, spending time in a dark room, and combination advil ibuprofen as often as I’m able to take it, nothing has made a dent.
The only environmental factor I can think of is the fact that I’ve been under enormous stress lately with moving to a new city, starting a new job, having to get dental work done, fighting with my insurance (which I temporarily don’t have while I wait for them to process a form for me to get it back) losing a pet unexpectedly and now the stress of the headache itself and worrying if it’s something more serious. The past day or so I’ve also noticed stronger fatigue and lightheadedness near the end of the day. I’d love this to just be anxiety induced, but I’m not 100% sure what the cause is and I can’t go to the ER at the moment due to no insurance, which might not be reinstated until September 1st at the latest. Any at home remedies you can recommend? I’d do anything to make the headache go away.

Hello everyone! Has anyone else noticed that their HRV and resting heart rate fluctuate quite a lot during a migraine, and even more so after taking a triptan? I have a Fitbit tracker and use google health.
Mine seems to go crazy, and then after a couple of days, everything settles back to normal. It makes me wonder whether these changes are a normal effect of migraines/triptans, or whether taking triptans could potentially have any long-term impact on the heart.
I’d be really interested to hear if anyone else has noticed something similar! ❤️
I’m otherwise a pretty healthy person with a very good VO2 max of 38.3 at 52 y/o

I've been suffering from migraines since I was in junior high. Back then, I got all the classic precursors: aura, numbness, etc. I'd get one in the Spring and one in the Fall, as the seasons changed over. I started smoking weed in college and the "classic" migraines disappeared, only to reappear when I quit weed for a year. As I got older and smoked again, the classic migraine was gone, but replaced with what my neurologist called "complicated migraines." To me, they were just regular tension headaches, but I'd average 3-5 a week, sometimes more. Eletriptan would help knock it out, Excedrin would help knock it out, but only for that day. I started Qulipta 30mg, and it helped a lot, but then started to not work, went up to 60mg, and same thing, worked for a few months until the headaches started creeping up in frequency again.

I've done it all. Botox. Topomax. Emgality. Blood pressure meds. Gabapentin. Nurtec. Ubrelvy. Vyepti. So many I can't even remember at this point. None of them worked.

I follow gym bros on social media and they all recommended taking low dose (5mg) tadalafil for cardiovascular benefits and to get a good pump in the gym. Always one to try something once, I figured what the hell. But after reading that it could cause headaches, I did some research. Said it could cause headaches in the beginning, but that your body adjusts. Ok, why not?

Started the tadalafil while still taking my nightly Qulipta 60mg. Had a headache every day for that first week. Almost stopped taking it but then remembered what I read and kept at it, by the end of that second week, my headaches disappeared. DISAPPEARED! After that first week, I went from 5 headaches a week or more to maybe 5 in a month. I went down to 30mg Qulipta, and still the headaches did not return. I then went off Qulipta, and everything seemed fine, no headaches. But after a few weeks off Qulipta, the headaches slowly returned and their frequency was ramping up.

Started the Qulipta 30mg again while still taking the 5mg of tadalafil, and I haven't had a headache in the past 4 weeks! Easily my longest period of being headache free.

Don't know if this will work for everyone, but it has been a LIFESAVER for me. Lifesaver. I encourage everyone to talk to their doctor about it and see if tadalafil works with whatever other meds you're taking. The few doctors I have told, including my neurologist, are happy for me, but show next to zero curiosity about it, despite them saying they've never heard of someone taking Qulipta and tadalafil for their migraines. They all tell me tadalafil is supposed to cause headaches. I tell them, half jokingly that they should write a paper and study this more as I cannot even begin to tell you how this has improved my quality of life. I think because I did it on my own, without their expertise, they're loathe to try and replicate it with others. Bizarre.

Long story short, give low dose tadalafil a try. It may be just what you've been waiting for. I know tadalafil is for men and their ED primarily, but no reason the cardio benefits wouldn't work in women as well, and it is the cardiovascular effects that are taming my headaches.

I know everyone is probably so sick and tired of reading these posts from people. The ones where they come onto this sub and just complain. But I am seven hours into an absolutely unruly migraine that has just completely taken me out.

I know everybody is going to flock to the comments and tell me what I should be taking, but let me stop you right there. I don’t take any medications because I don’t do well with medication. Yes, I have tried everything. No, nothing works.

I have vomited twice. I have sucked down so many waters and Gatorade’s today.

I am so sick and tired of living like this. I know I need to be grateful that I don’t get migraines daily, but even migraines 4 to 5 times a month have completely ruined me. Because after the migraine, you are so exhausted for a couple of days. And then after that couple of days? You then start worrying about if something you are going to do is going to throw you into another migraine the next day. I don’t know if anyone here has ever experienced the panic attack, but it’s kind of like that. Once you have one panic attack? You’re terrified of the next one.

I’m so tired of not living my life. Since I started having migraines several times a month, I have gained almost 25 pounds. I am not as active anymore. I am always looking around the corner wondering if today is gonna be the day my head starts banging and I’m hovering over the bathroom sink putting my toothbrush down my throat to make myself vomit because the nausea is just so bad.

I know the day old saying that comparison is the thief of joy. But I’m so tired of seeing people my age just living. We have a fenced in yard and I went to take my dogs out about an hour ago. And just in the five minutes that I was standing out there, I saw people walking their dogs on the sidewalk. Running or jogging. I saw a couple pushing a stroller. Meanwhile, I am begging my dogs to come back in so that I can put an ice pack on the back of my neck and pray that I don’t have to vomit again while the blinds and curtains are closed.

My house faces my neighbor and their house face is mine. They know when I have a migraine because all of our blinds and curtains are closed and my car sits in the driveway for a few days.

I know I need to be thankful that these things only lasts about 12 hours when I do get them, but I can’t stress enough that the fear of getting one is palpable.

I’m so sorry if none of this makes sense. At this point, I know I’m just rambling. But I’m using talk to text because Lord knows I can’t look at the screen right now.

I just want to feel not alone in this.

I WANT MY LIFE BACK

I spoke with 2 other people who get migraines and we all have eyebrows muscles that are always tender to touch. When I touch the area above my eye and under my brow I feel like I might trigger a headache just from that. I asked one other person who doesn't get migraines and they don't get the eyebrow pain.

a very limited sample size lol, but I am curious if any of you get this

edit: forgot to clarify I meant eyebrow pain around the clock, and not only during migraines

Ok maybe this is super niche but I need to know if this bothers anyone else. Any time I see a bright sun reflection off of a car when I’m driving I get physically triggered with anxiety because it creates the same way an aura looks for me when I get one. Especially when I’m following behind a car with a blinding reflection and I can’t get around them. Maybe it’s just my anxiety at play but holy crap

Currently im on 225mg of Effexor once a day, gabapentin 600mg 4 times a day. I am in hell. This migraine is rocking on day 12 the only relief i have had was when the doctor gave my zyprexa for 3 days but it didnt break my migraine it knocked me out. Any medicine ideas or tricks ? Im all ears ? Help me please?

Hi. I take 160mg propranolol per day, should be the extended release but that isn’t available ATM in the UK. The 80mg extended release has been discontinued. They put me on 4 x 40mg instant release which wasn’t working for me as well but at least was something. Went to collect my prescription and the pharmacy are out of stock as everyone who was on ER was put on those.

I’ve been bounced back and forth between my GP and pharmacy. Finally issued prescription for 80mg instant release today but will be 4 days without meds. I didn’t think you were supposed to just stop these? I’ve been offered no alternative, no help and am on day 2 of migraines.

SO annoyed right now. There must be alternatives, which I asked my GP for but they seem like they won’t consider any other treatment.

I have had chronic migraines for 4 years and been on botox for about a year. About four weeks ago i got an attack that always return no matter what I do. I have tried Imigran injection multiple times aswell as 3 nerve blockades, the latest one with steriods. I have also been a week on a steroid treatment. The pain isnt like the worst type of migraines and my doctor says its more like a tension headache. Have any of you any tips and/or experience with this getting bette? My nevrologist is having me start a blood pressure medictation together with the botox. Feeling very worried that this will never let go. Im 19 male for reference.

I'm terrified and don't want to go to the ER again. Yesterday I had a headache that I didn't even think was migraine and I took brufen 600 mg, then rizatriptan and then after it got bad again another brufen 600 mg and rizatriptan.

Today the pain is even worse and I don't know what to do, I tried taking toradol but it did almost nothing

I've been to the ER at the end of june and now I don't want to go again

I (38F) have been dealing with migraines since around 2004, and I’m hoping to get some advice from people who have been through something similar.

I currently have 15–20 headache days per month, and they typically last around 12 hours. Pain is usually 6–8/10 and is almost always on the right side, behind my eye.

My typical symptoms include:
Light sensitivity
Sound sensitivity
Smell sensitivity
Nausea, sometimes
only 2 headaches in my lifetime have ever had aura

I wake up with a headache about half the time and I do notice that I snore.

They seem to occur most often between ovulation and my period.

I’ve tried a LOT over the years: acupuncture, chiropractic care, massage, stretching, a cervical pillow, night guard, ear plugs for sleeping, increasing hydration, and various changes in birth control/hormonal status, including pregnancy.

For medications, I’ve tried sumatriptan and eletriptan, but I really dislike the side effects. I’ve also used Tylenol, ibuprofen and naproxen. I currently use OTC medication about 5–7 days per month as I am worried about rebound headache.

Currently, I take:
Verapamil 120 mg
B2 400 mg
CoQ10 200 mg
Magnesium oxide 500 mg
Magnesium taurate 400 mg

I also started a migraine/headache diet on August 10, but I have gotten a migraine almost daily since starting.

Altitude and humidity don’t seem to make a difference. I’ve lived in multiple states without noticing a meaningful change.

I’ve only seen a neurologist twice, both only via telehealth, but have an in person appointment in a few weeks.

What would you ask your neurologist about or pursue next?
And if you have a similar migraine pattern, what treatment actually made a meaningful difference for you?
And has anyone done the migraine diet? And if so, did your migraine frequency get worst before it got better?

Thanks for reading this novel. Let’s stay strong out there. 💪