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Due to the lesion in my brain, I have migraines every day. Some last a few hours. Longest lasted 12 weeks.
Super long story short: yes, look for triggers.
1) HYDRATION. It’s amazing how often people’s migraines are triggered by dehydration.
2) FOOD. Dairy. Caffeine (it’s in everything including soda, candy and even shower gel). Nuts. Chocolate. Gluten. NITRATES/NITRITES (cured meats like ham, any kind of sausage and hot dogs wreck me). Phenalalanine (artificial sweetener Aspartame in every gum, tons of diet sodas and “sugar free” foods and tons of other stuff. DEFINITE KNOWN MIGRAINE TRIGGER). And that’s just a primer, not a comprehensive list. As much as I hate keeping logs, it’s important to keep a log of everything that is consumed down to the last chip is known.
3) MIGRAINE LOG. Lord this one hurts to write because it means having to be present in the middle of the pain. Imagine having to describe your nausea while wretching. It’s like that with a migraine. But it’s crucial! The doctors need to know if there are any auditory issues (I have tinnitus), visual issues (I have super bad vertigo and some migraines cause me to mostly lose vision in one eye) as well as specifically the type of pain: exactly where, when, for how long and what type.
I’ve had sharp pains so intense they felt exactly like being hit in the head with a baseball bat and I actually thought that’s what happened…or something akin to that as I fell to the ground. I’ve had dull, throbbing pains, burning pains, aches…
A person new to the sensation won’t have the vocabulary to describe it even if they know every word in the English language. It unfortunately takes time.
3b) As part of the Migraine Log, if she’s menstruating, she’ll want to keep very good track of her cycle. Many women with migraines have found a hormonal component and, thus the migraines synch with various times of a woman’s cycle. It’s not the same for all women, either.
As far as advice…
Have her sleep hygiene be as pristine as possible. She can google sleep hygiene. Cool room, no phone before bed, stuff like that.
ALWAYS WEAR SUNGLASSES OUTSIDE! for those who can vascularly trigger, very bright light can be a trigger. Also stay away from strobing lights.
Look for a good migraine group online. They are always going and knowing that one is not alone and personally getting to read about how others cope can really help. Family and friends may have no way to relate. As well, it may help her to build a vocabulary more quickly to describe what is happening with her body. I know it took me years to describe that my migraines affected my entire spine. I just didn’t know how to describe it.
As for medications, normally a triptan is recommended. I was on Sumatriptan, but the doc will pick which is best. They can come oral, injected or nasal. They might have patches now, but I dunno. Oral is for occasional migraines. They take 20+ mins to get into the system, which is why the headache log is crucial. Injected usually is only given at the ER. The nasal version was the only version that worked for me as it absorbs straight into the bloodstream through the nasal membrane and relief was super fast. It didn’t end the migraine, but took the piss out of it. That said, the taste of the back drip was enough to gag a maggot. So not kidding.
Of course, they offer opioid pain relief even to kids, usually codeine, although by 15, they may graduate to Percocet. I’ve had to be on many of them for short stints and that one was the worst. My stance as always is no to opioids, find ANY other way.
Sorry if that’s too much to start. Ask me anything. I’m glad to share anything I’ve learned.
Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.
A flickering fluorescent light.
The bright sunlight that reflects off of a shiny chrome bumper
Sugar free drinks
Dark Chocolate
Nitrates.
Stress
Migraines suck. I get sick ..nauseated my arm looks dismembered from my body and head aches last for days
It took a few years but Dr gave me a calcium blocker and it worked for me.
I still get them but nearly not as frequent. But I Did get one about 10 days ago. The frames on my glasses broke so I was wearing my glasses cock eyed while watching a hockey game on tv and I got one. Should’ve kept my contacts on
Have your friends daughter keep a diary that tracks her diet or events that cause the trigger and you’ll see a pattern to ID the causes.
Have her address it. In 2007 I was getting them every Friday after work for about 8 weeks straight like clockwork…The following week I had a stroke. The stress at work was killing me.
Mac is right, wear sunglasses.
I do have some dietary triggers but I also just get them regularly because for me they are related to sinus conditions. So fall sets them off, the heaters first coming on in winter sets them off, the spring sets them off, and falling asleep in a room where wood has been burning sets them off (interestingly NOT falling asleep near woodsmoke DOESN’T set them off).
But like I said, my control is simple…I take the meds preventively. My meds are very innocuous and have no other effects…they just prevent (or fight) migraines. When I sense them starting, at very initial stages, I take the right things and quell them. The last time one took off on me and went Defcon 1 (years ago) I ended up in the emergency room on IV tranquilizers.
Stress is not a trigger for me.
I found out the hard way a few months back that nuts, particularly almonds, are triggers. That’s a pity.
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find you get what you need
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