Feeling Like There Is Not Much Light At The End Of The Tunnel...

[IrishHeart]

The other main point is for us all to hang together rather than try to create some kind of weird competition that splits us apart. If we can't try to understand and support each other and give each other some slack, who will??

Just to clarify, (although I can't speak for others) , but is not a "weird competition" or "lack of understanding or support" that prompted me to simply ask for clarification/proof re:some things you said. I am not being disrespectful or rude or non-supportive. Not at all. (I think many will say that I am always respectful and supportive. )

My aim is to make sure valid information is presented. That is, I believe, one of the goals of the forum.

Board Rule #5 states:

Any claims you make here should be based on legitimate sources, or be expressed as opinion, experience, or inquiry. You should remain on topic and be consistent with the theme of the forum as a whole.

Kind regards, IH

P.S. I see some folks are perhaps making light of the "IMHO" disclaimer I often use myself, but I am not taking umbrage.

[Skylark]

I know for myself, personally, that MSG is a major bugger. The peri-menopausal, hormone-related migraines, however, made me want to rip my own head off.

Please tell me they go away. I'm about to rip my own head off, only I'm too dizzy and brainfogged to find it.

What were we talking about? I forgot.

[CR5442]

Please tell me they go away. I'm about to rip my own head off, only I'm too dizzy and brainfogged to find it.

What were we talking about? I forgot.

You guys are all making me laugh - I MUST be feeling better!!!

Yes, IH, the migraines do go away... well for me when I was drinking coffee (lots of coffee) and eating gluten I was having migraines that made me feel like i was having a stroke. The last one I had I had trouble moving my left arm and side of the body. I stopped drinking coffee straight away - haven't had a cup since. Then the only other migraine i had was the weekend before I gave up gluten. Interestingly it was what I call a 'sick' migraine. I.e. I felt appallingly sick, with aura etc. As soon as I got rid of the contents of my stomach (It was my 40th birthday and gluten made up a large part of the three day party we had!) I was fine. No migraine (touching wood here) since. If I'm dehydrated or feeling poorly from a virus sometimes i get the feeling like another one is going to come.

One of my first line defences for migraines became Magnesium and flushing Niacin... which as you know expands the capillaries to cause that flush effect. Got rid of quite a few of these before they took hold with this remedy. You should try it! But you absolutely have to catch it at Aura stage... otherwise it is too late. Lie down as soon as you have taken the Niacin too. I would start at 50mg and if after 20mins no flush then another 50mg.

[IrishHeart]

Please tell me they go away. I'm about to rip my own head off, only I'm too dizzy and brainfogged to find it.

What were we talking about? I forgot.

Yes, honey---those perimenopausal doozies DO lighten up.Mine are gone. (having a total hysterectomy hurtled me through menopause like a rocket)

My migraines, which plagued me for about 15 years, were a combo of hormones, probably long-unDxed celiac, and Stress (oh, THAT again!)

I had "life stuff" going on, much like Caroline (for me, it was multiple miscarriages, failed fertility treatments which involved more hormone disruption, chronic bone/joint pain, separation/divorce, moving, going for tenure, getting remarried, move again, Dad ill, crazy family drama blah blah blah-- all within a few years ) and that was the LIFE JUNK I was telling Caroline about that gets in our way.

My headaches often emerge from a combo of things, including

holding my shoulders up in a death-clench waaay around my ears (as if my neck has disappeared) The MT/PT has to pry them down from there and the sub-occipitals --(the muscles at the base of your skull?) are the major culprits. That--and clenching your JAW from stress. I have been working for a long time with a Massage therapist/nurse whose speciality is facial/head pain and she and I have written an article for patients explaining how stress, holding our bodies in a tight, clenched fashion in response to that stress, gluten or other food intolerances, red wine and other high histamine foods, and those hormones out of whack will provoke pain, especially from the neck up.

My secret? ICE PACKS right at the base of your skull (just lay on one covered with a towel). Those blood vessels are engorged and ICE, and then a warm bath, some soft music and slow, deep breathing will help alleviate the migraines. Don't laugh, but warming your feet or having someone gently rub them--and rub your hands--helps. I do not know why, it just does.

I highly recommend getting regular massages. It is not a frivolous luxury, it is therapeutic. I also do some gentle yoga or Tai Chi. Now that I can balance again (damn ataxia!) and use my muscles properly (damn muscle wasting!) it really helps!

Gluten (I call it my kryptonite ) may have caused major havoc, but it can be reversed.

Hope you get relief soon!!

I used to say to hubs, "just kill me now" as I honestly thought my head would freakin explode. I was in the ER more than once with one of those whoppers, getting mega-doses of anti-inflammatory drugs intravenously. There is nothing worse than head pain.

[Skylark]

You guys are all making me laugh - I MUST be feeling better!!!

Yes, IH, the migraines do go away... well for me when I was drinking coffee (lots of coffee) and eating gluten I was having migraines that made me feel like i was having a stroke. The last one I had I had trouble moving my left arm and side of the body. I stopped drinking coffee straight away - haven't had a cup since. Then the only other migraine i had was the weekend before I gave up gluten. Interestingly it was what I call a 'sick' migraine. I.e. I felt appallingly sick, with aura etc. As soon as I got rid of the contents of my stomach (It was my 40th birthday and gluten made up a large part of the three day party we had!) I was fine. No migraine (touching wood here) since. If I'm dehydrated or feeling poorly from a virus sometimes i get the feeling like another one is going to come.

One of my first line defences for migraines became Magnesium and flushing Niacin... which as you know expands the capillaries to cause that flush effect. Got rid of quite a few of these before they took hold with this remedy. You should try it! But you absolutely have to catch it at Aura stage... otherwise it is too late. Lie down as soon as you have taken the Niacin too. I would start at 50mg and if after 20mins no flush then another 50mg.

Glad we got you laughing! My Dr. told me to go off coffee. I'm tapering down and I'll be off caffeine *cry* by the end of this week. Dr. put me on riboflavin/magnesium to try and I'm lucky enough that Maxalt works if I catch the aura. I'll keep that in mind about the niacin but I don't get the flush so it might not work for me. I know I'm reacting to food triggers as well, because miso, red wine, chicken livers, and aged cheese have all zapped me. That probably means MSG and tyramine.

IH, I don't think mine are tension. Yours sound almost more like cluster headaches than migraine. Mine aren't that painful - it's more like having the flu. Nausea, malaise, can't think, dizzy, light-sensitive, and my head hurts. I'll subsist on a couple mouthfuls of white rice and broth because it's all I can tolerate. They've always been hormonal around my period, now that I'm perimenopausal all heck is breaking loose! Acupuncture is helping me too.

[GFinDC]

iMHO this will cheer you up:

The Celiac Song

[YoloGx]

iMHO this will cheer you up:

The Celiac Song

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

Bea

[IrishHeart]

iMHO this will cheer you up:

The Celiac Song

:lol: :lol:

[IrishHeart]

IH, I don't think mine are tension. Yours sound almost more like cluster headaches than migraine. Mine aren't that painful - it's more like having the flu. Nausea, malaise, can't think, dizzy, light-sensitive, and my head hurts. I'll subsist on a couple mouthfuls of white rice and broth because it's all I can tolerate. They've always been hormonal around my period, now that I'm perimenopausal all heck is breaking loose! Acupuncture is helping me too.

The doc told me I had classic one-sided migraines, but they do not come regularly now.

When I do get one now, it is from muscular tension (my muscles took a huge hit from celiac) but I can sometimes get it under control. The hard part is the blurred vision, light sensitivity, nausea and wanting to hurl. My head bangs so hard, I want to curl up and die. UGH! I can't tolerate drugs, so that makes it very difficult.

The acu did not work for me, but I am happy it is helping you.

I hope they stop altogether for you!

[IrishHeart]

You guys are all making me laugh - I MUST be feeling better!!!

Laughter--always the best medicine!

Take care!

IH

[GFinDC]

Hi everyone. Thank you all so much for giving your thoughts on this. It makes me feel so much brighter knowing that there is indeed light. Regarding diet and possible gluten CC. I am absolutely sure that my diet includes only the things that I tolerate. About half a year ago, when my symptoms were extremely bad, my acupuncturist did a pulse test on a lot of things I ate daily. There are only two things I really can't eat... gluten and coconut.

Sometimes I get a fast pulse after eating something so I stop eating, then after a few weeks go back and try again, and often the fast pulse doesn't happen again. This leads me to believe that it might not be food causing a reaction, perhaps just the state of my body at the time of eating... I might be going through a weak phase physically where healing has slowed, or i'm not getting enough nutrients, or am fighting off a virus or something.

.....

Thoughts are very welcome. Does anyone else feel that the holistic approach as worked for them, rather than looking at individual possible culprits of depression etc?

Hi Caroline,

The idea of pulse testing for food intolerances is something I am not so sure about. I think an elimination diet is a better way to go. My thinking is that pulse testing may not be 100% reliable, as most tests are not 100% reliable after all. There are so many different symptoms that people can get with food intolerances, that I am not sure all of them would show up as a pulse rate change first. Like joint pain, or a rash, or well, lots of them. I think it would be very interesting and worthwhile for studies to be done on this idea and also the idea of blood pressure and blood sugar changes as a way to detect food intolerances. It seems like a simple thing to test these kind of reactions but maybe it is too simple for our modern doctors to figure out. But an elimination diet does work and many people use elimination diets to find their food intolerances. I suggest if you haven't tried one that you do and maybe you will find some answers.

Hmm, dang it, I rambled around so much in this thread that I accidentally came back to the topic!