Almost 14 Year Old DD Suffering from Migraines for First Time

Hi S.,

My 17 year old daughter also suffers from migraine headaches. Among other things. She has suffered from them for about 2 1/2 years. They have totally changed her life from social to school. I have taken her to University Of Utah and have changed medications. She has a headache every day sometimes worse than others. We found a great chiropractor in Idaho Falls that has helped so much that she can acually have a life and go do things with her friends. The medication that has helped for us is Treximet it is brand new it has worked better than anything else has.

Hi S.,

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Best of luck,

A.

I had horrible headaches at that age, what I wasn't telling my parents was that in addition to being very active (I swam and ran cross country and played water polo), I wasn't eating my lunch at school and quite often skipping breakfast. I also have found that I grind my teeth at night, once those issues were taken care of it seemed to fix the problem. She also could have a hormone imbalance that is causing the headaches.

I had migraines when I was a child starting when I was 8 so I understand how horrible they can be! For me the real cause was stress at school, I would get so upset in the morning knowing I had to go to school where I had horrible classmates and even horrible teachers, I would feel the migraine coming on and see a halo and usually throw up, it was so terrible. So I would look into what stress your daughter may be experiencing, I finally was taken out of school and homeschooled and my migraines went away (until I grew up and got pregnant with my first baby, but that is another story!).

Hopefully in your case you will not need to resort to such drastic measures! But you can try taking your daughter to a counselor if you suspect that her migraines are stress related. Also, acupressure and acupuncture have been found to be very effective in migraine relief, so you can go to a acupunturist or a massage therapist who has been trained in acupressure, a relaxing swedish masssage can also be beneficial because it relieves stress. Good luck!

Just as some others have said, it could be food allergies. My dad has suffered with them all of his life, and in just the past few years they've gotten worse. My mom and dad have figured out that many of them are triggered by foods. Good luck!

I have "always" suffered with migraines. My best help for years was getting meds that would let me sleep and sleeping for a day or two until it wore off. They did come and go with each pregnancy. Thankfully the last baby cured them again! The one true relief I found was mangosteen juice. I can recommend two brands if you're interested. I would take on ounce when I first felt it coming on, and if it wasn't gone in 15-20 minutes, another ounce. I never had to take more than that, either that day or after. It was completely gone! It's pure fruit juice and nothing more. I hope you can find something that works just as well for your daughter. I wish I had had it when I was her age. It would have been so much better than all that medicine.

I would stongly suggest that you look into finding a massage therapist in your area that does "muscle activation therapy" it has been very benefitial for me. Also she should try doing some breathing relaxation exercises before going to sleep and that should help some.... These are just some ideas that are alternatives to the meds but definently keep using those too

I have a 12 year old daughter that has been suffering from Migraine's for the past year or so. They are so bad she gets sick to her stomach and recently I had to pick her up from school and rush her to the doctor because she felt like passing out. She has been prescribed a few different medicines before we arrived here which have not worked. We recently were sent to the Children's Hopsital Speciality Clinic in Broomfield to see a Neuro Doctor and she gave my daughter a prescription for Maxalt however my insurance BCBS does not cover the cost of this $244.00 medicine for anyone under 18 years old. I am going to appeal and in the meanwhile she was given Naproxen. I am trying to watch her more closely and see if there is a food that triggers the headaches or anything else so that maybe we can get the medicine in her prior to it becoming unbearable. I clearly understand the school issue; I have been called by the school at least 5 times already this year and twice had to pick my dughter up. None of the over the counter medicines helped her but you could try them. From what I understand the Maxalt is suppose to be very good but $244.00 a month is atrocious with what I am paying for insurance so we will see what happens with the appeal. One thing my daughter often does is to hold a rag on her head that has been sitting in the freezer. I am also interested in knowing what works for you or anyone else out there who reads this. I to suffer from migraines but have not noticed the major problems since I moved here. I had them so bad I could not take the light even being on and once I was rushed to the emergency because I fell out in my kitchen. I have been dieting for awhile and I wonder if that has made a difference. Try to start watching your daughter very carefully and see if you can see any kind of pattern or triggers that set her headaches off. Hopefully you can find some relief for her soon.

I have suffered from migraines since I was 18. I take daily preventative medication as well as IV medications when I do develop a migraine. The best advice I can give you is find a neurologist and ask them to do the full work up (CT scan, MRI, Bloodwork, etc.)when she is not having a migraine. Also keep a journal of foods she is eating. Often times people's migraines are associated to foods such as dairy, nuts, etc. Unfortunately mine are not, they are completely random, but most intense during stressful times or times when I do not get enough sleep. If she is having migraines associated with light and sound, try to be as accomodating as possible. At my house this means, blacked out windows, no air or heat on, no TV, no washer, dryer, etc. ER's are quick fixes to get you over the hump with pain meications, but when another one returns, rather than treating the cause, they can only put bandaids (pain meds) to get her through it. You may also want to look into steroids if she is not able to get rid of them for long periods of time, however a neurologist can visit with you more about that option. Lastly, talk to her GYN her periods may have something to do with them as well! I wish you both the best, I will pray for her!

Countless times I have seen people/parents advised to go to the chiropractor for this problem. I've seen them ignore the advice for YEARS and suffer through the Migraines, then they finally go to the chiropractor OR physical therapy on their neck, and SURPRISE, the problem almost completely disappears.

Doctors can't fix this, although they can give you good pain meds. PLEASE visit a chiro. or a P/T.

Hello S.,
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Hope it helps!!

We have migraine sufferer's in our family. Chiropractic is a good way to go, but we also find that massage really helps. There are certain trigger points within the body that can set the migraines off. There are so many things that can bring on a migraine, but at her age it would not surprise me if it is hormonal. Have you noticed if there is a pattern to her migraines in relationship to her menstrual cycle?

I recommend working with both a chiropractor and a massage therapist, the two together would probably be quite beneficial. I am a licensed massage therapist here in Colorado Springs, if you would be interested, please contact me through mamasource.

Good luck - it really is difficult for us to watch our daughters suffer such pain and not know what to do - I'll be thinking of you.

Cindy O

S. - I also started having migraines as a child, well into my 30s. I agree with the comments that everyone's triggers, etc are different.

Here are things I have found make a difference for me:
Adequate water intake - sometimes when I feel one coming on, just drinking a lot of water will help head it off.
Regular chiropractic adjustments - trying this was really the turning point for me.
Taking Sudafed - the kind you get from behind the pharmicist's counter.
Drinking Gatorade, sometimes Coke helps.

Good luck as you work through this - I know it's really a challenge.

try massages too, thats a lot of medication for a kid. Flexril knocks me out. Also try advil regulary, and lots of water.

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420 East South Temple Ste 300
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
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I started having headaches when I was 14. In fact, at that age I had a tension headache that didn't ever go away for several years. I also have frequent migraines.

When I first started seeking treatment, nothing helped. After time, I found Imitrex helped for a while. Then I started getting bad side effects. Now I use Maxalt, but I'm starting to get side effects again. Excedrin Migraine is absolutely useless against migraines. They label it that way as a marketing gimmick, but it's actually no different than regular excedrin. If you have true migraines, you need something else.

Ask her doctor about a beta-blocker. I use one (it's called Pindolol and it's a blood-pressure medication) but it GREATLY reduced the frequency and severity of my migraines.

Also, if I drink about 8 oz of water EVERY hour, that helps tremendously as well.

Have her keep a migraine journal. She needs to record her stress levels, eating patterns, sleeping patterns, and headache patterns. That way over time you'll maybe be able to isolate her triggers. If I don't eat a small meal every two hours, I get a migraine. I simply cannot afford to let my blood sugar drop, or I'm in serious trouble. I also have to go to bed early and stay hydrated and eliminate stress as much as possible. That's what helps me.

Migraine suffers all have very different triggers, so the diary will help you figure out what hers are. It may be too much sugar consumption, school worries, insomnia, who knows. It takes some detective work and a lot of trial and error with medications until you find what's right for her.

Good luck!!!!

I am a distributor for MonaVie and I have had numerous people drinking the juice who have had relief from all different types of headaches, including migraines. MonaVie is a blend of 19 different fruits and berries that work synergistically together to combat cell toiling. You can e-mail me if you would like more information. ____@____.com K.

I had migraines starting at her age. First my family thought I was nuts as in those days kids didn't have headaches persay!
First they thought hormones, which is definitely a possibility, then they figured out it was TMJ. If your daughter has them in the morning, she may be grinding her teeth at night and not even realizing it. A mouth guard through your dentist can help that.
As I got older I started actually having to drink a diet coke in the morning the second I thought I was going to have one, which at a young age isn't good but the caffiene definitely helped.
Then they put me on a prescription, I cannot think of the name of it right now but it is very commonly used for migraines. Excedrin has caffiene it too. So that can increase her heartrate. I always found Excedrin worked better but the problem is you have to catch the migraine as it is happening or before to really get it done.
Another thing is have her vision checked.
Funny as now I don't have them, since I had my daughter I stopped having them so maybe it is hormones now with me. I do have the TMJ still, clicking when chewing, grinding the teeth as I sleep and jaw pain and have to go get a new mouth guard.
Have her checked with hormones first, then visit the possibility of TMJ, then vision. Rule all that out.
They put me on a food/drink journal for a few months to see if I had triggers and I didn't have a pattern really they could finger. That may help your daughter though.
Good luck, they are miserable!

I suffer from migraines religously it seems. My doctors advice was to find what triggered them and well "don't do that!" Mine are triggered by tension and a lack of enough fluid. What I have found to combat it is what you have already started but ber proactive with it. Alot of the times with migraines you can feel the tightening in your head showing one is coming. When that happens I start taking the Excedrin in the mornings and some times late afternoon. Due to the caffiene? in it I try not to take it to late though. Sleep is VERY essentual. at night I have taken relpax and maxalt depending on the thing that actually triggered it says which one to take. I cannot tell you which works best I just played with taking them each time to see which works out. Then duplicate it when I get another one. Try to get her to sleep at night without any light in the room from the time she goes to sleep till when she wakes up, that seems to help me out. For a quickie relief so that I can get to sleep I've also found a really hot shower with a repeatedly heated rag over where the migraine is sitting makes it easier to go to sleep once the pain sets in. I honestly don't know if any of this will help but that is my remedies... Also I wasn't receiving migraines so often when I went to bed every night religously after finishing a cup of honey sweetened mint tea. Don't know if it is a medical thing or not but.. it helped sooth the days tension away and I do notice the difference now compared to then. Hope these help ya out.

I started getting migraines and tension headaches as a young teenager as well. They are horrible! Mine were attributed to hormones (just after puberty started) and allergies. I was on prescription allergy meds regularly and took prescription migraine pain meds as needed. I also regularly saw a chiropractor...which helped tremendously.

My headaches and allergies (as well as asthma) changed after I left home for college at 18. I was no longer living with pets or smokers and started on birth control. Hormones and allergies were then under control. (suprise!) Migraines nearly ceased....tension headaches lessened....asthma gone...and allergies limited to hayfever.

I now take over the counter allergy meds only as needed (seasonally)....and have been on birth control since 18 (except when trying to conceive, pregnant, and breastfeeding). No other Rx meds. Yea!

Best of luck to your daughter. I know she is really suffering with this pain.

I'm sorry your daughter has to suffer the way I have for years. They are painful and as much as others will try to convince you, she will have to learn to live through them for the rest of her life. I 100% disagree with the comment that migraines and headaches aren't normal - if they weren't, I would have figured out how to get rid of them by now. You and your daughter will now hear every solution that people have used to get rid of their migraines where they've never had one again. And all I can say to you in advise for those is, you do have to test a few theories and find your own. But, migraines are not something you can just get rid of for the rest of your life - if people say they've never had a migraine since they did....then they don't know what a real migraine is. I've thrown up more with the pain of my migraines than I did through child birth.

One good suggestion I can give is to educate yourselves about what migraines really are and what the triggers can be. For some, they can be stress in the body and a chiro will work for them. Others it can be nerves, others it can not enough sleep....For me, it's chocolate. I avoid it as much as possible (For some reason I can eat it just fine when I'm pregnant). If I eat a candy bar, I can be down on the couch within 10 minutes and no one can convince me that a chiro is going to help me because I ate a candy bar. Or, I didn't drink enough water that day...blah blah blah... I've heard them all. I've even heard of tying a banana peel to head - what's that gonna do?

Anyway, I have learned from a neurologist and other doctors that migraines are actually blood vessels contracting and expanding on your brain. That is why migraines can effect certain functions - not seeing right, noises seeming louder than they are, I've even had 1/2 my body go to sleep....There are medications out there to help relieve some of the pain - sometimes it will help them go away and sometimes she will just need to suffer through them in a dark room. Good Luck. Just make sure she regularly checks in with a doctor before switching meds. I can't take my regular medication when I'm pregnant, nursing or trying to get pregnant.

JUST GET EDUCATED, FIND THE TRIGGERS IF THEY EXIST AND GOOD LUCK.

FYI to mom - they can run in families. My mother has them and 2 of my 5 siblings. Just watch your other little child. They can show up in children as stomach aches and develop more as she gets older.

I started with mygrains at the age of 4. Some of my kids get them but especially my one daughter.

Mygrains are genetic and a number of things trigger them. Hormones, foods allergies, stress... to name a few. I would however get this checked by a Neurologist since they came on suddenly to make sure it is a true mygrain and not something else.

Is there a history of mygrains in the family? Did she have any in the past? Has she had a resent neck or head injury?

Look a little further. There are medications to help and Chiropractors have helped my headaches.

My father is 83 years old and still suffers from mygrain headaches.
I know how much pain your daughter is in. Many books have been written but none can really pin point cause.

A few things that do help is to sleep sitting up so her neck can not wobble from side to side. A dark room and ice packs around the neck. Has she thrown up yet? The cycle is not complete until she empties her stomache. Then she will hangover type symptoms for at least a day.

Good Luck,
C. B

Sorry to hear this. Migraines are no fun! I and my 11 year old son get occasional migraines. We both go to a chiropractor. Also pure peppermint oil on the temples works to alleviate the pain somewhat - especially when it happens outside of chiropractic hours! We also go to a dark room and try to sleep. I would recommend trying to find a good chiropractor and see if that helps.

I have had migraines for years, unfortunately they are very painful. I had horrible ones when I was pregnant with my first child, and then they went completely away after he was born, I was so excited, until I got pregnant with my twins, now I get them again. Anyway, this is what I do.

First this might sound crazy, but Excedrin is not a good choice in medicine. It has so much caffeine in it that the body will get used to it and will give your daughter a headache just so that it can have the caffeine. Ibuprofen is the best bet for relieving migraines. I usually take between 2-3 pills. Then you need to get her a dark and very quiet room, with 2 or 3 ice packs. Using one of those bedtime eye covers really makes things darker. Noise is multiplied immensely when you have a migraine, even whispering sounds like someone is shouting. I found that if I cover my head in ice packs the migraine will go away faster, and it feels good. I actually have to put the front icepack on directly, without a cloth covering. Have her try to go to sleep, and when her migraine is over, she needs to slowly acclimate herself back to her surroundings or she will get another migraine. So lay there without the icepacks for awhile, then slowly lift the eye cover and get used to light. I notice that if I do it that way, I have fewer migraines. Good luck.

I have tension headaches that turn into migraines & vice versa. A muscle relaxer works best for both of them, since they don't want to double-medicate me. Try some muscle-relaxers at low doses to see what works for her. I'm sure there are some that she can take for daytime use that won't make her drowsy or groggy. And figure out why the tension. Maybe a visit to the school counselor or even a notepad w/a pen next to her bed so she can "write her stress out & close the book on it" will help.
It could be weather changes from season's change, something new at school that's going on, something different she's eating or doing during the day, maybe she's clenching her teeth at night which is why the headaches are in the morning (my sister was a night teeth grinder & a mouthpiece cleared up her migraines)... help her chart her days as best as she can for the week before the migraines started & see if there's some pattern you can avoid in the future (besides school lol)

B/c I read everyone elses responses before coming to type my own, this one
"Something to think about: Your daughter is not Excedrin Migraine deficient nor Flexural deficient nor any other types of medication deficient. What I'm getting at is there is some underlying problem that needs to be figured out so she stops getting the migraines. NO, headaches and migraines are not normal and no one should have to live with them. Her body is trying to tell you something. I'm a strong believer in chiropractic and I know chiropratic physicians has helped many suffers of migraines. It is important to find one that is very thorough and will help get to the root of the problem. If you would like a recommendation, send me a message. I know someone who is very thorough!"

pissed me off. I can remember being in daycare trying to tell the person that my head hurt. They didn't belive me. They kept letting the kids bang on pots and pans and yell all around me when all I asked for was a quite place to lay down. They finally got it when I (a 5 yo) yelled at the kids with adult language.

I've been through MRI's and seen several neurologists, had my blood drawn. So yeah lady, I do have a problem. When I get my cycle, my hormones go wacko. When I get stress, the vessels constrict in my brain. Don't you dare tell this Mom isn't doing what she should. If it doesn turn out to be an eating problem (not eating at lunch, not eating at all) or sleep problem, she is working on it.

But, what another lady said about Flexerol. While it will help her sleep, I personally don't see it as a good migrane medicine. She needs something for the blood vessels, not muscles. There are several migrane medicines out there, Trexamet being one of the newer ones (Its just Imitrex and naproxin).

Some herbal things, she could take FeverFew as a preventaive. She could rub peppermint oil, or orange oil on her temples or pulse at her wrist. If you talk with a knowledgable herbalist, they could help out.

As for seeing her in pain, if you're going to stick with what your already taking, just stick her in a dark room. Try both a heating pad and a cool wash cloth and see what helps (different things for different people). The flexerol will help her get to sleep and could knock it out while she is sleeping. Let her be in the lead on what she needs (within reason Mom!) Some people can't stand to be touched, hear the door clicking open/closed (so it might need to be open a crack so you can get in, some people can't even stand to be shifted (if you were to sit on the bed with her and the weight dipped down). Sad to say, if she gets them often enough, she'll learn right along with you what works and what doesn't.

GL and I hope you both start feeling better soon!

J.

PS sorry about my other person rant, couldn't hold it in

Contact Kristi Y. about the MonaVie. I too, drink and distribute MonaVie and it is most likely the solution. That stuff is amazing and when I read your post I thought of MonaVie. Kristi suggesting it might sound like she's "just trying to sell something" so I want to tell you it's not the case. I don't know Kristi...I am obviously not making anything from telling you to go through her. If anything, that hurts me. I just think it's very important for you to try the MonaVie and Kristi has provided the link to make that possible. There is no reason for your daughter to suffer through migraines when there is a possible drug free solution. Hope it makes a difference in your lives!!

I've been suffering from migraines since I was 14. The perscription that worked the best for me was relpax. You take it at the onset of a migraine and usually within a half hour the headache is completely gone. My dad also takes relpax for migraines and it works really well for him too. I did also take maxalt, but the relpax worked better for me. The one my dr just gave me is treximet, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm still breastfeeding so he said not to take it until I'm completely done. It's a mix of two migraine meds (I can't remember which ones) and he said that they have found that it works really well. So I'll have to let you know about it when I take it. Or you could just ask her dr about it. It may take a while to find a medicine that will work for her so just be patient and know that there is something out there that will be able to help her feel better. You just have to be willing to try things out until you find it. Good luck!

I had flagged you post, but was unable to respond beofe now. Hopefully your DD is responding to the doctor's advice about Excedrin Migrane, etc. If she still has not responded, she might need to see a pediatric neurologist. I have children who at the age of 10 to 14 have begun to have headaches like this, but also had visual disturbances. One DD is curently 12 and she will get white floating "specks" and sometimes colored auras or tunnel vision. We have found that each of them have food allergies that trigger the migraine. They especially react to preservatives for flavor enhancement and to prevent spoilage in different foods. When my daughter ate certain foods from the school, she found that she would have a migrane that evening. We log her food intake and if she notices a difference in environmental chemicals. ie. when they laid new carpet in my husbands office, and after visiting there, she developed a migraine.
My daughter's doctor is aware of my MS and is tracking my daughter's migraine history to be sure that he is not missing any information that would indicate she also has MS. MS is being diagnosed in adolescence more frequently now. You might be referred to a pediatric neurologist just to be sure. Also, if she has a close relative that has migraines she might have the type that has an inheritable factor. Check with her pediatrician or doctor.

I would think that this might have something to do with hormones. Clean up her diet as much as possible. Wheat, gluten, sugar, preservatives etc. I would also visit Whole Foods and see if they have any kind of hormone test kit and supplements to help balance her hormones. If you can't find anything discuss with your physcian but I would not recommend chemicals, that may cause other issues for her.
Best of Luck

There are a couple of things I can suggest. I had migraines for several years. The first thing is to reduce her stress through things like exercise, yoga, meditation or prayer. I would also suggest a good chiropractor and/or massage therapist. There could be a pinched nerve in her neck or spinal column.
Encourage her to drink 64 oz of water per day, and to eliminate caffeine. A calcium/magnesium pill will also help. Medications will just put her in a situation to always be on meds. If she has her menstrual cycle, take her to the gyn and have her tested for Anemia.
I know it may not seem like it, but being a 13 year old girl these days is rough.

Good luck and be sure to let us know what worked.

I also started getting migraines when I was 14. I am now 28 and still get them every so often. When I went into the dr. at your daughters age, they had me stop eating some foods that they think cause the headaches. One is yellow cheese. I know that sounds funny...but I still don't eat it. Another one is chocolate. That one was harder for me to give up. I am sorry she is going through this. I know how hard it is. I think the best thing to do would be ask the doctor about foods. I would ask her to keep a food diary. Write down everything she eats and also write down when she gets a migrain. Take that into the doctor and that will help them a lot. Good luck and I hope you can find a drug free way that works for your daughter.

I had a friend who's daughter got migrainnes once a month. She had not started her period yet. They later figured out it was what her body was doing instead of a period. I am assuming she has started her period, but if she has not look into how often it is or even if she has see if it is hormones. My friends daughter's go for a week every month. Another friend was triggered by MSG.

So you've already seen that there are many possible causes of (and solutions to) migraines. Hang in there... you'll figure out how to help your daughter. And sorry about the car accident. Hope you're all okay.

I just wanted to toss out yet one more idea as to what might be causing the migraines. Does your daughter wear glasses? I've gotten occasional migraines since about 4th or 5th grade... sometimes due to stress, maybe sometimes diet, sometimes hormones and at least once because I needed new glasses. And that was one time that I got a bunch of them in a really short time.

I think you've gotten a lot of great suggestions for how to help your daughter. I hope you find the right solution for her really soon!

Hi S.,
So sorry to hear your daughter is suffering so. Migraines at this age are usually tied to the amazing wash of hormones that our bodies begin to produce, but they are also tied to our emotional state. A *great* skill for all girls to learn at this age is to shake off stress and tension. It's never been my strong suit either, so I sympathize deeply with your DD! :) To develop this as a life skill can improve all aspects of her life -- but especially her health and relationships. In addition to decreasing stress, it helps girls recognize that taking care of themselves is an important way to invest their time and energy. They deserve to allow themselves to give themselves care. My suggestion is to begin by encouraging her to sit in a quiet place, close her eyes and to breathe deeply for several minutes to clear her head and heart of stress. Its simple, but its more difficult than it sounds. Lots of exercise is a great way to beat headaches and stress too and it also raises self-esteem, which can be important at this age. I also use self-hypnosis CD's that I bought on the internet (less than $20) for stress relief. There are several good sites out there. Most sites will send you an audio sample if you ask so you can hear what a session sounds like.

I certainly sympathize with her. I get them too, mine started even younger. I agree with the other advice, certainly rule out everything else including sinus problems. Is it hormonal? Mine is always worse around my time of the month. I don't know what age Imitrex can be prescribed at, but that helps me as long as I can go to sleep after taking it. Cold on the neck and eyes helps. Put her in a dark, quiet room too.

Good luck!

Peggy

I have been suffering for yrs. And I am in my 40's My advise it to take her it a neuro. and let then look at her. You family md. really had no idea. flexeril is just a muscle relaxer. There are many a drug to help prevent them out there and at a young age. Don't any one tell you different. Peace

I know you have done a follow up, but I hope you still read these...I'm assuming she wakes up with her headaches because it is so early in the am. Do some research on Cluster Headaches. I thought I had migraines for years because doctors had said that was what it was, part of my issue was sinus related, part was cluster headaches. I do also get migraines, and the difference is that a migraine you can sleep off where a cluster is a headache you will wake up and still have it and it goes on for days with more intensity at different times, sometimes building to a climax. I had never heard of cluster headaches until I got married and my husband told me about his cluster headaches, I thought he was making it up--so I googled to verify if it was some hokey thing his family made up. It isn't. I learned a lot.
I actually dropped out of college because of my headaches and was on some extremely strong medications. One made me nuts (Don't take amatriptoline if you can help it...) The Imatrix back then you could only take 3 in a weeks time, so I had to be extremely careful with when I took them. I learned how to use accupressure to help alleviate tension. and I take the excedrin migraine or excedrin tension headache depending on if it is a tension headache or a migraine. I can usually tell by the pressure points...if I'm extremly tense they hurt much much worse. lol. I take it with a coke since the caffeine helps--it starts quicker to dull down the headache a bit until the excedrin kicks in.
My dh and I both take a good multivitamin as well and we both get headaches much more frequently if we are not taking a multivitamin.
Also it's true that you should look for triggers. If you can pinpoint triggers you can really cut out headaches. I just found out a few months ago that Aspertame is a HUGE trigger for me, and one of the reasons I got so many migraines was because I love chewing gum. Try finding a gum without Aspartame!! I now get gum from a local Korean Market...no Aspartame. I can't do diet drinks or sugar free stuff, the chemicals that they use to replace sugar give me instant headaches.
It's helpful to know that. I always read boxes more carefully now and snacks everything and I've been shocked at how many things have Aspartame in them...even Fiber One cereal! Which was contributing to my headaches as well and I was eating it to be healthier and hopefully get rid of them.
I don't have any blinds in my house either as the light shining through blinds will also give me an instant migraine and I don't drive after dark as much as possible. I am much more sensitive around my monthly. I found a great tension release lotion at Walmart for $4 that is in my car so I can rub it on my neck and my temples as I drive--I've had the bottle for almost a year now, and it still isn't gone. It's been great. It helps when I am driving and get a glint of light shining off a mirror or something and I start to get the warning twinge.

anyway...http://www.clusterheadaches.com/about.html
this is one of the best websites for info on clusters.

ps sorry to hear about your accident. I hope sore and stiff goes away quick for you

I have never responded to any questions before so am not sure exactly how to do this.
If you are into natural things or want to try natural - Young Living (Essential Oils) has some great products. They have a few that work for migraines. Two are peppermint oil and M-Grain. I am a distributor so let me know if you have any questions or want to try. M. Lorenz ____@____.com

I suffer w/them as well. There are prescriptions you can get from a doctor when all else fails. I regularly go to a chiropractor to make sure everything in in alignment. Sometimes they can be cause by pinched nerves or misalignment high up on the spine and neck area. I also notice a pattern in mine that it happens every month along w/my period. It's due to a crash in hormones (on the pill) and that brings them on as well. Check w/a chiropractor if you can and also explore whether or not it is hormonal changes. Ice packs on the back of the neck help, a dark quiet room can also give relief. Caffiene helps as well to open the blood vessels. Good Luck!

I have a daughter who had an eating disorder starting when she was 13. She wouldn't eat, or would binge and purge. She suffered from migraines because of that. She also wasn't getting the right nutrients because she felt like she was fat all the time so she would get rid of anything in her stomach. Make sure your daughter is eating right. There are so many factors in headaches. Is she getting enough calcium? or magnesium? I would get on the internet and explore.

Something to think about: Your daughter is not Excedrin Migraine deficient nor Flexural deficient nor any other types of medication deficient. What I'm getting at is there is some underlying problem that needs to be figured out so she stops getting the migraines. NO, headaches and migraines are not normal and no one should have to live with them. Her body is trying to tell you something. I'm a strong believer in chiropractic and I know chiropratic physicians has helped many suffers of migraines. It is important to find one that is very thorough and will help get to the root of the problem. If you would like a recommendation, send me a message. I know someone who is very thorough!

I agree that you should definately figure out what is triggering these migraines. Also talk to your doctor about Treximet, a new migraine drug since it is suppose to work fast.