My husband has been having migraines since he was about 12 years old.
Violent head and neck pains, blurred vision, vomiting. It takes about six hours for one to pass.
He tried various medications, prescribed by his doctors and neurologist.
He eventually tried acupuncture, he was desperate to find something that worked. After two sessions per week, for 3 weeks, he started having less frequent migraines, only about 1 every two weeks.
After 3 weeks he went once a week. He kept this up for two years and the migraines started getting less severe, no more vomiting.
He still has the visual disturbances and headaches, but he doesn’t have to lock himself in a dark room for 6 hours.
He also started seeing a chiropractor twice a month and the had and neck pain has also lessened.
So I have to conclude that he is doing a lot better, unmedicated with the help of an acupuncturist and chiropractor.
Good luck to anyone who suffers migrains they are debilitating.

I forgot to mention that one might want to try keeping a headache diary.

It sounds like such a simple thing and I scoffed at the idea myself for years, but it helped me immensely and I saw a definite pattern between the migraines and my cycle and my stressors.

I have a 21 year old brother who constantly suffers from migraines. I had to take him to the ER last week becuase he had a temp of 101, had sensitivity to light, and his head and neck were throbbing with pain. The DR said he had symptoms of meningitis so he did a CT and a lumbar puncture. He didn’t have a brain tumor, bleed in the brain, or meninigitis but he did have an elevated opening pressure when he was doing the lumbar puncture. There are conditions that cause an elevated pressure; 1 is called pseudo tumor cerebri. There isn’t a tumor, but the brain acts like there is. The next step is taking my brother to a neurologist to see what they can do about the condition. He doesn’t have nosebleeds that I know of, but this may be something you could check out. Email me if you have any more questions about it.

I suffered with severe migranes from about age 9 to my late teens, I’m glad to say i gradually grew out of them and I now maybe get one a year now at age 28. I had them every month between these years, i had to lay in dark rooms and they made me sick. Hopefully he may grow out of his like me

glycofamily – That is what happened to my grandfather. He had terrible headaches his whole life, from a young kid through the army and finally into his older years. Finally, I don’t know why it took so long but a doctor finally looked at him, checked everything and it turned out he had this benign tumor growing in his stomach. They removed it and almost half his stomach and his headaches went away. Very interesting.

Anyway, I wonder if she’s taken into account the weather and air? I live in Wisconsin far away from the massive smog of the LA area but one day while in a small town mind you, I got this MASSIVE headache. My entire head hurt, light hurt my eyes, I got dizzy, I was throwing up and finally I went to the ER. They said that a few people had been into the ER with headaches and really didn’t know why. The next day or a couple days later, my mom found out that the air quality that day was extremely poor and there were quite a few cases of people with extreme headaches going to the ER. If he has allergies, combined with the possible poor air quality that could maybe do it.

I also agree with maybe going to a chiropractor. I’ve got neck problems that stem from a car accident when I was a toddler and also from cracking my neck from a young age. I don’t personally see a chiropractor, but I gently crack my own neck. If I go days with cracking it, I get severe headaches and as soon as I crack my neck, my neck and head start to feel better.

There are so many things that could be wrong, could not be wrong. The human body is so amazing, but I (as well as my mom) know what Donna is going through. When I was 12, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus, but it took almost 2 months from the first time I experienced excruciating pain that said something was terribly wrong to be diagnosed. The first thing to do was find a good doctor. My original doctor, the man who delivered me, said I was basically crazy and a bad child looking for attention, I wasn’t sick and recommended that I see a psychiatrist. My mom was VERY upset by this but still took me. I remember specifically one day we were driving to see the psychiatrist and I cried, saying I was really sick and I needed a real doctor, not some head person. So we turned around, went back home, canceled the appointment and the next day we went to the UW-Madison Children’s Hospital. There we found an immunologist who ordered many many MANY tests and within a month and a half, I was diagnosed with Lupus. It’s a very hard battle, when you know you are sick but there isn’t anyone listening or trying to help. That’s when you need to take charge and just push through and search. There are good doctors out there, you just have to grab the bull by the horns and be your own boss. Do your own research for doctors and/or the medical problem, but don’t freak yourself out or get paranoid. My mom did that. She went to the library (this was back in 1995 before a computer in every home ) and she narrowed my illness down to either Lupus or Leukemia. She figured it out a good week before my real diagnosis and for those few days, she was in complete hysterics thinking I’d probably die before my 13th birthday. So don’t do that!

I hope Donna finds what she needs and her son gets relief.

When I worked with a pediatric neurologist, he would always say, “the gut is the body’s 2nd brain” and strongly encouraged dietary aids to help cleanse the gut.

I have definitely connected my migraines with dietary triggers. For some reason, I still catch myself testing the foods and will occasionally eat the bad guys that send me on a migraine trip (MSG & refined bleached flour are biggies.) Once I feel it starting, I take several rounds of fiber & digestive cleansing supplements and try to induce bowel movements (TMI? LOL) I also drink lots and lots of water because even urinating helps flush things out. I also take a good antioxidant supplement in larger tha nbottle recommendations to help with the oxidative stress caused by this bad food. And I second the recommendation of a CHIROPRACTOR! In my case, the trigger foods are causing a chemical reaction of sorts within my body and there are gasses building up inside of me. This puts pressure on my upper neck areas and will cause me to get out of alignment. The chiropractor can help release that buildup of gasses (the popping sound of an adjustment) and will get me back in alignment.

I will also say there is definitely a connection to hormones as well. There is a stress added to the liver during hormonal times (monthly, for example) and the liver is less able to handle the stressor foods when it is dealing with regulating other hormones. Phytosterols are HUGELY beneficial for supporting hormonal functions…including helping the liver.

Hope this helps in some way!

I started to have migraines in my mid-20s and found relief with Imitrex Nasal (I couldn’t keep down any pills during a migraine). In 2002, I mentioned the migraines to my OB-Gyn, who uses a holistic approach to treating patients. She first ordered a functional intracellular analysis to test for nutritional deficiencies, explaining that many health issues are caused by such deficiencies. Also, even though I didn’t plan on having children for a few years, my doctor advised me that I should take steps to address any nutritional deficiencies well in advance of trying to conceive.

From the test results, I found out that I had a number of nutritional deficiencies, including a calcium deficiency, which my doctor suspected caused or contributed to the migraines. I was surprised about the calcium deficiency because I consumed above and beyond the daily RDA of calcium each day by eating dairy products. Anyway, my doctor prescribed specific vitamins (vitamin quality makes a difference) and also directed me when to take each vitamin (for excample, you shouldn’t take iron and calcium supplements together). I also became more mindful of what I ate so that I was getting most of my nutrients through food, rather than supplements. I had one more headache within the first month or two of addressing my nutritional deficiencies. That was in early 2003 and I haven’t had another one since.

I’ve since made it a habit to have the functional intracellular analysis performed as part of my annual OB-Gyn exam. My doctor uses Spectracell’s FIA test, but I imagine there are other tests out there. I think that Spectracell offers a special rate if your insurance will not cover the cost of the testing.

I feel bad for anyone that has “true” migraines. I have been suffering from them since I was about 13 and I am now 29. I have the aura, sensitivity to light and sound and also severe vomiting for about 7-8 hours. Oh, and head pain that makes you want to jump out a window! Now I NEVER thought I would get rid of migraines, which were truly debilitating. But I went on Prozac after my first child was born and I have not had one since. I went on Prozac because of my horrible hormones and depression, but it ended up being my saving grace. I don’t want to be on it forever, but I also can’t live my life waiting for my next migraine, especially with a 2 year old.

Have him tested for Lyme Disease. It’s WAY under diagnosed and when my sister was 14 she got it and presented with migraines and cluster headaches.

I do not know if anyone else has mentioned this, but I have dealt with debilitating migraines and am a chronic sinus/allergy suffer and I would recommend both Magnesium *I take 400 mg a day* for my migraines- I had been on high doses of Topamax, but found that if I missed one dose I would have a horrible migraine. I also recommend Quercetin w/ Bromelain which will help with the sinus problems *it specifically states that it helps support Healthy Histamine levels and manage seasonal discomforts* I personally take 1600 mg a day *the recommended dose* and it has worked wonders for me. I also recommend seeing a acupuncturist, I recently started and after only 2 sessions I have seen a dramatic difference. Check a local vitamin store for further assistance or anyone who practices Holistic Health and Wellness/Chinese Medicines, etc. I hope this information helps and good luck.