# Non medication treatments for Migraines?



## HottiMegan (Feb 7, 2008)

ooh boy do i have a doozy of a migraine. Being pregnant, I'm only allowed to take Tylenol. It is sure not doing the trick. I haven't had a migraine in YEARS.
i was wondering, other than laying down in a dark room for two days, do you have any home remedies to relieve the pain associated with a migraine?


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 7, 2008)

HottiMegan said:


> ooh boy do i have a doozy of a migraine. Being pregnant, I'm only allowed to take Tylenol. It is sure not doing the trick. I haven't had a migraine in YEARS.
> i was wondering, other than laying down in a dark room for two days, do you have any home remedies to relieve the pain associated with a migraine?



Poor dear. I got wicked migraines during my first pregnancy. One was so bad that the accompanying neurological symptoms (weakness on one side and inability to form words) brought me to the ER. All they gave me at the time was T3's which are relatively safe during pregnancy.

Non-medication wise, I'm a big fan of chiropractic care. It's really helped, every time I've had a headache and gone in and had an adjustment. Some people have had good luck with ice packs to the back of their neck, cool cloths to their forehead, and of course... the dark.

Unfortunately, hormonal changes can trigger migraines. I hope this is the last one you have to deal with for a VERY long time.


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## Paul (Feb 7, 2008)

Some migraine suffers claim relief with meditation. Google "migraines and meditation" and you will get a lot of links. I suspect that meditation works best for those whose migraines are a result of stress, as opposed to food or hormone triggers. Anyway I have noticed in the past I suffered most from migraines when I had the most stress in my life. As I better learned to deal with stress, the migraines reduced in frequency. I used to get a migraine attack about three to four times a year. Now with less stress in my life they have been reduced to one every two to three years.

Meditation may or may not work for you. Its worth a try to see if reducing your stress through meditation might help.

When I was younger I used to suffer horrible migraines. My father is a doctor and one time when I was had an extremely painful migraine he came home with a pediatrician colleague and the two of them took turns shining the light of an opthalmascope into my eyes. Apparently by viewing the blood vessels in the back of the eye you can tell if the person may be suffering from a brain tumor...all I wanted to do was vomit on the pediatrician for making the headache worse! The doctor was very lucky that day :lol:


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Feb 7, 2008)

I used to get KILLER Migraines until I got my PCOS under control.

The ONLY thing that worked was ice - on my neck and on my head - alternating. I had to be in a dark room with NO NOISE and an ice pack. 

Also - ask hubby to give you a foot massage with fairly hard pressure on the soles of your feet. It helps relieve the headachs by massaging the pressure points on your feet. If it hurts - let him do it anyway!!! That means you need it bad.

Here's a chart you can look at and have him pay special attention to the neck area (under side of the big toe) and the reproductive organs (gently press and release several times) they are located under the ankle on the outside of the foot.

If that doesn't help sweetie let me know I can send you some Reiki.


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## HottiMegan (Feb 8, 2008)

Thanks for your suggestions. I am doing a cold compress on my neck and will switch to my forhead soon. It's helping a little. I managed to keep my dinner down adn that helped too. I'm going to call my OB and see if there is anything stronger that i can take than tylenol. Right now, if i dont move i'm okay, it's tolerable pain. If i have to bend over to pick something up or turn my head to look at my husband, it kills. I'm uploading some stuff and will be laying down as soon as it's done. i sure wish i had some chocolate to sooth me 

ETA: I'm hoping the fact that I'm having frequent headaches means I'm having a girl. It's an old wives tale that the increased estrogen while carrying a girl adds to the headache factor  I'm cool with a boy but sort of hoping for a girl to have one of each.


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 8, 2008)

HottiMegan said:


> Thanks for your suggestions. I am doing a cold compress on my neck and will switch to my forhead soon. It's helping a little. I managed to keep my dinner down adn that helped too. I'm going to call my OB and see if there is anything stronger that i can take than tylenol. Right now, if i dont move i'm okay, it's tolerable pain. If i have to bend over to pick something up or turn my head to look at my husband, it kills. I'm uploading some stuff and will be laying down as soon as it's done. i sure wish i had some chocolate to sooth me
> 
> ETA: I'm hoping the fact that I'm having frequent headaches means I'm having a girl. It's an old wives tale that the increased estrogen while carrying a girl adds to the headache factor  I'm cool with a boy but sort of hoping for a girl to have one of each.



I hope they are able to give you something for your pain. I know they're hesitant to give narcotics but the T3's helped me tremendously. My pain laughs at Tylenol -- it calls it names and mocks it relentlessly -- so for me it's Motrin or "the good stuff". This has always been the case with me. 

As for the estrogen thing.... well... um... that first pregnancy? Yeah, he'll be 21 next week. But every body is different and I'm hoping you get a girl if that's what you want (as the mother of teenage girls I must caution you, however, to be careful what you wish for!)

Hope you're feeling better. Glad to hear you were able to keep some food down. Poor duckie.


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## HottiMegan (Feb 8, 2008)

There's a reason they're called old wives tales  I have an inkling it's a girl but i'm happy with a boy. I am probably more built to raise boys. 

today the headache is manageable. I am nauseous from it and it kills to sneeze or cough. (the allergies are kicking in thanks to impending spring) I'm hoping by later this afternoon I'll be well enough to do a walk to the fabric store. (I'm itching to buy some patterns to make some maternity tops) If all goes well by the weekend, we're going to go hike Bald Rock at my son's request. He's off for the week so we're going to do a lot of things next week


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## HottiMegan (Feb 8, 2008)

woops, double post!


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## Butterbelly (Feb 11, 2008)

Sandie's suggestion about the foot massages works well, at least for me. I suffer from severe migraines, and sometimes the only things that work for me are a hot shower, or soaking in the tub, and foot massages.


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## HottiMegan (Feb 12, 2008)

I think I'm going to ask my doctor for something when i see her on Friday. I got another one today. That means two in less than a week apart. I cant live like this, so I'm going to see if she can prescribe me something. I got a foot massage from my husband which helped me relax. My mom also talked me through something called tapping. It's a relaxation technique and it helped me too. It might have been talking to mommy too.


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## Ruby Ripples (Feb 12, 2008)

Please don't poo poo this suggestion as some have! My best friend used to have horrible migraines and with the strongest Migraine pills she still vomited and had to lie in dark and silence. Until... we heard one day on BBC Radio 4, a recommendation for a caffeine cure. At the first sign of the migraine, take a half cup of coffe, as strong as you can possibly bear, four heaped teaspoons of instant coffee is what my friend takes. Hold your nose and drink it down. She has never had a migraine progress ANY further, since she started doing this. I told a friend in the dimensions chat room about this, and it worked on her too . Good luck with whatever you try!


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## HottiMegan (Feb 12, 2008)

I have heard about caffeine too at the first sign. I was out at my son's physical therapy appointment while the vision issues set in warning me of the impending headache. I drank some caffinated soda right away but it didnt help.

I am not poo pooing the recommendations. The ice did help on Thursday with my migraine. Unfortunatly, as soon as the coolness warmed up the pain was back. I just want to discuss the frequency of the migraines with my doctor and see if she can give me something stronger than tylenol. This is really starting to suck since it takes me two to three days to feel normal again. My mom suggests it's stress related and i need to do more relaxation techniques.


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## mpls_girl26 (Feb 14, 2008)

I second the caffeine. If I notice one coming on and get it fast enough I drink a can of Dr. Pepper. I don't drink hardly any pop so to get a whole can down takes a while....lol. Otherwise - I take Relpax which won't help you. 

I've started seeing a chiropractor and I've heard it might help my migraines as well - I hope so! I get mine once a month.....as if the other stuff wasn't enough! 

Good luck!


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## Ruby Ripples (Feb 14, 2008)

HottiMegan said:


> I have heard about caffeine too at the first sign. I was out at my son's physical therapy appointment while the vision issues set in warning me of the impending headache. I drank some caffinated soda right away but it didnt help.
> 
> I am not poo pooing the recommendations. The ice did help on Thursday with my migraine. Unfortunatly, as soon as the coolness warmed up the pain was back. I just want to discuss the frequency of the migraines with my doctor and see if she can give me something stronger than tylenol. This is really starting to suck since it takes me two to three days to feel normal again. My mom suggests it's stress related and i need to do more relaxation techniques.



Oooh Im sorry, I didn't mean that you had poo pood the recommendations! It's just that when Ive told some people before about the caffiene one, they've reacted as though I was bonkers! I hope you find something that really helps!


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 15, 2008)

The only problem with caffeine is in Megan's case, since she's pregnant, her doc or midwife may want her to avoid it. The studies are pretty conflicted but the general recommendation is for pregnant women to avoid caffeine, although in her case it may be safer than some of the meds we use to treat migraine headaches.

Megan, I'm so sorry.  I don't know how far along you are, but I had really bad ones during the fifth month of pregnancy and then they eased off. They told me that it's fairly common in the second trimester to have hormonally mediated ones, but they usually clear up; mine did.

I hope you can find something that works well for you. I know how miserable those suckers are.


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## HottiMegan (Feb 15, 2008)

I am 15 weeks today so still pretty early on. I have an appointment today so i'm giong to talk about the frequency of headaches and migraines.

I do have a soda with caffeine once in a blue moon. The experts say up to 2 cups of coffee are allowed so i figured an iced tea here and there and a soda maybe once a month is okay. I was seriously missing my iced tea when we'd go out to dinner


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## Miss Vickie (Feb 15, 2008)

HottiMegan said:


> I am 15 weeks today so still pretty early on. I have an appointment today so i'm giong to talk about the frequency of headaches and migraines.



Oh boy. I hope this isn't the beginning of a bad time for you.  They should be able to find something to help you.



> I do have a soda with caffeine once in a blue moon. The experts say up to 2 cups of coffee are allowed so i figured an iced tea here and there and a soda maybe once a month is okay. I was seriously missing my iced tea when we'd go out to dinner



I drank a fair bit of caffeine during my pregnancies, and I think they're saying that occasional use isn't bad. I was just worried about the idea of you slamming a large amount all at once -- without getting your doctor or midwife's approval. 

Good luck at your appointment! I hope they give you good news.


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## HottiMegan (Feb 15, 2008)

My doctor is going to call in a prescription for a migraine medication taht is safe in pregnancy. Being that it's friday afternoon, i may not get it until monday or tuesday. But she's wanting to nip the headaches in teh bud which is good


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## HottiMegan (Feb 19, 2008)

I just got my prescription for my migraine meds. It has a combo of acetaminophen, caffeine and something else. So I'm hoping it will do the trick if/when i get another one..


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