Room 101

[Jacqueline]

Migraine.

Agree, they've been the bane of my life. I saw a neurologist recently, who advised me to try not taking my prescribed medication next time I get a migraine, in case I am over medicating. I only take the meds when I have an attack. I tried the preventative medication route but they didn't work and turned me into a zombie. I asked the neurologist if he suffers from migraine and he said no, which came as no surprise as anyone who says don't take your pills has no idea what a migraine is like. You would do just about anything to make it go away! Even these pills don't always work but they are better than nothing.

Having said that, I was told elsewhere to try feverfew as a herbal remedy. They are supposed to work as a preventative and are non addictive etc. I got some from Holland and Barrett last week and take one a day. The blurb says it can take a while for them to have an effect so too soon to tell as yet. Still, I will try them and see.

H&B have that offer on them so a pack of 30 tablets is 7.99 and you can buy another pack of 30 for 1p. Two months worth should tell me if they work, on me at least.

[Fiz]

I am fed up with specialists who are all theory and no experience. I sympathise, Jacqueline. I had them monthly from the age of 19, triggered by the contraceptive pill. It blighted swathes of my twenties, thirties and forties. It has died down now although high pollen counts also trigger them although they are more likely to be silent migraines now which merely cause visual disturbances. The only thing that ever worked for me was sumitriptan but then I developed nasty reactions to it...

[alison]

That's interesting, Fiz.  I didn't realise there was a link to the pill.  I expect my friend who suffers really badly has investigated that, but I'll ask her.

[Quintus]

May please put all leaf-blowing machines into Room 101?

 

 

Leave me mine please - I have dozens of deciduous trees and spend every weekend for two months of the year blowing up heaps of leaves to ferry away. Judging by the trailer loads, I reckon I've shifted around 7 tons this year.  I would be absolutely lost without my leaf blower!

[Jacqueline]

I am fed up with specialists who are all theory and no experience. I sympathise, Jacqueline. I had them monthly from the age of 19, triggered by the contraceptive pill. It blighted swathes of my twenties, thirties and forties. It has died down now although high pollen counts also trigger them although they are more likely to be silent migraines now which merely cause visual disturbances. The only thing that ever worked for me was sumitriptan but then I developed nasty reactions to it...

Yes, I'm on sumatriptan but they can make the nausea worse and make me drowsy. I was told by a doctor that migraines often manifest as severe stomach aches in childhood, developing later into the symptoms I am now so familiar with. I used to get really bad stomach aches as a child and terrible travel/motion sickness, which is another sign that one is more likely to suffer migraine in adulthood. I couldn't go anywhere in a car and school coach trips were a nightmare.

When I was a child though, such things weren't on the radar. I just had unexplained aches and nobody wanted to sit next to me on the coach. Couldn't blame them really!

I had to sit at the front and the last person to get on the coach was always the teacher with the sick bucket and paper towels. She used to sit at the back for some reason so when the inevitable happened, by the time she got to my seat it was too late. She used to say that if she sat next to me, it would just make me think about it and encourage me to throw up. I didn't need any encouragement and used to worry more knowing the bucket was so far away!

Happy days!

Edited December 2, 2016 by Jacqueline

[Sim]

That's interesting, Fiz.  I didn't realise there was a link to the pill.  I expect my friend who suffers really badly has investigated that, but I'll ask her.

There is definitely a link to the pill.  When I was in my 20s the pill exacerbated the migraines that had started in my teens.  When I went off it, that was one less trigger.  I know many other people who developed migraines when they were on the pill, which went when they stopped using it.  There is a link because many migraines are hormonal, as is the pill.  

 

Jacqueline, I tried feverfew many years ago and sadly it did nothing to help me, but I hope it works for you.  My mother had awful migraines which is where I inherited them from;  she used to take Cafergot (caffeine and ergotamine) which was very effective.  They were like horse pills and were taken the, er, French way for those of us who were sick all day long and couldn't keep anything down.  This treatment was then superseded by the triptan class of drugs.  I was given rizatriptan because I could take it as a melt as I was unable to keep anything down that I ingested.  It only worked occasionally.  I also tried the triptan that you could squirt up your nose, but that didn't work either.  I don't know if anyone still prescribes Cafergot, but for me it was the most powerful and effective treatment.  

 

I agree, those specialists don't understand what it's like if they haven't experienced it themselves.  I used to wish, as I was lying there in the dark in agony,  being sick every 20 minutes or so, that someone would just hit me over the head with a bat and put me out of my misery.   So when people casually say to me 'ooo, I have a migraine', I say 'no you don't, you have a headache.  There is a huge difference.'  

 

Luckily, my attacks have improved with age.  I don't get the sick, agonising migraines anymore;  I get cluster headaches....so they hang around for three days, but at least I can function.   

 

I hope that all of you who are still suffering badly can find relief of some kind, and soon.  

[Jacqueline]

I tried the triptan up the nose thing as it was supposed to be faster acting, but all it did was leave an absolutely foul after taste on top of everything else.

It also irritates me when I hear people saying they've got a migraine when they've no idea what it even is, or just dismiss it as a bit of a headache. Some of the so called professionals I've seen have been quite happy to admit they don't know much about migraine. I think it is gradually being taken more seriously though.

[porthesia]

The pill is linked to other things as well. Non-dd has had to have her gallbladder removed and there seems to be a link between a certain brand of pill and an increase in gallbladder problems. She is now being investigated for excessive levels of cortisol - don't think there's a link there but I will be asking the question when we visit the consultant.

[taxi4ballet]

Leave me mine please - I have dozens of deciduous trees and spend every weekend for two months of the year blowing up heaps of leaves to ferry away. Judging by the trailer loads, I reckon I've shifted around 7 tons this year.  I would be absolutely lost without my leaf blower!

I saw somebody using a leaf-sucker a couple of weeks ago, it was like a giant vacuum cleaner - much more sensible!

[LinMM]

But presumably Quintus you don't use your leaf blower at 7.30 in the morning as Islington Council does .....unfortunately leaf blower day in the part of Islington I sometimes stay over in on Tuesday nights is very early Wednesday morning...grrrr

 

 

I used to suffer from what is called Classical Migraine eg: visual disturbance/ severe headache/ then vomiting/ then washed out for 24 hours!!

They started when I was 14 and I think can more or less certainly say mine were hormonal.

In my twenties I didn't take anything for them but it meant I then couldn't work....absolutely no way could stand in front of a class with one.....but gradually started taking Nurofen Lysine and this has very luckily worked for me ....as if the headache doesn't develop properly then I'm not sick.....don't know what the Lysine does but it definitely helps on some level.

However extremely fortunate for me as each decade has gone by they've got less and less and often have only one or two a year now .....which I can never work out why they've triggered .....but the menopause definitely saw a massive decrease in them which is why I think mine were hormonal and not some allergic reaction to food or whatever.

In his wonderful book on the subject Oliver Sachs even has a picture of the type of aura I used to have! He has some interesting insights but it's a lovely book to read as he is so sympathetic to sufferers and can't remember now whether he had them himself.

[Legseleven]

You're so right about the irritation of people with headaches claiming that they have a migraine. I'm just as irritated by this with a cold who claim they have 'flu. If they had ever had 'flu they would know that comparing it to a cold is like comparing Margot Fonteyn to a child in their first dance class.

[Sim]

You are so right, Legseleven.  I had the flu for the first (and, hopefully, only) time about four years ago.  I was off work, in bed, for a week.  It moved to every part of my body during that time.  I have had very bad colds, but never the flu.  So now I can say to people 'you have a cold, not the flu', because I have experienced the difference!  

[Legseleven]

Ditto, Sim! I have never had to commando crawl to the bathroom with a cold, however bad it was, but that was the only way I could get there, shivering and teeth chattering, from my overly heaped bed, which looked like something from a TV documentary about living conditions in Siberia, when I had 'flu.

[Vonrothbart]

I tried the triptan up the nose thing as it was supposed to be faster acting, but all it did was leave an absolutely foul after taste on top of everything else.

It also irritates me when I hear people saying they've got a migraine when they've no idea what it even is, or just dismiss it as a bit of a headache. Some of the so called professionals I've seen have been quite happy to admit they don't know much about migraine. I think it is gradually being taken more seriously though.

 

It's very rare I get a genuine migraine attack nowadays, thank heavens. The neurosurgeons told my parents I could well grow out of them, after having a very serious head injury when I was younger, and they were thankfully correct. It's amazing how many people say they have a Migraine (whatever that means), when most of them have a plain headache. It's the same with Tinitus, when I'm struggling with it and someone asks what's wrong, after telling them, they usually say they suffer with it. Almost everyone has a sound in their heads, but it's not neccessarily Tinitus or they wouldn't handle it so easily.

[Quintus]

But presumably Quintus you don't use your leaf blower at 7.30 in the morning as Islington Council does .....unfortunately leaf blower day in the part of Islington I sometimes stay over in on Tuesday nights is very early Wednesday morning...grrrr

 

 

I live in the middle of nowhere with one largely absent neighbour so it wouldn't matter if I did...but you won't see me out of bed that early of a weekend.  During the week I stay in a flat in Stratford overlooking a big area of undeveloped land, which gets overgrown with grass and self-set gorse.  Newham Council, instead of sending one man with a ride-on mower which would have cleared and mulched it in an hour and a half, sent two men each with little petrol strimmer.  It took the two men two full days, with their wretched screaming strimmers penetrating every flat in the area.  Furthermore, on their first pass they levelled the grass back to bare earth but actually strimmed round all the little gorse bushes, presumably because they needed orders from above to tell them whether these exotic creatures were protected  

[taxi4ballet]

Furthermore, on their first pass they levelled the grass back to bare earth but actually strimmed round all the little gorse bushes, presumably because they needed orders from above to tell them whether these exotic creatures were protected  

Ah well, that'll be because gorse is prickly and they were waiting for somebody to fill in all the elf'n'safety risk assessment forms

[Fonty]

You're so right about the irritation of people with headaches claiming that they have a migraine. I'm just as irritated by this with a cold who claim they have 'flu. If they had ever had 'flu they would know that comparing it to a cold is like comparing Margot Fonteyn to a child in their first dance class.

 

Oh, yes, I get so angry with people who say they have managed to stagger in to work in spite of the very bad flu they are suffering, as if they expect a round of applause for being so selfless.  As everyone who has ever experienced the real thing could tell them, if it was flu, they would be unable to move very far, let alone attempt a day's work.  I had to be helped to the loo when I was suffering, I was too weak to make it on my own. 

 

I didn't realise there was link between the pill and migraine, but it doesn't explain what causes it in men.  My father suffered terribly, and he had to go to bed and lie in a darkened room for two days to get over the attacks.  Fortunately, it usually only happened once or twice a year, but he could never pin point what triggered it off.  He was told to keep a food diary, but nothing seemed to be the obvious cause. 

[Jacqueline]

Oh, yes, I get so angry with people who say they have managed to stagger in to work in spite of the very bad flu they are suffering, as if they expect a round of applause for being so selfless.  As everyone who has ever experienced the real thing could tell them, if it was flu, they would be unable to move very far, let alone attempt a day's work.  I had to be helped to the loo when I was suffering, I was too weak to make it on my own. 

 

I didn't realise there was link between the pill and migraine, but it doesn't explain what causes it in men.  My father suffered terribly, and he had to go to bed and lie in a darkened room for two days to get over the attacks.  Fortunately, it usually only happened once or twice a year, but he could never pin point what triggered it off.  He was told to keep a food diary, but nothing seemed to be the obvious cause.

 

 

I also get annoyed by people who drag themselves to work, crying look at how ill they are but they still made it as they believe themselves to be indispensable. They will even share all their unspeakable germs with as many of you lucky people as possible, as they snivel and cough all day but don't actually do any work.

As for migraine, there is no concensus on what actually causes it, according to my doctor. Just a collection of triggers which vary from person to person. For some it is certain food, like dairy products. For some it is hormonal and for me, it is heat, bright and/or flashing/flickering lights such as television, sunlight, excessive noise and that sort of thing. Sometimes it is nothing in particular, I can wake up with a migraine or one just starts out of nowhere. Which is what makes the whole thing so frustrating as it makes planning anything difficult. You just don't know how you will be from one day to the next, however hard you try to avoid whatever your own triggers may be.

[MAB]

Migraine can also have physiological causes.  My (male) doctor took a keen interest in my attacks as he was a sufferer himself and felt that there might be more than one trigger as there was a problem with the discs at the back of my neck, things got worse after a whiplash injury.  Osteopathy can help for those with something similar.  I suffer from both headaches and migraine, headaches fade during the day but migraine can last up to six days with the inevitable sickness and diarrhoea.  Heat is a serious trigger but so is stress and anxiety.

 

Coping with them is the most difficult part.  In my youth I took aspirin in large quantities until I developed stomach bleeding, but paracetomol  was becoming available and again I was obliged to take them in massive quantities (time off work was never an option).  Ibuprofen works well but exacerbates my asthma.  I believe my tinnitus was caused by over dosing on pain killers.  A good natural remedy is very strong coffee, but as this can increase blood pressure, those with naturally high blood pressure shouldn't try it, but for me a double espresso often stops an attack in its tracks and a really hot curry can be beneficial too.

 

Flu?  The really serious strains only occur in a generation and are highly dangerous, if you survive them you develop a small degree of immunity to lighter strains, even if you feel strong enough to go into work it is unwise to do so, flu can develop into pneumonia and kill people, I've known two people that died that way.  Don't go in.         

[alison]

I suppose now would be a timely moment to issue a reminder *not* to take too much paracetamol: overdosing can start at not far above "safe" levels, I believe, and I understand that the irreversible liver damage which can occur can be excruciatingly painful.

 

As for migraine, there is no concensus on what actually causes it, according to my doctor. Just a collection of triggers which vary from person to person. For some it is certain food, like dairy products. For some it is hormonal and for me, it is heat, bright and/or flashing/flickering lights such as television, sunlight, excessive noise and that sort of thing.

 

Bright lights and cold winds, according to my experience - no particular foods that I'm aware of.  On several occasions when sitting in the stalls or similar I've had to ask to be moved because the lights in the wings were starting to trigger one.

 

(And I'm currently stuck at home with a stinker of a cold which is however definitely *not* flu.  I remember once when I had *real* flu, and that was horrendous.  Could barely get out of bed for days.)

[taxi4ballet]

Washing machine powder drawers/dispensers. Who the heck designed those?

 

Not only do they bung up with slimy gunge and are a pain to actually get out (looking at you, Mother-in-Law's washing machine), but when you have them out, they are designed with so many fiddly awkward ridges, bumps, dents and corners that they are practically impossible to clean.

[porthesia]

I totally agree taxi. I have used cotton wool buds and cocktail sticks to clean the dispenser on my machine - still can't get all the gunk out. Have soaked in vinegar and lemon juice.

[Anon2]

Washing machine powder drawers/dispensers. Who the heck designed those?

:

Someone who has never tried to get one out of the machine or clean it.

 

Is it worth hiding mother in laws fabric softener? That seems to make everything worse.

[alison]

I never use mine: we have a relatively new Hotpoint, but the catch on the dispenser drawer always sounds so potentially fragile that I don't like to open and shut it if I don't have to. The washing liquid always goes in one of those dispenser-ball thingies.

[taxi4ballet]

Is it worth hiding mother in laws fabric softener? That seems to make everything worse.

I've shown her my trick. Take half a bottle of fabric conditioner and fill the bottle up with water so it is diluted 50/50. You then just use two capfuls instead of one, and it isn't so gloopy so it doesn't gunge up the drawer 

Edited December 5, 2016 by taxi4ballet

[Fonty]

I never use fabric conditioner, after discovering that the design of my dispenser is awful, and that section is impossible to clean out completely.  I have wasted many hours in the past, scraping out black gunge from it.  However, the one positive was that the gunge did have a lovely smell!

[Jacqueline]

False eyelashes inexpertly applied! Was in the mobile phone shop recently, being assisted by a young lady who was quite heavily made up, including some rather fierce looking false eyelashes, which were coming unstuck. She seemed oblivious, although she must have been able to see what was happening looking from the inside out as it were. Maybe the heat in the shop was affecting the lash adhesive, I have never worn false lashes and am not sure how they are or should be affixed.

The more I tried not to stare, the more I must have been staring. I was wondering if they would actually fall off. It was quite unnerving. For me and possibly for her too!

[Melody]

Gosh, that sounds like a Monty Python sketch.

 

Some of the makeup you see on people behind counters in shops sometimes looks quite a bit more like warpaint.

[Jacqueline]

Gosh, that sounds like a Monty Python sketch.

 

Some of the make up you see on people behind counters in shops sometimes looks quite a bit more like warpaint.

True. I can't see the attraction of trowelling it on like some do, must be so bad for the skin. You see quite young girls slathered in it, presumably to look older although it has the opposite effect.

The women behind make up counters are usually caked. I realise they are selling a product but they don't need to wear all of it at once.

I once had one of those instore makeovers. I was asked questions about my skin type and tone, colours I liked and all that sort of thing. I don't usually wear much or any make up, so the key word was subtle.

I might just as well have saved my breath as I came out looking like a painted doll, my face rigid with layers of gunk. My husband who had been waiting elsewhere, took one look and said what the hell happened to you?!

I couldn't wait to get home and scrape it all off. I wondered if they cake their own faces and that's the only way they know how to apply the stuff.

[MAB]

Make up is actually good for the skin because it usually contains a sun protection factor.   Lip cancers are generally unknown in women that habitually wear lipstick.

[Jan McNulty]

I regularly used to have makeovers in the Mac shop in Birmingham.

 

Once the young lady who usually did me made me up more dramatically than usual (with my happy agreement).  A lady in the street stopped me and told me my makeup was fabulous!

[Jacqueline]

I agree some make up is good for skin - such as anything that acts as a moisturiser and protection from the sun or any harsh weather. I always wear moisturiser, something on my lips and sometimes a little eye make up.

The kind of make up I am talking about is layered on to the point that the skin can't breathe.

I think the key is everything in moderation.

[alison]

(Having recently done a house-to-house flyer delivery)

Letterboxes with particularly fierce draught excluders through which you can't push paper, and in particular the ones which are so fierce that they grab hold of the letterbox flap and flatly refuse to release it! (thereby leaving the letterbox open and *creating* a draught!)

 

I really feel sorry for postmen now.