Migraine Headaches Support Group
Migraine is a neurological disease, of which the most common symptom is an intense and disabling episodic headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head and are often accompanied by photophobia (hypersensitivity to light), phonophobia (hypersensitivity to sound) and nausea.
Hey everyone, new here.
I've struggled with migraines for 17 years now. I wake up with a headache 5-7, that turns into a full blown migraine 9-10 very quickly. This has been happening on and off for 17 years, sometimes for months on end. 3 months and counting as of Feb 3.
I've never found a migraine medication that helped me. I've been on Tramadol for years now (Opiod painkiller), the only thing that helps but leaves me feeling pretty useless.
I'm responding here because I have discovered my migraines are not migraines! Or not being caused by a neurological condition. I found out that massaging my throat (near tonsils) relieves my migraines and an ice pack on my throat and gargling with ice water seems to last even longer!
I still have a constant headache that the botox, I just had today, is calming down as we speak, but it is nowhere near as painful as my migraines were.
This makes no sense at all, as far as I can tell ( internet research) tonsils are not a migraine relief pressure point. My headache specialist was baffled!
I'm convinced now I have an infection in my tonsils or lymph nodes in throat region that my body can't quite fight off, as my pain levels have waxed and waned over the years. And somehow the pain, which I don't feel in my throat, is being transfered into my jaw, up into my temporal muscle, causing my migraines. Cold or pressure resets where the pain is, back to my throat.
So bloody weird!
I'm going to my family doctor next week to see how baffled he will be and hopefully get in to see a throat specialist.
I'm posting this in hopes I can help someone else with the same problem. I will post an update when I've got it figured out.
Good luck and stay strong! :)
I will start off by saying my migraines aren't nearly as impactful as your own. I guess I'm considered on the mild end of the pain spectrum. I typically get migraines about once every 3-4 weeks. I can go months without getting one or I can get one every other day for a week or so, but I've gone a whole year without one as well. They typically only last for 3hrs max.
The other thing is 50% time I don't get pain just the aura & nausea that follows. This phenomenom of not getting the pain has actually gotten better & better over the years because even the severity of the pain has lessoned. When I was younger the pain was horrible but as I get older it seems to have weakened?
The odd thing about the tonsils is that I'm 47 & I still have my tonsils & my right tonsil has been enlarged since longer than I can remember & my migraines are always right sided!??
I'll have to try the tonsil massage & ice thing.
I hope you do find an answer with a specialist. It's no fun having these headaches. Keep us updated!
After some more research, I have now discovered what is really going on.
After some experimentation with massaging my chest and stomach, I came to understand I was stimulating my Vagus Nerve system. I was basically manually applying a Vagus Nerve Stimulator, which was interrupting the overexcited state, blocking the signal to my temporal muscles letting them relax.
When I found that the Vagal System is highly sensitive to Acetylcholine levels, I found that the Zyprexa that one of my doctors had prescribed, had side effects that were Anticholinergic (reduction of choline levels). I took Zyprexa for 6 months, which stopped my daily headache/migraine. I was not happy with the way it made me feel, so I stopped taking it to see how I would feel. I felt more 'normal' and did not have a migraine incident for about 5 months. So basically the Zyprexa flushed my system of the excess choline, but it slowly built back up over time when I stopped taking the drug.
I recently found an article about the effects of High Acetylcholine Levels and my symptoms fit the description to a tee.
I also found an article linking high Acetylcholine to depression and the new treatment options they are looking at.
Reducing Acetylcholine levels naturally seems to be pretty hard to come by, but I am experimenting with L-Lysine to control my levels (no idea if it works yet) and some people recommended Dextromathorpham (in some cough syrups) as an option.
More to discuss with my doctor soon!
Will Update again as I learn more. :)