Sorry I meant to say my body feels like it is in a stressed state. I type too quickly and make mistakes!

I would highly recommend getting this book and reading every page.
http://www.amazon.com/Migraine-Brain-Breakthrough-Headaches-Better/dp/1439150354/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373040586&sr=1-3&keywords=Migraine

To me, this is the bible on migraines.

Another alternative to medication is using ice. And something I realized was that sometimes migraines are caused by low blood sugar (it's in the book). So I take about 1/3 of a Coke and feel much better.

The last option might be going to a pain clinic.

Hi ellow: I use frozen gel packs with cotton coverings that I keep in the freezer. I put one at the back of my neck and it fits from my neck up quite a bit; the second one goes on the side of my head where the pain is throbbing. Many times I can get the pain reduced down with these.

I also have a Shower Massage shower head and I get into a hot shower, set it for Pulsating and that's a really hard constant pulsating action, and I aim it at my throbbing pain and then at the back of my neck. It's not a shower to get clean, it's a shower to aim the shower head at the pain.

Many times I can reduce the pain with that.

have you been check for chiari Malformation , it is often mistaken for a migrane

hi ellowyne. I'm so glad you wrote. I was in your situation almost nine years ago, when my occasional migraines became daily. I lost my job and then my mind. The isolation, the fear, the depression, the insomnia-- I've been there (and sometimes still am), and it's a lot to deal with.
Feel free to email me at jrkoch@hotmail.com, and we can exchange phone numbers if you'd like. Maybe we can offer each other some empathetic support? Hang in there.

Sometimes migraines can be calmed down, not gotten rid of, but the pain levels lessened with certain vitamins. This has helped me a lot. I've had migraines for 30 years, and daily for over 10 years now. I take the following everyday. Magnesium, vitamin B2, and Co Q10. The magnesium absorbs better if taken with zinc and calcium. I also do massage therapy twice a month on my head, neck, shoulders and upper back. All that pain tends to tighten those muscles after so many years of pain. Doing these two things have gotten me out of bed finally even though I still have a daily headache.

ellowyne, I am so sorry that you have Migraines. First You need to get the book that shellryaz recommends. I have taken Imetrix for a long time, it helps most of the time. If the pain is in excess of 9, I will suck on a Actiq sucker, If that don't work, I go to the Emergency room. I have been trying to get into Yoga and meditation, I have heard that it will help. For me, working as much as possible, or just staying busy, seems to take my mind off of the pain and depression. And, please try to stay strong.

I've been/am there at times too. I have migraines a lot 66-100% of the time still. It sucks to be in pain so much. And, then to not have friends or other support you can get to on top of it...sometimes I wonder if it is worth trying to fight through the pain. I do have a partner, but she can only do so much, ya know. I've been tempted long ago to end things, but not since my migraines started being a problem.

I had bacterial meningitis in 2011. In the hospital I had a religious experience and feel that God innoculated me from wanting to endd things on my timetable ever again in that. I don't care if others call God by a different name or different conception, I believe that God is big enough to be known in so many ways that our minds cannot comprehend and there are more facets to God than we can know in all the religions on Earth, and perhaps beyond. But, anyways, that is a topic for another board. Suffice it say God healed me of wanting to harm myself like that and it was a permanent healing.

The one thing I can do when going through near constant pain and the meds aren't working at all, or yet, is pray. I pray about the pain, and wanting it to go away, but not my will but God's and that if by me having this pain means someone else has a better time of it in some far flung war torn place, then so be it.

I also use the mantra and chant, "Pain is just a mental event." The word just is very important, without it, I felt weaker when chanting Pain is a mental event. What does that mean though, you may be asking. Take stubbing your toe and saying ouch! First thing that happens is your toe encounters a hard, immovable surface. Then the toe experiences sudden unexpected movement, not caused by your body. That information travels along nerves up to your spine. Part of the signal branches off and goes to a motor response relay station where it goes back down to the foot and pulls the foot away from the toe stubbing object. The rest of the signal goes up into the brain stem and the rest of the brain where it is interpreted as pain, and your mouth gets told to say ouch!

That process takes time and the only time you realize the pain has happened is when the signal reaches the interpretation part of the brain. Now, in a migraine the process is much faster because the toe stubbing is now the brain getting angry and that happens a lot closer to the pain interpretation centers in the brain.

That's why pain is just a mental event. It isn't physical, it's thought based... so I try to chant my way through the blocks of pain until they get worn down.

When praying and chanting don't work, I call the neuro doc if it's been on for four days, he prescribes the steroids (which do very little fo me) once they are done, I go to the ER and usually get admitted for something called the DHE protocol (a strong NSAID) that specifically targets migraines.

My record length for a single migraine is 48 days. My regular pattern is 2-3 migraines a week each lasting 1-2 days, rarely 3 days. It never seems to end. And, it never will. I've maxed out on the healing process from meningitis according to my neuro doc. That's not a happy place to be, especially when waiting for the Disability folks to make up their minds.

Thank you everyone for your kind replies. I am sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I have been in a lot of pain lately and badly depressed. I have been feeling utterly alone and scared of the constant pain, so thank you for reaching out and reminding me that I am not alone.
Hugs to everyone/