str8jakett

Just curious if anyone has been caught out before with a migraine. My typical migraine starts with 10-20 minutes of blindness and tunnel vision followed by some numbness and confusion before the headache itself arrives. They are usually a once a month thing but occasionally I have had up to three in one week. I've had them a few times in the morning on a planned riding day and still carried through with the ride, which seemed to help the headache pass quickly. Today I was a mile or two from home after a hour and a half ride when I started to go blind. It was certainly scary but I was comfortable enough to make it home safely considering most of the route left was my own neighborhood. Just curious about who has been caught out with the same type of migraine and what you did when it hit. I can handle the headache, but the blindness and confusion is pretty scary when not in a comfortable place.

Quel

Sounds about what I get. Not quite full blindness, but vision gets blurry to the point where I can't read. I've never had one when I was out far riding around, but I got one on my commute a few months ago. It's only about a 5 mile ride so I just picked up the pace and got home before the worst of it hit. Not much I can do except down some advil and water and close my eyes.

LS2379

My wife has had alot of problems with migraine's untill I read some information on CoEnzyme Q10 and I got some for her. 100mg a day and she has not had a migraine in 3 months, used to be several week.

WCroadie

Yeah I get migraines about once a month sometimes more frequent. I can feel it coming on and usually take excedrin migraine relief, if I take it fast enough the migraine goes away, if not I get it bad and need to lay in a dark room, sometimes vomiting occurs. I hate them. I don't usually get them while on the bike and I don't usually get the blindness, but I have on occasion.

ID64

Yep, I got it too. Not very often, maybe once or twice a year, but always in inappropriate time. Physical exercise usually reduces frequency for me.

Machka 

I used to get migraines quite regularly ... to the point where the left side of my body would go numb and I'd drop anything I was carrying. The pain wasn't all that bad, but that side effect, and the tunnel vision, etc. were annoying and a bit scary. At one point the Dr actually thought I was having mini-strokes ... but after a number of tests diagnosed me with migraines.

But I quit drinking 15+ cups of coffee a day, and I quit working in a smoky environment (in those days people could smoke in restaurants), and the migraines went away.

Mr. Beanz

I get the same thing, the blindness, numbness in the tongue, arm and leg. Then the puking and dry heaves! Gads, that aura (doc calls it) stts in one section of my vision, then swings over to another. The entire time running in a pattern simiar to running Christmas lights. I get sick thinkign about it. Thanks for bringing up the topic!..Nothing eased the pain. But last year, the doc prescrribed Maxalt. Not an instant relief but did weme to ease the symtoms somewhat. Blindness seemed shorter than usual and I've escaped the puking! The Maxalt is like an Alka seltzer that disolves on the tongue.

At 12 yo, I'd get them once a month. About 25- 35, 3 a year, now at 46, maybe once a year (crossing fingers)

I once got one on an organized ride. 30 miles into the 62 miler, I went blind. I ws going to pull out of the ride (my wife was driving support for funzies) but I had driven 2 hours to get there and paid for the ride. Dammit, I'm gonna ride. i was worried cause when they come on, I can barely talk or organize my thoughts. But I put my head downand followed the white line on th shoulder for about 30 minutes till I could see again. Good thing it was a ride in the desert.

I did notice that they come on more when I'm dehydrated. Now I drink alot the night beofe the ride, prehydrate the brain and other organs. And on the ride, seems to help as they are less frequent now.

str8jakett

Thank you for that, I've been reading up on it and it seems worth a try. God knows I've tried everything that's been suggested. My wife has problems with them too but hers are far more frequent.

The right side of my body goes numb, and it used to freak me out because everything did follow the symptoms of a stroke. But the doctors I have been to were never worried about that so it eased the fear a little. I started smoking about 9 years ago, and have since quit, but I had them before and after. To tell you the truth, I always crave a cigarette when I have a migraine for some reason!

My doctor gave me Maxalt as well, which seemed to work a little as it did for you. I never had a problem with nausea or vomiting though. My doctor also put me on Topamax as a preventative. After getting several migraines while on that, I gave it up since the major side effect I experienced was losing my taste. Not worth it! I did martial arts for about 4 years when I was in my early teens. I could almost count on getting one near the end of every class, three times a week. Over the years I've tried to find a trigger or figure out what brings them on but there has never been a solid reason that I've found.

Brian Ratliff

Man... I had a migraine once. That was quite enough. I hope to never experience it again. Started with the aura when I was driving the last mile to work. Thought it was funny that I had a complete blind spot where the car in front of me would literally disappear into the scrambled haze if I look down at the radio. Then I had time to look up the symptoms on the internet and thoroughly research what I might expect before the headache hit. Then lying down in a dark conference room. Then the puking. Then driving home though the headache. Then more puking. Then collapsing into bed at 11:00am and sleeping until 8pm and it finally went away.

Not fun. Don't know what would happen if this happened during a ride.

davida

Hi

For me, it's all about not getting dehydrated. So I don't have a problem on rides, because I drink plenty. I can have a problem at work because I just forget to drink enough water over a few days. Doesn't work for everyone though.

davida

str8jakett

That is a good thing to consider. I took the same route today (which is pretty typical anyway), but made sure I drank a lot of water leading up to it. I don't really drink anything else anyway, but just added a lot more. Difficult to tell if it really helped considering they are normally once a month anyway.

lemurhouse

I would get migraines which lasted anywhere from a day to three days. It took me a long time to realize they were migraines, even though I had the ocular strobing/aura, could feel them coming a day in advance, etc. This went on for about fifteen years. Eventually I realized that they correlated to how much processed carbs I was taking in. I modified my diet, and the migraines ceased. Or so I thought. My headaches stopped, and the ocular migraine mostly stopped - although I would occasionally have them during and after exercise -- but it turns out that we can have migraine activity without having migraine headache.

Last summer I was driving on the highway, and out of the blue I lost vision in both eyes and started to black out. Happened within the space of a few seconds, then cleared. A few minutes later it happened again. Felt like a stroke. Went to the doctor and he put me on a very comprehensive (and expensive) battery of tests to rule out stroke, tumor, etc etc. Ultimately they decided it was cerebral arterial spasm / basal artery migraine. These can be dangerous (i.e. if you happen to be racing -- yikes!) but obviously better than the more scary alternatives.

If both eyes were affected, you might google basal artery migraine as a start. Migraine is a complicated thing and presents differently in different people & different times. Might be worth making a real effort to identify what triggers it for you. Mine were becoming somewhat debilitating, and I kind of lucked into realizing how to avoid or at least mitigate them. I would certainly recommend seeing a doctor to rule out the other worse stuff.

Snoots

[Redneck Auto Mechanic's Voice] Well there's you're problem. [/Redneck Auto Mechanic's Voice]

Mr. Beanz

Samething I mentioned in the last paragraph of my post. Since I started cycling, I've learned to keep myself better hydrated and have had hardly any migraines since.


I do visit the boysroom often. Some riders have made the comment "you always have to go". I tell them I drink a ton before and during rides. What's more enjoyable? Wee-wee or a migraine?

longhorn31

I get them, but nothing as bad as what's been posted. My vision blurs, but no blindness or tunnel vision. My aids: Imitrex if taken at the onset; Excedrin Migraine if taken at the onset; aerobic exercise; sitting in a hot shower in the dark. The last two relieve the pain, but only while exercising or showering. I've tried a brain freeze (ice cream real fast) and it worked once. I get them from stress, fatigue, allergies (like red wine), and changing my sleep pattern. Luckily, I've never had one start while on a long ride.....doesn't sound like fun at all!

clutchy

man you guys get the brutal stuff, my maybe once a month migraines have nothing on you strokers/seizures

veganeric

I used to get them in my teens - mid twenties. I still will but thankfully they are very rare. Mine were short and intense. I seemed to skip over all the "here it comes" symptoms. Anyway, here's what I found that usually worked to get rid of them. First take a couple extra strength excedrin/excedrin migraine (they're the same thing) with a full glass of water (or more). Then take a HOT bath. I can't stress "HOT" enough. It needs to be as hot as you can stand. As you get used to the heat and/or it starts to cool down add more hot water. Also keep a hot washcloth on your forehead, temples and eyes (I push it down so it's right on my eyelids). Keep this as hot as possible too. After a while you should feel quite relaxed. As much as possible, that is. Then go directly to bed. Assuming I could get more than a few hours of sleep I would always wake up migraine free.

A few little tips. Light is my bane so I do all of this in as dark of a setting as possible. If sound bothers you drape a hand towel over the water spout to minimize any splashing or dripping sounds when you're adding water. I realize this doesn't apply to the OP since you can't do any of it on a ride, but hopefully this helps someone.

str8jakett

I'd just like to bump this thread up to thank you LS2379. I've been taking 100mgs of Co Q-10 a day since you posted about it and I'm coming up on three months without a single migraine. They've plagued me all my life and never had I heard about this supplement for preventative treatment. I am absolutely ecstatic when I say thank you! I suggest it to everyone who mentions migraines now and some of the other people in this thread or new posters may want to consider it.

kudude

I started getting them in HS because of cross country. My senior year I didn't have a first period, so after the 6am 5 mile run, I'd take a nap w/o eating or drinking anything. I still get them - exercise makes them worse. I can usually feel them coming if my blood sugar is low (makes it hard to scrub the lbs for racing season when you get a migraine if you don't eat), and I'll sometimes get the blindness in the shower after a ride, mostly b/c I probably didn't eat or drink enough.

Can't tell if caffeine makes them worse, but I certainly have "triggers" I haven't worked out. Mine headaches are the "blind in the middle of my vision" with nausea followed by actual pain. I'll take the pain over the other symptoms anyday.

bmxsykes

I swear by Excedrin Migrain. Once I ran out of my sampling of perscription drugs, I bought Exedrin Migrain and it has not failed me yet. Usually works within a half an hour.

eippo1

This stuff works better than any prescription for me too. I actually don't get them anymore (except for a few headaches here and there which have migraine-like symptoms). Ever since I got sinus surgery and corrected my deviated septum, I haven't really had one. So for me I guess it was my terrible sinuses would mess with my head.

LS2379

I am glad someone got a bit of help from the post. It has really done well for my wife.

kaliayev

I have been getting cluster migraines for as long as I can remember. Starts with a single bright light that spreads to the point where I cannot see. As the lights fade, usually around 20 to 30 minutes, the intense pain and nausea begins and can last for days. If I can get down a couple of Excedrin Migrain before the lights get to bad the pain does not get too intense and I can cope pretty much as normal. Needless to say I carry the stuff every where I go.

tero

+1 on dehydration being a contributing factor to migraines. In my case, caffeine or too much sugar intake can trigger migraines, too. A can of soda quite often brings me to the threshold.

If you get a lot of migraines during rides, maybe you are keeping your shoulders and neck too tense? Wikipedia gives the following list of possible triggers:
* Allergic reactions
* Bright lights, loud noises, and certain odors or perfumes
* Physical or emotional stress
* Changes in sleep patterns
* Smoking or exposure to smoke
* Skipping meals
* Alcohol
* Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills, hormone fluctuations during the menopause transition
* Tension headaches
* Foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG) or nitrates (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami)
* Other foods such as chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods.

Maybe in your case the trigger is muscular tension or foods?

RomeoTango

Hey Str8, I like your avatar! I'm from fairly near Abingdon, though currently in Georgia (US Army). Hit me with a PM.