goldberry Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Feverfew that others have mentioned worked for my husband and also my teenage niece. (You can use straight feverfew, or Migraguard or Migralief also have it.) Hubby also has to avoid his triggers, which are so far MSG and certain cheeses. Funny someone mentioned Starbucks...DH discovered he gets a migraine everytime he has a vanilla bean frappacino. He is SO disappointed! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 If you're seeing a ped or GP you're wasting your time. See a pediatric neurologist that specializes in headaches. They have far more up to date info and far more knowledge about treatments.. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Costco sells a kirkland brand glutenfree and nitrate free and paraben free shampoo, conditioner, and body wash....huge pump bottles, inexpensive, and nice products.... Everyone else has mentioned the stuff that has worked for me. I would also check into the metabolic/endocrine system stuff if you haven't already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caitilin Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 This is not a preventative measure, but dh's grandmother, who has suffered from migraines for most of her life has found that she is able to head them off when she first notices the aura. She does this by taking a packet of regular alkaseltzer dissolved in a glass of orange juice. I have no idea whether this would help another person, but I thought I should share anyway. :001_smile: :grouphug:To your dd--hope you can find the fix! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trresh Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) I feel for your daughter. My brothers, my son and I all get them though not everyday. That's terrible. I had a friend who had chronic migraines and she had to go through a course of steroids and that stopped the cycle. I know with mine hormones play a huge role. Does she have any troubles in that area? I hope you get it figured out and I'm sorry if I duplicated any answers. I don't have time to read them all yet. ETA: I got my worst migraines as a teenager and we all know hormones are crazy during that time. I think I'd really look into it. Edited November 2, 2011 by Trresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) If MSG is a trigger - here is a list of other things to avoid. MSG is rarely labeled as MSG. Edited November 2, 2011 by Karen in CO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 One medication I haven't seen mentioned is real Sudafed (the kind you have to buy from the pharmacy counter now). For people in my family, migraines frequently have a sinus pain component and Sudafed helps sometimes when pain medicine doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartosunshine Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 If MSG is a trigger - here is a list of other things to avoid. MSG is rarely labeled as MSG. Wow! :001_huh: Thanks, I'm going to print this list for myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 As far as stress/anxiety. I KNOW negative stress is a trigger for my daughter. If something causes her to be upset, it causes a near-immediate worse headache. I've really eased up on a rigorous academic year for her senior year, hoping a more relaxed year would help ease her headaches. But, she likes to be busy, and she continues to have a lot of things going on (her choice). She loves everything she is doing. She has a very happy, positive nature, and is almost always smiling. Although, she does have a very sensitive side to her, and negative remarks from others -- even small critiques done in kindness -- really throw her off. So, I am always very careful about how I word my parental advice to her, for example. Dolphin, you mentioned having so many things going on in your head all the time. I can see her being this way. You also said behavior modification helped. How do you even begin to do that? I worked a lot with a therapist. I went to one that did not use medication, as I did not want to go that route. I do have a low dose of valium that I use when things get overwhelming (2mg) and that helps me to be able to use my other techniques to get my head in control. At college I had a therapist who taught me to let go of things. I would keep thinking about things (a paper, test, event) after they were done. They would still be in my head swirling around. I wanted to do everything, and I was able to keep doing things once I learnt how to have things finish. For example, as soon as my test was turned in, accepting that no amount of worry would change the outcome, it was in, it was done, door shut. People with anxiety do a lot of black and white thinking. It is all good, or all bad. My most recent counselor has helped me to explore the grey area. There are a lot of visualization techniques. Different ones work for different people. A starting point if you don't want to jump straight into therapy is the book "From Panic to Power" by Lucinda Basset. There is a small amount of Christian Content, but even if you are not a Christian it is worth reading. Everyone I have recommended it to has felt better after the first chapter. For me, the scents thing is when there is lots of things going on, the more sense's stimulated, the more I have headaches and feel ill. One scent that I don't think I have seen mentioned here, is laundry. Bounce dryer sheets have a very strong odor, and I never realized how much they contributed to the over all scent of the house. We use scent free detergent and dryer sheets. Not having that smell on my clothes or in the house helps. We have gone scent free with everything we can in the house. I have then introduced a small amount of lavender(which is good for headaches) It really helps when I step in the door of my house to have it that way. Oh, and clean air. Did you know most houses have a large amount of formaldehyde and other chemicals just in the house. A couple of house plants can help. We have a dwarf banana tree which is a really good one for clean air in the house. One last trigger: artificial sweeteners. Has she tried removing those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macpuffins Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 WOW! Awesome list of ideas (I'm swiping a few for me during times when my strategies don't help). Allergies have been mentioned, and with the list of foods/additives mentioned, I dare-say intolerances may also be at play. For myself, I'm sensitive to certain things: perfumes (esp ones w/ fragrance oils instead of essential oils), smoke, pretty much everything unpronounceable in my food/health&beauty products. Removing those from my daily exposure list let me cope with the ones I could not change - i.e. drastic changes in weather (going from cold outside to warm/humid indoors = guarantee), pollen, mold! You mentioned she doesn't do well w/ cold, and I don't mind cold, BUT heaven forbid if my ears or forehead get cold! Either of those can trigger a nasty one, and the two combined doom me quickly. When my hands/feet are cold, sometimes just getting them warmed up QUICKLY helps. I do not tolerate humidity w/ heat. In the summer it not only triggers asthma attacks (which can set off a migraine once it is resolving), but also a migraine. In the winter, I can NOT cope at all w/ going from outside to indoors where it is humid & warm (the stuffy kind, not the 'nice' kind - kwim). If I have to leave a stuffy place by going outside, I can not go back at all. Other things that have set me off: pneumonia (something to do w/ coughing my brains out), Fabreeze, white fluffy cats/dogs! And obviously SMOKE of any kind (legal or not). Also, bra strap over the wrong spot on my shoulder gave me one that mimicked a stroke. That was a doosie! I got my first migraine that I remember when I was 4. Yeah, 4 years old. Pneumonia & asthma attack hell. I wasn't diagnosed officially until I was 8, and not given a stitch of meds until I was 16. I had some SO BAD in the first couple years of university, that I have written exams that I don't remember having written b/c of the memory issues associated w/ extreme pain being relieved. Even scarier is that I do well under those circumstances (usually As). Even in HS I got good marks when taking tests/exams under those medicated conditions. Many of the things that other posters have mentioned that do cause trouble, do not do so immediately. Those things only come when taking everything in the previous 4-6 hours into consideration. That is when things become dicey. You get data overload when you look at things eaten, areas been, possible chemical exposures, etc. It took me about a year to get most of the food issues identified. Strong correlative data did in fact actually mean causation with me. It just took time to get enough conclusive data to actually make the call. Be gentle w/ learning about the triggers, because the stress of trying to figure it out made me miserable. Extra water (in glass or stainless steel or ceramic containers ONLY). Fresh cool air. Warm extremities. Darkness. Quiet or soothing sounds. No rough clothing/nothing picky/nothing constrictive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macpuffins Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 For me, the scents thing is when there is lots of things going on, the more sense's stimulated, the more I have headaches and feel ill. One scent that I don't think I have seen mentioned here, is laundry. Bounce dryer sheets have a very strong odor, and I never realized how much they contributed to the over all scent of the house. We use scent free detergent and dryer sheets. Not having that smell on my clothes or in the house helps. We have gone scent free with everything we can in the house. I have then introduced a small amount of lavender(which is good for headaches) It really helps when I step in the door of my house to have it that way. Oh, and clean air. Did you know most houses have a large amount of formaldehyde and other chemicals just in the house. A couple of house plants can help. We have a dwarf banana tree which is a really good one for clean air in the house. One last trigger: artificial sweeteners. Has she tried removing those? Scents nail me. I have to have my own washer/dryer for that very reason. I can't even drive by a laundromat! Hugging folks who use dryer sheets has set me off in the past too. My friends now KNOW! Artificial sweeteners - It has been so long since I've used them, I forgot about this one! I'm a stevia girl, or real sugar/honey/maple syrup. Oh, and one thing that has been rough for me - NAIL POLISH (and the remover there-of). I now use either Piggy Paint or Sun Coat. Both much safer, though less chip resistant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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