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Can someone with migraines explain your symptoms? I don't know what this is....

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Posted 4/10/2017 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
I keep getting these "episodes" and I don't know what they are. I think it might be a migraine but not sure.

It usually starts out with my neck becoming very tight and stiff, and the back of my head very tender. A day or two later of the neck stiffness/pain, I become very sensitive to lights and noise. I don't really have a headache, though I get a quick flash of shooting pain in one eye - but it's very quick and not that painful.

The worst part is the nausea and this very weird, constant feeling in my stomach between the belly button and the rib cage. I don't know how to explain the feeling: it's not butterflies, it's not pain, it's just a very strange, unsettling feeling.

To me, it seems like a migraine. It seems to be happening every 5 days or so. I think I posted about it before but I don't know what to do since it keeps happening now. I did some research on migraine home remedies; I took fish oil, potassium, an anti-inflammatory, and a Xanax last night and it did help a lot, especially with my neck. I'm still really nauseous, light sensitive, and still have the weird stomach thing happening.

Where do I go from here??
Posted 4/10/2017 8:24 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry - I've never had a migraine - so don't know how they present.

I'm sure someone here will be able to help with that..
Posted 4/10/2017 8:44 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Girlie. It's just so weird because I really don't have a headache and the feeling in my stomach is awful....I just don't know what else it could be!
Posted 4/10/2017 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a migraine sufferer and while we all deal with different issues the neck pain, nausea, light sensitivity and tenderness on scalp are common symptoms but the key component is a crazy headache that feels like your head is in vice grip.

I'm pretty sure I've read that the quick jolts of pain in the eye can be related to candida.

Is blood pressure ok?
Posted 4/10/2017 9:55 PM (GMT 0)

jrpsf said...
I'm a migraine sufferer and while we all deal with different issues the neck pain, nausea, light sensitivity and tenderness on scalp are common symptoms but the key component is a crazy headache that feels like your head is in vice grip.

I'm pretty sure I've read that the quick jolts of pain in the eye can be related to candida.

Is blood pressure ok?

Hmmm...that's interesting. At last dr appt, my BP was low (80/60). Candida seems just as horrific as Lyme in some respects.
Posted 4/10/2017 11:12 PM (GMT 0)
pmm-If you are female, and this isn't meant to make you scared but as we well know symptoms for heart attacks in women differ and can be odd and far from what we would think they would be.
Posted 4/10/2017 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
I get migraines all the time and migraines bring along a horrendous head pain, usually one sided, along with the nausea, light sensitivity and other symptoms.
It could be low blood pressure episodes, like POTS, maybe you are getting dehydrated so your bp drops. Make sure you are drinking enough and eating salty foods if you feel icky.
Posted 4/11/2017 3:01 AM (GMT 0)
I was a huge migraine sufferer but they definitely lessened since menopause - thank you Lord. Having migraines since age 15 was rough. I was around when finally ibuprofen was available and that was a God send.

Then finally Imitrex and now I take Maxalt. Both of those I could drive, function and go to work. Praises!!

My symptoms with migraines is a horrible head pain and it is like jrpsf said - as vice grip. And it hurts so badly that you are willing to put your head into a vice grip to make it stop. Light sensitivity and I even had smell sensitivity. Nauseous and "leave me alone."

So sorry if you have these. I had a couple with my lyme head pain (which was totally different than my migraines). It was horrible to have both the lyme head pain and a migraine. I had horrible thoughts.
Posted 4/11/2017 1:48 PM (GMT 0)

PeteZa said...
I was a huge migraine sufferer but they definitely lessened since menopause - thank you Lord. Having migraines since age 15 was rough. I was around when finally ibuprofen was available and that was a God send.

Then finally Imitrex and now I take Maxalt. Both of those I could drive, function and go to work. Praises!!

My symptoms with migraines is a horrible head pain and it is like jrpsf said - as vice grip. And it hurts so badly that you are willing to put your head into a vice grip to make it stop. Light sensitivity and I even had smell sensitivity. Nauseous and "leave me alone."

So sorry if you have these. I had a couple with my lyme head pain (which was totally different than my migraines). It was horrible to have both the lyme head pain and a migraine. I had horrible thoughts.

I just wish I knew if it is a "true" migraine or something due to Lyme. My mom has severe migraines at least twice a week and receives nerve blocks; she has trigeminal neuralgia and was just diagnosed with occipital neuralgia as well. My aunt gets seizures from migraines and is on anti-seizure meds. I'm praying that I'm not starting down this road too. I think I am about the same age as they were when they started having them. (early 40s).

I was never one to get headaches before lyme, had sinus/throat infections every month but never headaches! I had one bad month or so Oct/Nov after starting treatment with terrible vice-like head pain and pressure. I'm praying that doesn't come back; I really thought I was dying.

Pretty sure I'm terrified either way, whether it's migraines or Lyme meningitis/encephalitis lol I'm going to do a bone broth diet for two days or so -sort of a candida cleanse - and see if that helps.

xoxo hugs to all
Posted 4/11/2017 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
I get migraines from time to time too, but don't usually suffer with them much. My daughter and hubby both are regular migraine sufferers though, so I've been around them a lot.

Although most people do have it, a person does not have to have a "massive headache" in order to be having a migraine though. I didn't realize this until I married my hubby and he pointed out that I was still having a migraine. Light sensitivity, aura, nausea can still be symptoms of a migraine.

I *think* this is a good description of migraines: /migraineagain.com/10-types-of-migraine-which-do-you-have/

Mine is directly connected to having these infections, I believe, as I didn't have any while I was healed, and have only had 3 since being reinfected. Fortunately they are a rare event for me now.

Be sure to talk to your LLMD and see if they will get you some of the prescription migraine meds to try - some work for some types of migraines.
Posted 4/11/2017 2:39 PM (GMT 0)
pmm73, I've had migraines since 5th grade. I was treated at that time with a medicine used for epilepsy, and the migraines improved until college. High stress brings them on for me. I often feel the way you described before the vice pain hits. I've been lucky as usually 2 alleve and a coke (the sugar helps) will relieve the pain. Also, a blackened room and a cold compress if possible. Not sure what I'll do if one hits now since I'm going for minimal sugar.

I agree you should bring it up with your dr and see what it could be and what might help.
Posted 4/12/2017 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like Occipital neuralgia. But lyme can cause it or mimic it. It's what I have. I'm hoping with treatment iy will go away or improve.
Posted 4/12/2017 7:36 PM (GMT 0)

Kat1000 said...
pmm73, I've had migraines since 5th grade. I was treated at that time with a medicine used for epilepsy, and the migraines improved until college. High stress brings them on for me. I often feel the way you described before the vice pain hits. I've been lucky as usually 2 alleve and a coke (the sugar helps) will relieve the pain. Also, a blackened room and a cold compress if possible. Not sure what I'll do if one hits now since I'm going for minimal sugar.

I agree you should bring it up with your dr and see what it could be and what might help.

Kat- just an fyi-sugar is food for a migraine. Caffeine is what was helping when you drank the coke. Excedrin migraine and the other OTC migraine meds have caffeine in them. There are other rx migraine drugs that are caffeine based. Eating something with sugar will bring a migraine back if it isn't completely gone.
Posted 4/12/2017 7:44 PM (GMT 0)

Traci said...
Sounds like Occipital neuralgia. But lyme can cause it or mimic it. It's what I have. I'm hoping with treatment iy will go away or improve.

At one point, that's what I was thinking. But I've told three doctors now about it and haven't gotten anyone to actually address it. I see my LLMD again in 2-3 weeks. I like this guy and trust him. Last time, we spoke about MRIs and other tests for my head/brain/neck. He's very good at not ordering unnecessary tests, as I have no insurance. I have a feeling he may end up ordering something next time, though.

Hope you find some relief.
Posted 4/12/2017 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
A migraine will not show on any test that I know of. It is a symptom diagnosis.

Imagine a headache that makes you puke, or you feel like you will puke. Or a head ache so bad that if you could hammer it away you might.

The pain is horrific and does not let up.

When I had lyme I had lightening bolts of pain in my head. Those were not a migraine. I have no idea what the heck they were, but one patient told me they were a migraine. Not a migraine I had ever had. Migraines are unrelenting. This pain was a stabbing quick pain and it was like a flash of light behind my eyes. I don't want to ever have whatever that was again.
Posted 4/13/2017 1:49 PM (GMT 0)

PeteZa said...
A migraine will not show on any test that I know of. It is a symptom diagnosis.

Imagine a headache that makes you puke, or you feel like you will puke. Or a head ache so bad that if you could hammer it away you might.

The pain is horrific and does not let up.

When I had lyme I had lightening bolts of pain in my head. Those were not a migraine. I have no idea what the heck they were, but one patient told me they were a migraine. Not a migraine I had ever had. Migraines are unrelenting. This pain was a stabbing quick pain and it was like a flash of light behind my eyes. I don't want to ever have whatever that was again.

I'm sorry you get migraines. I know so many people who suffer terribly from them.

I think what confused me is that I didn't have that horrific headache that everyone talks about with a migraine, just severe light sensitivity, nausea, and neck pain. And that quick flash of shooting pain into the eye.

I'm feeling a little better today....I doubled up on Mobic, took .05 Xanax in the morning and at night, and slept without a pillow. I also started 5-HTP two days ago since I read that serotonin production may be related to migraines. (I'm no longer on paxil and really don't want to go back on it.)

I still have tenderness in the back of my head, but the light sensitivity is better and my neck is not as stiff or painful. But it is directly related to my neck...it seems to start out with a head tilt for a day or so and then escalates.

I found the following links which describes it EXACTLY. I never had this before I started treatment. I wish I could figure out whether it's Lyme, Bart, or Babs messing with me...but it's probably one of those things that i'll never know for certain.


/www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Occipital-Neuralgia-Information-Page

www.occipitalneuralgia.com/the-cause-of-your-pain.html

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/adult/nervous_system_disorders/Occipital_Neuralgia_22,OccipitalNeuralgia/[url]
Posted 4/13/2017 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
If it's occipital neuralgia, it's most likely Lyme disease:
"LYME DISEASE IS AN INFECTIOUS CONDITION with musculoskeletal and neurologic presentation. If the initial rash is not recognized (as it is not in the majority of cases), the condition may progress to an acute disseminated and, subsequently, a chronic disseminated state over a period of months. Although arthritis and arthralgia are the most common symptoms, meningitis and meningoradiculitis are also common. This may result in pain in the distribution of nerve roots. While brachial neuritis and sciatica have been described, this represents the first description of involvement of the C2 nerve root, producing occipital neuralgia.

/www.researchgate.net/publication/287189334_Occipital_neuralgia_from_Lyme_disease
Posted 4/13/2017 3:56 PM (GMT 0)
pmm73. are you taking Japanese Knotweed? This herb and the addition of Red Root were my helpful herbs for my head pain. It took a couple of weeks but the grinding in my neck, the pain in my shoulders and the horrible pain in the back of my head lessened to tolerable.

I can only say what worked for me and we are all so different. It is always a searching thing with lyme. I was pretty darn lucky on my first searches with lyme. I had 2 herbs that I could not take, but just kept moving on.

Hubby has an entirely different body and the ones that I could not take, he can.....

Always guessing as to what might work with lyme.
Posted 4/13/2017 7:40 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the post, Trav. You always have the best links....I really have to step up my researching skills lol

PeteZa....I was on Japanese Knotweed for about two weeks or so before I saw my new LLMD. I had all the same types of symptoms at that point....he said it was a herx and to stop the JK. I've just been trying to take what he tells me to: Biaxin (500mg upped to 3x a day), lauracidin, magnesium malate, phosphatidyl choline, activated charcoal, a probiotic, and fermented foods.

He knows I take meloxicam when needed for severe pain. Other than that, I just take potassium, hydrolyzed collagen, fish oil, and just started 5-HTP.

The only thing getting me through the past few days has been taking a double dose of meloxicam (7.5mg doesn't touch the neck pain) and .05 xanax 2x a day. (I break up the .25mg xanax because I really don't like to take it unless I have to and don't want to start relying on it.)

I just get so freaked out when my brain/head is affected.
Posted 4/13/2017 7:55 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not good on the antibiotic thing, but I have read on here over and over that single antibiotic is better than none, but 2 antibiotics are even better than one.

Will the doc be giving you another antibiotic?

Sorry about the head pain you have. I know how this hurts.

I think I was doing Buhner herbs for about 3 months before the head pain went completely away. It was there in the beginning big time and then I started getting an hour a day with no pain, then 3 hours, finally a whole day without pain and then it just kept dwindling.

Prayers for relief from this. It is awful to try and do anything with head pain, I know this for sure.
Posted 4/13/2017 9:00 PM (GMT 0)

PeteZa said...
I'm not good on the antibiotic thing, but I have read on here over and over that single antibiotic is better than none, but 2 antibiotics are even better than one.

Will the doc be giving you another antibiotic?

Sorry about the head pain you have. I know how this hurts.

I think I was doing Buhner herbs for about 3 months before the head pain went completely away. It was there in the beginning big time and then I started getting an hour a day with no pain, then 3 hours, finally a whole day without pain and then it just kept dwindling.

Prayers for relief from this. It is awful to try and do anything with head pain, I know this for sure.

He started me out on Biaxin 500mg 2x a day and increased it to 3x a day at my last visit. He's planning to add rifampin at some point, maybe at the next visit.
Posted 4/13/2017 9:47 PM (GMT 0)
Like I said, I know so very little about antibiotics. I surely hope this is the ticket to symptom free!!

<3
Posted 4/13/2017 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
Hows your viral load? Herpes simplex virus 1 & 2, HHV6 reactivation, and EBV also a herpes virus can and DOES cause headaches that begin in the back of the head-neck area. Reactivation of the virux that causez chickenpox aka shingles causes weird pains all around the head! I get 'shingles' attacks without developing the full on horrible blistering sores. I just get the fatigue and head pains!

Oh also, herpes viruses CAN affect the stomach!
Posted 4/13/2017 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
All is so true about those heroes simplex viruses. Also how are your adrenals? When those adrenals arent up p
to par they cause so many symptoms that you wouldn't think were related to a lack of cortisol. Also
your bp is way too low and that is often a symptom of adrenal fatigue.
Posted 4/14/2017 1:13 PM (GMT 0)
Not sure about viral load...he's never mentioned testing for it. He does suspect adrenal fatigue. I have the saliva test kit at home....just waiting for the $ to send it in lol
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