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Ice Pick Variant of Migrane

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Migraine Headache
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Posted 7/24/2007 6:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, does anyone here experience a sharp jabbing pain like an ice pick jabbing into your head before the onset of a headache? I have occassional classic migraines which are preceded by an aura about thirty minutes before the pain starts. However, these new headaches are different and my PCP calls them Ice Pick Migranes. The respond to Imitrex. The jabbing is always in the same place - approximately two inches to the right of the crown of my head.

Often, however, the jabbing is mild and lasts from just a few minutes until maybe an hour. I sometimes get a mild headache a little while after the jabbing starts. I don't take Imitrex when it's mild, but it is very irritating and I can't help but worry about it. At other times it's very painful.

I'm curious to learn if any of you experience this and if so, what do you know about it? Thanks for any input you may have.
Posted 7/25/2007 3:01 PM (GMT 0)

Hey PattyLatty,

I so totally know what you are talking about with the ice pick pain.  I've had this problem since I was about twelve, for about 30 years.  They usually hit me right behind the right eye, or right ear.  I've had a few farther up towards the crown.  The are so intensely painful, I instantly grab that part of my head and push down hard.  If I just get a few, I'm generally OK.  However, if I get a lot of them close together, I know a migraine is on the way. 

I've tried muscle relaxers, nerve medication, and injections directly into the skull.  Nothing ever made a difference, and since the pains are so random, my doctor can't even figure out what to call the problem.

When I do get a full-blown migraine, it feels like a constant jabbing behind my right eye.  I have tried to explain the pain to my mother, cuz it freaks her out, and she thinks I'm going to have an aneurysm.  I feel like that too sometimes.

If you find any answers to the problem, please let us know.

Leigh Ann cool

Posted 7/25/2007 5:18 PM (GMT 0)
LeighAnn, I do the same thing with grabbing my head - for some reason, it feels like that might help.  I often tell people that my pain feels like there is a hot fireplace poker jabbing from the center of my head through my left eye.  My eye waters, that side of my nose runs and the pain is so intense I will swear that it is going to explode.  I always say that if I could just pull my left eyeball out and rub deep within my head, it would help.  I think this is why the Lidocaine Nasal Spray never helps - it can't reach that deep.

Posted 7/25/2007 7:40 PM (GMT 0)
Yikes! At least mine doesn't feel like a hot poker being jammed through my eye! Mine has become more like a dull constant pain. This one has lasted for about thirty hours. Medicine can cure ED but no one can come up with the cause of these headaches. :) At least I know I'm not alone. Thanks LeighAnn an Baseballmom.
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