Are any of you prone to migraine headaches? What remedies do you use? I used to use Imitrex but cannot take it any more due to underlying health conditions. I sometimes use mountain dew mixed with OJ concentrate but sometimes sweets aggravate my migraine headaches so that sometimes doesn't work. I'm extremely prone to migraines because it is innate to my health conditition. :(

Also: what triggers have you identified for your migraines? After almost 30 years of suffering with migraines I learned I am allergic to soy, and due to th way allergies work I may have to avoid other foods in the legume family, such as peanuts and the sweetpea.

For some people seafood is identified as a trigger, but not for me. I love salmon and Trout, and thank God, I don't have any problems with those foods. In fact, sometimes eating shrimp actually helps to reduce my migraine severity - I think it's due to the high iodine content.

When you get a migraine other than home remedies or drugs what do you do to try to deal with it better? I usually lie down in a dark, cool room with a sheet over me, sometimes a pillow or cloth over my face to block out the little bit of light from my VCRs and clock, and sometimes put some coppertop batteries in my mp3 player and listen to music at soft volumes, like Pink Floyd, Queen, or Etheridge.

I think the key is to get organized: that is, to have a space you can go where it is comfortable, you have your remedies handy at all times, so that way you are prepared and can either get over the migraine headache quickly, or at least tolerate the pain a little better until it goes away on its own. Don't wait for the migraine to happen to get things together to deal with it. You'll feel like a stray kitten otherwise; helpless and in pain.

In order to have empathy for migraine headache sufferers, one has to have experienced a migraine headache to understand how painful they are. Even a slight whisper is enough to cause the stabbing pain to become unbearable.

My Mom has migraines sometimes. It gets so bad for her that all she can do is take medication and lie down. Sometimes I get really bad headaches and I call them "migraines" but I know that they're really not because if I take aspirin and a small nap then I am usually back in commission. My Mom is sometimes unable to do anything for hours. :( And one of her triggers is chocolate. :( I think I would cry if it ever became like that for me. :( I'm being serious, chocolate is my major vice. Anyway. But she can never figure out what type of chocolate it is that makes her get migraines. Because sometimes she can eat it and nothing happens. And then other times, it's a really bad migraine later in the day. :( So, I guess you just have to be careful, or maybe take notes when you're able to function again, so that you know which chocolates trigger it and which are okay to eat. Well, that's all I can think of. It is definitely a serious and painful condition. :(

although I am not familiar with migraines, I know that a whisper is good for them and for life in general:p

from my teens until my mid 30's...I used to get cluster headaches...i think it is a cousin of the migraine. The cluster is when all the tiny blood vessels in your head constrict and then the blood tries to force it's way through. I would get them almost every night for about two to three months and then they would go away for a time and then they would start up again. They were so painful...I sympathize with migraine sufferers...I had basically all the symptoms that migraine suffers get except I would never get nauseous. Noise...light...would kill me. The pain would start over my right eye and then spread to the whole right side of my head. It would last about 2-3 hours and then would go away. But then I felt as if had been beaten up and then I was exhausted. I used to get them in the middle of the night which was very problematic medication wise. I was on Fiourocet, but the key to that was i had to take it as i started to feel the pain over my eye...but because I was asleep I would miss the warning sign. And it wouldn't help taking it before I went to bed because if taken too early it would not prevent the headache and taking it after was no help either. So meds never really worked for me. The only thing that worked was someone massaging my head...I used to drive my family crazy...cause after a while no one wanted to do it...my dad was good about it...and he was the best because he had these big strong blue collar hands. Luckily for me they seem to have gone away as I haven't had one in about 6 years...Knock wood!! They say as you get older the blood vessels in your head loosen up so the problem tends to go away. It seems to be true in my case.

I had them quite often when I was younger, but now that I am older I don't have them as much. I sure remember that pain though. Boy! It was rough! For me now the best thing when I have a terrible terrible headache is to take a BC powder..... I know they are nasty but they work. I think I am so worried about the bad taste and trying to get rid of it my head stops hurting.

I have a friend that gets them a lot..they are genetic in his family

Bummer. Has your friend tried to figure out the underlying cause? There is more to it than genetics. It could be a food intolerance, it could be from missing nutrients, it could be from a physical defect in the brain, high blood pressure, or even stress or hormone imbalances. I'm sure that there is something that could be done to alleviate or even reduce the frequency of your friend's migraines.

I get a migraine right after my period every month. I just take 800mg Motrin just as it's beginning & it seems to do the trick most of the time.