First Migraines aged 45
Posted , 5 users are following.
I'd never knowingly had a migraine in my life until last year and even then, initially I didn't even know it was a migraine.
The very first time it happened I got an aura which started off as a small zig zag line in both eyes. I actually thought I had something in my eye at first and kept rubbing my eyes but it wouldn't go away. Over the next 10 minutes or so it got bigger and bigger until it filled my vision before finally going away. At no point did I get a headache.
A few weeks later I got it again but then after I got a headache. I wouldn't call it a bad headache, I didn't really even need to take pain killers. The worst bit though was afterwards when I would feel 'out of it', like everything was too much effort and all I wanted to do was sleep and I would also get really bad neck pain that would last for days.
I went to my GP who said it was probably a migraine with aura (I'd never even heard of such a thing). He didn't do any tests just said it was probably stress but I didn't really feel stressed before hand. That said the aura did freak me out so I totally accept I was stressed AFTER getting it.
A few weeks passed and then I got another attack, again 1 every day for 3 days. This time I became very nauseous and was being sick whilst I had the aura. The headaches after were more pronounced but not the splitting/crushing feeling that I always thought a migraine was, just a reasonably bad headache.
It's worth mentioning here that I was also diagnosed with high cholesterol around this time and already had raised blood pressure and so I decided to go on a diet as I was very overweight.
Then they seemed to go away for several months and I thought that perhaps they had gone away. I've now lost over 4 stone (nearly 60lb) and my blood pressure had come down so much that I was taken off medication and now it's a steady 115/75.
Then yesterday out of the blue I had another migraine. During the aura phase I took my BP and it had shot up to 150/100 but I kept taking it over and over and as the aura went away over a period of around 10 minutes and my BP came down each time until it was back to 120/80. Again after I got the headache, slight nausea and still neck and today I still feel wiped out, slight nausea and have a slight headache that won't go away and am constantly in fear that he aura will return.
What freaks me out and worries me is why have I started getting them at 45 years of age when every Internet search says it's highly unusual to develop migraine in later life? Why do they last for days? Is the aura due to blocked/narrowed blood vessels due to my high cholesterol? Is it normal for BP to shoot up during an attack? Why hasn't my GP referred me for any tests?
My GP did give me some medication, can't remember what it was called, and said to take one pill at the start of an attack but that if it didn't help NOT to take the second pill. When I looked up the side effects in the leaflet it said that one of them was death! So I've not taken them and really don't like the idea of trying them.
Trying to remain calm and keep things in perspective but finding it really hard.
Has any of this happened to anyone else? Am I over worrying?
0 likes, 5 replies
kath1955 Peakoverload
Posted
I would think that the drug you have been given is Sumatriptan and is a life saver to many of us migraine sufferers. If your GP is happy for you to take it, then you should give it a go. Follow the directions and yes if the first one doesn't work, don't take another one. If it's going to work, it usually works within an hour. Don't take anymore than 3 a week. It doesn't work for everyone but many of us get great relief from it. You may also need to go back to your GP and ask about a preventative drug but these can be hit or miss and what works for one person doesn't always work for another.
I have been a migraine sufferer since I was 17, I am now 64 and they have got worse as I got older. When I told my GP my concerns with the sumatriptan, he said it was all down to quality of life and provided all my other risk factors were fine i.e. blood pressure, weight etc, then it was ok for me to continue to take it.
Hope this helps a bit and good luck.
Lolasmom Peakoverload
Posted
Yes......me.
They started about 3-4 years ago when I was about 59 years old.
I was just sitting in my familyroom and I first saw a spot that looked like a blind spot. The zigzag crescent moons started moving across my eyes (but I think it is really just one eye), They continued and turned in colorful sparking crescents. It lasted about 20 minutes. But when it started I freaked out not knowing what this was. I for some reason ran outside. Big mistake. It was a lovely fall SUNNY day and I could hardly see. I remember coming in and trying to look up my eye doctors phone number and could not see the numbers. I finally got through, and after asking me several questions, she told me what it was. She also told me she gets me too and freaks out.I think your bp is a reaction to panic during the episode. I do not even bother taking mine because I know it will be high.
I have relaxed about these now, and just let them so their thing.
I went to a neurologist regarding them. He said there are many types of ocular migraines. I just have the one that does not bring on a full migraine. I might feel a very little headache after but not bad. And yes my neck will ache too.
Doctor suggested medication but I am to much of a weiner to take anything. The other thing he suggested was botox injections, because I have this other crazy thing daily which is facial pressure where my left ear and left nostril plug up, and I feel all off balance.
Now, here's the weird thing. These ocular things only come in the spring and in the fall. Sept/October and then on March/April
Change of seasons???????
Peakoverload
Posted
Thank you both for your replies, that is very reassuring.
I did think/hope that the jump in my BP was probably anxiety. I'm just coming out of the 'hangover' phase today (48hrs after the attack) and feeling calmer and back to 'me' again. I'm going to the GP on Friday anyway but will mention it to them. I think the main thing that worried me was why I've started getting them now when I've never had them before but I guess it can just happen.
staci88515 Peakoverload
Posted
Hello! I had my first migraine aura last year at 43. I had never heard of an aura before, so when it happened to me I panicked. I swear I have PTSD from those 30-40 minutes of intense fear and being rushed to ER by ambulance. I had previously had menstrual migraines for 7-8 years. Good for you for losing weight! I don't have any words of wisdom, but you are not alone. xo
Millymoos Peakoverload
Posted
Hello,
I am also 45 and I get lots of these auras. I have had them before but I would say only around 5 in my entire life until over last year I get them nearly every day, today I have had 3. I cannot cope any more with them coz where the aura is I cannot see and I work on computers. I don't know anyone else who gets these but I am out of my mind with worry. My doctor also hasn't sent me for any tests but I have got a doctor's appointment 20th of December and so I am going to ask them to send me. I can see you posted over 7 weeks ago, are you still getting these?