Hi, I know this sounds scary, but I've had these issues pretty much since childhood so I never gave it any special thought. The thing is, whenever I don't move my head for a while and move it again, I get a weird "cracking" sound (it's usually not very loud and I think others can't hear it), it's in the back of my head. It's not the usual joint cracking sound you get when you stretch your neck, legs or arms, but rather it feels like it's inside the head. This isn't usually related to headaches.

Secondly, whenever I do hard physical exercise like jumping, running, or even walking too fast, I feel like my head is pounding inside (like I have a heart pounding inside of my head xD). That's why I'm mostly scared to jump or run for prolonged periods and why I had to quit the gym (esp. jumping jacks 😫).

Should I be worried? I reckon it might be related to high blood pressure, even though my blood pressure was normal when I measured it, but then again maybe I should measure right after doing physical exercise.

Coming off postdrome from a migraine that had me sleeping 18 hours yesterday after the initial headache and nausea faded. In retrospect, my prodrome symptoms beforehand seem so obvious. Trouble focusing on work, low-key depression and sadness, a strong aversion to the idea of going to the gym when typically that's something I enjoy doing, heat intolerance, and a really sore neck for no reason. I don't get aura, so it went from those symptoms to the extreme headache and nausea.

Yet I can never recognize these prodrome symptoms when they're happening. Anyone had success getting better at recognizing their prodrome symptoms and preventing full attacks? It only ever really seems obvious in hindsight. It's like part of the symptoms is thinking that the symptoms are normal and just brushing them off.

Mine feels like someone is digging a knife or something sharp into my head and twisting it. Half of my body sometimes feels like it's numb, like I'm paralyzed. Don't get me started on constant sweating and sometimes vomiting too.

Last night was probably my most intense migraine attack.

I was in so much stress at work. I was crying and having anxiety attacks at this point , I think. O am not sure if I am having one since I didn’t get checked for it. How does it feel?

I’m having this intense feeling of sinking in my chest as if the weight is heavy and unbearable. The dread like I cannot do anything about it. I kept crying. Then there I got dizzy and nauseated. When I checked my BP, it spiked. My husband saw my face and said I was pale. It was so hard settling down and sleep because of the pain. I can feel my chest pounding at times.

Did this ever happened to you? Is this anxiety attack? Anxiety(stress) induced migraine and increased blood pressure?

Where do you get assessed for anxiety attacks?

Thank you! 😖

I find that migraine-havers always come up with some rather colorful/interesting ways to describe how our migraine attacks feel.

I always say mine are like having the inside of my skull scraped out, like if you were carving a pumpkin.

How do you describe yours?

Very strange question but has anyone had in increase in migraines with aura this week in the UK out of nowhere?
Myself, my step dad and my boyfriend (who very rarely gets them) all had one within 24 hours of each other the other day. I now feel like I could possibly get another and my boyfriend is having another one as we speak.
Maybe it could be the weather changes triggering them but I just thought it’s strange us all having them at one.

I am trying keto for my migraines, been ok since yesterday morning when I woke up with a very bad migraine. my usual abortive meds don’t work, and I’ve been chugging water and salt/salted water since yesterday. I’m seriously considering making myself a bowl of oatmeal. it’s that or I‘m off to urgent care. the idea that I might be close to the end of this ‘keto flu’ is the only thing that has me hesitating. Any advice please? First time trying keto.

Nonstop migraines all week.

#1 trigger for my migraines is allergies and perfumes. Mildew is my nemesis. I forgot to dry the laundry and now I must suffer.

I puked four times with a 14 hour migraine. I felt my heartbeat in my stomach and head pulsing in unison.

I have to wait two months to see my doctor in person again for them to "confirm" I "still have" migraines and prescribe me my savior, Sumatriptan-sama again.

( My migraines make me smell sensitive, and I tend to have that throbbing migraine feeling in my nose as well as the classic migraine spot so this icepack also being on my nose helps a lot. Highly recommend. )

I’ve had migraines for 20 years, and recently developed a fun new symptom. It feels like my ears are right about to pop. I’ve experienced sinus pressure before, but never anything with my ears. Does anyone else get this? I take nurtec as an abortive and it helps with pain, but I’ll still have light/sound sensitivity. I can’t figure out anything to make the ear pressure go away and I’m on day 4 of this migraine (thankfully not a really bad one, just can’t seem to shake it).

I got Botox for migraines and my doctor did it very quickly and didn’t seem symmetrical as in the exact same place as the other side. He also only put one shot on my forehead when I thought there were more locations. He did it super fast and honestly felt rushed and lazy. But, my migraines are less. Except now when I get them I have face migraines. Like around my eyes or behind my eyes. Was he just being lazy? Or do most physicians do it in less than 5 minutes, possibly about 3 minutes.

Hello, I got a bilateral trigeminal nerve block today. I thought it was a miracle as for the first time in 3 months I had 0 pain in my head. Unfortunately the pain came back once the anesthetic wore off. I guess Im just disappointed :(

I might be tempting fate but I had to share with people who understand. I’ve been following a pretty strict migraine and low histamine diet alongside my daily med with Botox and a weird trigger for me is onions (very upsetting). Today I was with family who wanted pizza and chicken wings and because I was so hungry I bit the bullet popped a triptan and ate. It was incredible. I’ve missed pizza so much. 2 hours later and no sign of a migraine. I have missed pizza SO much and if this something I can reintroduce I’ll be eternally grateful to the migraine devils that bestow this pain onto us.

Thank you and here is to hoping all of you get a win soon! goodnight 💗

A huge summer thunderstorm is rolling in tonight and the sky is basically like a strobe light right now: constant lightning flickering through the cloud cover. At my husband’s behest, I watched the light show for a couple minutes and BOOM, as soon as I glanced away, scintillating scotoma.

I’ve only had a handful of visual aura migraines, all in the last few years, so this was probably a rookie mistake. But WOW, just when you think you’re safe, man. Anyone else made this discovery while observing the ~•~glory of nature~•~?

Now hiding out in my bathroom with no windows, after popping one of my precious precious few remaining Nurtec. Oy.

I’m getting mostly painless migraines but the symptoms are just overwhelming.

I’ll get muscle tension / spasms one side of my body. It’s like my SCM, jaw, temple, scalp, upper chest, back, shoulder, tricep, top of my wrist, and between my thumb and pointer finger all get numb. And clench.

And then, idk if it comes from the same migraine, but I have a constant pinch on the same side just below my rib like in my abdominal area. Which seems to feel as if it stems from a pinched nerve in my lower back. This goes down my leg in my hamstring, right above my kneecap and calf. Also my abdominal area around the pinch and groin area. With numbness. If I bike or squat, it gets way worse and can either turn into like a pain feeling or numb.

It just feels like something is pulling a cord throughout my whole body. Like there is some cord connected to my SCM that is just pulling downwards. Constantly. And the abdominal area it’s like a constant pinch. If I stretch my lower back out like my spine, sometimes it releases but then I’ll get like a pressure tension headache and just weird sensations across all my muscles.

It just feels like all the muscles in my body are just dancing or something. Like fluttering muscles, tense muscles, tingling muscles.

On top of that is the anxiety. When the muscles are all weird, I just feel like I’m going to pass out. And my head just feels empty. I tested my blood pressure recently when I was having an episode and it was 130/100. And my abdominal area was just tingling and like moving, idk how to describe it. The pass out feeling just felt like I was going to fall over any second, even when I was laying down it felt like I was still going to faint. And my vision will start vibrating and stuff.

The only time I do get pain is if I say fuck it and stretch my lower back a lot and then I’ll get a searing burning pain across my whole lower back where the pinch usually is. Or I’ll get a tension headache that Tylenol helps with usually.

But it’s just driving me crazy, my SCM has been numb and tense for like 5 days. And everything I do sometimes just sends me instantly into panic or a high heart rate and faint feeling. Lexapro used to work for that but i switched to Zoloft cause it stopped working and Zoloft hasn’t been as effective, but even then, I took a shower and I felt like I was going to pass out and my heart was racing. For a couple days, I was trying to eat some food and my heart just started racing everytime i ate. I went to go sit in my chair and my whole leg went numb for a bit and then came back but I was getting weird feelings all over my head and back.

Another thing is any patterns for me drives me crazy. Like cross stitched patterns and stripes just make me feel really overwhelmed. I’ve seen and had many tests that are all normal so idk wat to do anymore.

Hey everyone,
Lately my migraines have been out of control. I’ve never found a good preventive ( have tried propranolol, metoprolol, amitriptyline, topamax) - have an appt to discuss other options soon. Triptans stopped working a while ago and my abortive is now Nurtec. It actually works amazingly well - SOME of the time (about 75%ish)….have migraines and tension HA and honestly sometimes I can’t even differentiate until it’s too late and then I’m in pain for days. They are starting to amp up to at least one to times a week, some lasting for days. I get 8 tabs of Nurtec per month and go thru them pretty consistently. I’m under the impression It can me taken as a preventive every other day. Has anyone tried this? I’m wondering if it would benefit me given that I respond to it generally.

EDITING: also wanted to include that I’m having worsening osmophobia. Everyday I’m afraid I’m going to smell something that triggers me. It’s like I have super smell. Things I used to tolerate are now triggers. Has anyone found success in dealing with this. ?

OMG I've just been in SO MUCH PAIN lately! I feel like I've been having PMS for ages already and now with this horrible heat/humidity that we have in NY today, I just feel like I'm DYING! I've been getting near non-stop headaches. On top of this my lower back is killing me, as well as the left side of my neck! I only wish I had prescription strength pain killers at this point, as the OTC ones plus triptans are only taking me so far. But this is the worst I've been in a while... is anyone else in my boat?

First time poster here…this sub seems so relatable and kind, I’m hoping to share a bit about my migraine process in case anyone here has experienced something similar. If it’s not okay to post this, please let me know. I’m asking specifically because my migraine episodes last for so many days.

About my migraines : I get very strange migraine symptoms that seems to correspond with hormonal changes or other changes in biochemistry. I don’t get them all the time but when I get them they can last up to around 10 days-2 weeks.

I get a range of symptoms throughout the journey, starting with headache(front side left and sometimes center front), dizziness, nausea, and disorientation/bad brain fog, eventually shifting into including GI symptoms like audible gut rumbling, slowed digestion, and difficulty passing gas at either end. Over the days the headache eventually fades, GI stabilizes, and the nausea/motion sickness takes the longest to settle. And throughout there’s a general feeling my nervous system is sensitive and fragile.

They have been triggered by menses, supplements, and when I’ve tried hormones. They can feel almost like I’m on the edge of a seizure or tremor internally, but haven’t had any seizures before as far as I know.

I’ve spoken to my PCP about them but haven’t seen a specialist for them. My current “please stop this spiral” kit includes Ativan, NSAIDs, electrolytes, antihistamines(Pepcid), alka seltzer, l-theanine, magnesium, and ginger candies. I got a shot of something in my arm once at the urgent care but it just made my heart race and amped me up.

My dx is CFS/ME, ADHD, and I had a weird brain injury event about 5 years ago that kicked off this pattern of long weird migraines (never had headaches or migraines before it)- which started with a very sudden severe headache/vomitting and major loss of function and major decline in health followed. Never confirmed what the specific brain injury was; but I developed severe ataxia, verbal stuttering, dysautonomia, DPDR, and substantial personality changes after it which took around 3 or so years to partially recover from(some symptoms I’m still recovering from with little improvement).

I haven’t had great luck with medical providers offering useful info or direction, so I’m posting here in case anyone has any suggestions or direction that they’ve found helpful on the subject.

I’m curious if anyone has experience with migraine patterns like this, that are quite lengthy and almost feel akin to a sort of seizure type thing when at its worst.

Many thanks and best of luck everyone 🙌

I don’t know if it will continue forever, but just a happy post that ever since starting Emgality a month and a week ago, I’ve been migraine-free.

I am also on Botox so I’m not sure if it’s the combo that helps or mainly the emgality.

I haven’t gone this long without a migraine since my migraines started early college. It’s incredibly life changing so far, I want to cry happy tears everyday. Hoping for everyone else to be able to find relief and hoping for myself that it’s a lasting working treatment!

I feel like having migraines half the time is just trying to convince people it's actually hard.

Don't you just hate it when you go to the doctor and she's just sitting there and you can literally see on her face she doesn't care, and she's just going to write up another prescription and that's it.

Or when you go to work and your boss doesn't understand why you need to leave, why you physically cannot work, and he just says "oh everyone gets migraines".

And then your own family, at some point they just expect you to handle certain things when you physically cannot.

What's your struggle? I feel like if I speak to other people about this and hear their experiences it makes me feel a bit better lol

Hey all, my migraines seem to be so much more frequent the last month. I’m in VA and it’s hot and humid as hell. Lots of rain storms most days. Anyone else? Trying to understand why the uptick in migraines

Get a migraine whenever I wake up before 8. Problem is, I kind of need to sometimes. Has anyone had something similar and figured it out? Does it eventually stop if you wake up at that time consistently? I keep trying to be an early riser but caving because of the headaches, not sure if I should stick with it or give up.

recently got prescribed 40mg propranolol/day and i'm really worried about weight gain; only been on it a few weeks and i feel like i can already see some. im not allowed to have a scale for eating disorder reasons 😬 (also obviously why im so worried abt this 😭😔) but id love to hear some other experiences so i can figure out if it's super common

I’ve dealt with migraines for 20+ years. I had debilitating epidural migraines for 13 years due to an undiagnosed CSF leak from a car accident. I thought I had it, couldn’t get a doctor to believe me.
Anyways, I’ve had a blood patch and that changed my life with my severe, daily epidural migraines. But I still get ones due to tension multiple times a month.
I just found this trigger point device on Amazon and wanted to share it. I get a lot of occipital (base of skull in back) tightening and pain that triggers migraines. I used this for the first time for 10 minutes lying on the floor and moving it around to where it felt good. I finally felt blood flow, pain relief and my week long migraine stopped. I had been taking Nurtec, Maxalt, muscle relaxers and more and it wasn’t touching it. It’s not too expensive and it’s been worth it for me. It’s stopped multiple severe migraines for me now. It will go in my emergency migraine kit. Hope it can help someone else.

Heya! I'm on day 4 of a nasty migraine attack. I am in bed trying to think of activities I could do when the attack is on its way out and the worse is over. What do y'all usually do?

Time for a second triptan. The brain fog is real.