Migraines Due to Back Pain?

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Right after I had my first surgery (a discectomy at the L5-S1 vertibrea), I

began having migraines for the first time in my life. One of the first

migraines actually lasted six weeks!

They are always on the left side and seem to travel up from my shoulder blade,

through the side of my neck, and into my eye. They are very debilitating. Not

only do they put me out of commission for a good three days every week or two,

but I swear I have permanent damage from them, like memory loss, confusion, and

nerve problems in my hands. Any time I " overdo " it, I can count on a migraine.

At the beginning of December, I had a steroid shot in my back that actually hit

exactly the right spot. It has worked pretty well so far.

While I was resting before being allowed to go home, I felt something warm

travel up the same path my migraines usually take. I told

the nurse and she was puzzled. Since then, I haven't had a full migraine. I am

having a minor one right now, though, but it's the first since the shot.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had migraines as a result of a back injury, or

if it's maybe just a coincidence that I started getting them right after

surgery? Also, I'm wondering if anyone has felt anything strange like what I

felt after a steroid shot, or had

their migraines disappear afterward.

Thanks,

Kate

[Guest guest]

One can also get migraine-like 'rebound headaches' from back pain

medicines, like tramadol. Oh the irony. The counter-balance for that

is anti-depressants, like zoloft.

Kroll

www.vagoatsoap.com

[Guest guest]

My migraines have changed somewhat but they are like Kate's. It can be brought

on by changes in the weather, flashing lights, " department store " lights,

patterns on carpet, walls or clothing, certain odors. I don't always have an

" aura " but I can just about press on a certain area of my left cervical spine

and tell that's got something to do with it. I almost always have nausea and if

I don't treat the migraine I will definitely vomit.

I'm sure these aren't typical migraines in some respects, but it seems vascular

in nature. Maybe a nerve is being compressed for some reason causing all these

things to occur. Maybe there's a clue here. Oh, and the veins on the left

temple get full, tense and pulse just as the headache is coming on.

At any rate, I rarely get a tension headache or any headache that is on both

sides of my head or face.

I've never had a migraine that did not involve the left side of my neck.

Putting ice there helps more than heat, that much I found out before I got

medication for migraine. Frova is what I take at the first sign of a migraine

and it does help.

Jennette in Ohio

Kate wrote:

> They are always on the left side and seem to travel up from my shoulder

blade, through the side of my neck, and into my eye. They are very

debilitating. Not only do they put me out of commission for a good three days

every week or two, but I swear I have permanent damage from them, like memory

loss, confusion, and nerve problems in my hands. Any time I " overdo " it, I can

count on a migraine.

[Guest guest]

Migraines also often - but not always - are accompanied by a

visual " aura. " The type of visual disturbance varies widely.

My husband has " ocular migraines, " which just means that he gets a very

severe visual aura that precedes the onset of the pain by about 20-30

minutes - he actually completely loses his vision in one eye.

The good news with the ocular onset is that he gets a warning and can

blast it with his migraine medicine before the pain even gets started,

knocking its knees out from under it before it knocks him to his

knees! His meds don't completely wipe out the pain, but if he can

catch it early enough it's not nearly as severe.

Cheryl in AZ

Moderator

[Guest guest]

Jennette in Ohio wrote: " I've never had a migraine that did not involve the left

side of my

neck. Putting ice there helps more than heat, that much I found out before I

got

medication for migraine. Frova is what I take at the first sign of a migraine

and it does help. "

-------

Hi Jennette,

Ice helps me as well. Frovo also helped the longest out of all the medications.

I had

forgotten the name because I forget everything during mirgraines, so thanks for

reminding me! For some reason, my doctors didn't have it in their records that

they had

given me that, either.

Someone else thought I might be having tension headaches, but I can't seem to

find that

post. I should have been more specific about where the pain comes from. It's

not actually

coming from my back muscles--it feels more like it's inside near my back. It

almost feels

like it's in my lungs sometimes and I can feel it when I breathe. It causes

chest pain and

heaviness sometimes as well. It travels up the front of my neck, on the right

side, and it

doesn't feel like it's in the muscle there, either.

I definitely get auras, too. Most of them involve my hands and arms going

numb--mostly

the right one. I'll get visual ones as well-flashes of light and blind spots.

I get them

almost weekly and they last three days on average with a lot of nausea and

vomiting.

I do get tension headaches, but they go away with Advil. I probably do get a

combination

of other headaches, though, and not just migraines. I just thought it was

strange that they

went away for five weeks after that steroid shot.

Kate