[moya]

(Original post by Cherriesxo)
I think it may be. I'm a migraine sufferer and I ate out at a restaurant, ate a curry then had a migraine the next day. I went on their nutritional guide on their website and it turned out they use MSG in their curries. I also get migraines if I have crisps (which have MSG) and if I eat very spicy foods. I also can't eat chinese food because they use alot of msg. In fact anything can be a cause of migraines, even looking at bright lights can be a cause for some people.

it's probably hard to say whether it really does or not, especially googling on the internet since everything is just so biased

I agree about crisps though, that was a trigger for me too

[moya]

(Original post by Wick3d)
Ask for sumatriptan, it is what I'm on but that is because I suffer from cluster headaches.

like, proper cluster headaches? not nice...

[Wick3d]

(Original post by moya)
like, proper cluster headaches? not nice...

Yep, it isn't easy but sumatriptan really helps alot!

[moya]

(Original post by Wick3d)
Yep, it isn't easy but sumatriptan really helps alot!

what is the pain like?

[Wick3d]

(Original post by moya)
what is the pain like?

It is like a severe burning, piercing/drilling pain on one side of my head.

[Mariarghh]

I was in a similar position to you for my exams, I used to get head aches, dizziness, blurred vision, sickness and once in my exam I had a nosebleed and passed out :L not good.

I saw my doctor and she just said that the stress was effecting me quite badly, she wrote a note to the exam boards; I just gave the note to my exam officer and I got some special consideration- I mean it's not my fault I was unconscious for some of the exam


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Historophilia]

My younger brother gets migraines and he has special painkillers to take when he gets them. However he still has to go and lie down in the dark. He couldn't carry on with an exam.

What it might be worth doing is trying to work out what your triggers might be, often migraine sufferers have triggers for their migraines which set them off. And if you can avoid those you're much less likely to get one.

In my brothers case sleeping in very late, not drinking enoough and not eating enough (ie. low blood sugar) all trigger his migraines so if he's careful to get up at a decent time and always eat and drink properly they are much rarer.

If you had a migraine and it affected your exam performance get your doctor to write you a note and send it to the exam board ASAP. They can take these things into account but you have to do it quickly. Ask your school what the deadline would be for getting in a doctors note.

[Anonymous]

When I did my Highers a couple of years ago, I had a migraine in 3/5 of my exams, it was awful. But what others have said is correct, you can get doctors to write letters to your exam board explaining the situation and you can get special consideration for it if you think it is necessary. I didn't, but I wish I had now, apparently it has to be done prior to the exam here, or that's what I was told.

I wouldn't worry about being on anti-anxiety medication for it, I was on mood stabilisers for mine until my GP realised they were making me manic and decided to take me off them (they were the most effective pills I'd had by this point though, I'd been migraine free for a month by the time the effects wore off, when I'd been getting migraines at least once a week before).

If you can't figure out a trigger for your migraines, it's not always possible - we still don't know what causes mine, five years after they started, then your best bet is to give your medication a chance to work and if it doesn't, go back to your GP and ask to try something else. There are lots of different treatments out there. At the moment, I'm on Topiramate (Topamax) which has been amazing, but it took me almost 5 years to find the right tablets for me. What you've got to remember as well is that sometimes, the side effects you get to start with won't last forever - they pass after your body gets used to the medication and so don't give up with the pills if you don't like the weight gain, the tiredness, the tingling in the extremities or whatever other lovely side effects the majority of the medications that are prescribed can cause.

As for when you have a migraine, avoid codeine. It can cause rebound headaches and so can just make it worse. I've given up on over the counter painkillers because none of them work on my migraines. I find that the headache cooling patches you can get and 4Head are so much more effective. I stick on a headache patch and have a nap and when I wake up, the migraine is usually either gone, or manageable so I can get on with my day as usual. If a nap isn't an option, the 4Head is a lifesaver, I walk around with a stick of it in my pocket all the time just in case I get a migraine in the middle of town or something, because I never know when they'll happen until I get an aura and then I've only got about 20 minutes until I'll be too dizzy to stand up. Seriously, give them a try if you haven't already. I cannot recommend them enough!