# Migraines, Heat, & Dehydration



## strantor (Jul 5, 2016)

Who here gets regular migraines? 
I do, at least 2X per week, usually minor ones that are warded off with an aspirin. I'm almost always able to work through them, but sometimes the bad ones put in me in bed.
I've correlated mine mostly to dehydration and also loosely correlated to stress.

Yesterday (USA Independence day holiday) I mowed my sister's 1 acre lot and then my own 2.5 acre lot. It was 97°F (36°C) outside with heat index of 110°F (43°C). I drank 3 large Gatorades but that wasn't enough. I noticed after mowing that I wasn't sweating, and that's a bad sign for anyone, especially someone who gets migraines at the slightest hint of dehydration. 

I was getting weird visual distortions/illusions. The clouds seemed to be boiling and when I stopped mowing I sat for a minute under a tree resting, and as I stared at my mower's front tire, it seemed to be shrinking. The pain hadn't set in yet, but I knew this one would be a whopper. Went inside and took a cold shower, drank a quart of water, and laid down. 

My wife woke me up an hour later to go to my sister's party but I felt like someone was ripping my skull open. I took 2 BC powders and an Immitrex and went back to sleep. I hate taking Immitrex because it gives me muscle cramps that rival the pain of a minor headache, and it makes me like a zombie, so I reserve it for times like this, but it really works for the migraine.

Showed up late to my sister's party and had a decent time, although I was pretty slow/"stoned" (but not really _stoned_) from the meds. The fireworks were fun with the kids and nobody was burned or maimed. Good celebration despite the migraine.


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## kvt (Jul 5, 2016)

Yea,   have to be carefull in the South texas heat.   And it is not even the hot part of the year yet.   Mine were primarily caused by neck problems,  have not had as many or as bad since they did some surgery on my neck.  But still get them and have to go to bed with meds (muscle relaxers, and Tylenol etc. )  Have not noticed mine from dehydration.   But it could be part of it.


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## jim18655 (Jul 5, 2016)

I feel your pain. I used to take some meds for the headaches but it made me sicker than the headache. Heat applied to my neck and face seems to help. I also have some neck issues like kvt that can trigger the migraine. I have to keep a regular sleep schedule or I'll wake with a headache for the whole day. Good luck and keep drinking the fluids.


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## strantor (Jul 5, 2016)

jim18655 said:


> I have to keep a regular sleep schedule or I'll wake with a headache for the whole day.


Yeah this is a big one for me, an I think it's to do with dehydration. 
I typically don't sleep more than 5 hours; usually less than that. Get up @ 4:45AM but sometimes don't sleep until 1AM; occasionally even 2AM.
I guess they call that insomnia. My brain gets a lot of work done but I'm not a "quick" thinker. My brain is like a heavy flywheel; takes a lot of time to get up to speed and even longer to wind down. I lay down @10PM but not a chance of falling asleep. Usually watch TV for a couple of hours to flush my buffers.

That "shortage" (comparable to most people) of sleep doesn't cause me any issue. It's when I sleep longer than that, that I wake up in pain. I think it's because there's a stretch of several hours there where I don't consume any fluids. 8 hours with no fluids, oh my! 8 hours, the doctor-recommended minimum sleep time, is a recipe for a miserable day.


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## mksj (Jul 5, 2016)

One electrolyte that is missing or is not taken in sufficient quantity is Magnesium (Mg), which is needed so the potassium does not leak out of your kidneys. Most electrolyte pills,  drinks and many magnesium supplements  do not have much elemental magnesium, and will give you a bad case of diarrhea. I use to treat many patients with either dehydration and some chemotherapy drugs that damaged the kidney and would cause electrolytes to not be retained. I would routinely have them take an over the counter supplement called MgPlus (MG plus protein, Miller 133 mg tablet), one tablet once or twice a day. The MgPlus is magnesium protein complex and does not cause diarrhea. Out here in the desert we see a lot of dehydration and muscle cramping, taking fluids, electrolyte pills and  MgPlus has greatly minimized symptoms of dehydration/cramping. It may help minimize the migraines, but a lot of other factors can exacerbate their onset.
https://www.amazon.com/Miller-MG-Pl...ywords=Mg+Plus+Protein+Mg+Plus+Protein+Miller


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## brino (Jul 5, 2016)

Although I have never had what I would call a "migraine" (and I wish the best to anyone who does suffer from them) I have certainly had "dehydration induced headaches". Usually during Scout camps with the kids. As a group leader it was very difficult to stay hydrated. Any break-time or "free time" for the kids was usually spent packing up from the last activity and getting ready for the next one. They were so frequent they earned the name "camp headaches". Perhaps some of it was stress induced too!

-brino


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## cvairwerks (Jul 5, 2016)

My wife get them pretty often. She has both Immitrex and Maxalt to combat her's. When they are mild ones, aspirin and caffeine in combination dulls them down.

As to the dehydration....start drinking water long before you need it. Urine color will tell you very quickly if you are getting enough. The further away from being clear or lightly tinted, the more water you need. In this heat and humidity, if you are not hitting the can every two to three hours, you are not getting enough water. Nights like this last week, I start drinking more water at the start of the night as soon as I get to work. Another two weeks or so and I will be drinking 2 litres of my Diet Dr Pepper with my breakfast and lunch at work and an additional 7-9 litres of water along with at least a litre of Gatorade type fluids. If I hit the can and my urine is anywhere close to approaching banana peel color, it's time for more water. Being on a diuretic doesn't help things either. I get a big potassium tablet right before bed and often during the summer, have to take additional potassium to end muscle cramps during sleep time.


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## strantor (Jul 5, 2016)

mksj said:


> I use to treat many patients


Are you a doctor in real life? I don't recall ever running across a doctor in a technical forum.


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## kvt (Jul 5, 2016)

Thanks for the tip on the Mg plus as wife and I were looking for something last weekend.   I eat a lot of bananas but she hates them with a passion.  Of course she has been through high dose chemo twice and stem cell therapy once, and they forced her to eat bananas which she already disliked.


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## jpfabricator (Jul 5, 2016)

Due to high insulin I quite all sugar at the first of the year, since then I haven't had any migranes.

Sent from somwhere in east Texas by Jake!


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## Randall Marx (Jul 5, 2016)

I've been loosing an ongoing battle with migraines since January (single continuous migraine that I cannot shake). I'll have to find some of that MgPlus and try it. I'm almost to the point of trying the new Botox injections for it. Never had one last this long and am wondering if it is going to be forever!


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## hermetic (Jul 5, 2016)

I am in the UK, so nowhere near as hot, but I find that if I get really involved in something in the workshop, and forget to drink water, bad sinus pain and headache always follows, and I have to keep well hydrated as I only have one kidney! Water or tea is always best, avoid the fizzy sugary drinks!


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## jocat54 (Jul 5, 2016)

I guess I am an oddball (my wife calls it something else) I never knew what a headache was until I was 65---feel really bad for those of you with the migraines.
I don't drink nearly enough liquids---4 to 6 cups of coffee (2 or 3 in AM and 2 in PM) maybe 1 or 2 glasses of tea. I am outside all day and sweat like a stuck pig, I sweat in AC.I know I should drink more but I get busy and just don't take the time to do so. Has never really affected me---until now---old age sucks sometimes( I will be 70 in Jan--hopefully)


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## mksj (Jul 5, 2016)

strantor said:


> Are you a doctor in real life? I don't recall ever running across a doctor in a technical forum.


Yes, I worked in cancer and AIDS for many years, and ran several clinical research programs (doing drug trials). Then went to biotech for a few years and got tired of pharmaceutical company politics and never having a day off,  then was in charge of a clinical research unit in Honolulu, Hawaii. Island life did not work for the the wife and I. Probably have participated/run over 200 clinical trials through the years, now mostly retired but do some medical consulting work if it comes my way. Picked up doing metal work about 3 years ago, always liked working with my hands.

Specific to Mg it helps your kidneys keep the potassium in the body, low Mg and you can not hold onto potassium no matter how much you take. Bananas are OK for potassium, but they can get tiring to eat,  so there are supplements which are much easier to take. I live out in Tucson, where it is often over 100 in the summer. I should drink more water, but don't. I ran distance/marathons in my younger days without drinking and still bike for 2-3+ hours every other day out in this heat, but I force myself to drink more these days . I take a MgPlus before I ride, and I  notice a difference with less muscle fatigue.


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## strantor (Jul 6, 2016)

Randall Marx said:


> I've been loosing an ongoing battle with migraines since January (single continuous migraine that I cannot shake). I'll have to find some of that MgPlus and try it. I'm almost to the point of trying the new Botox injections for it. Never had one last this long and am wondering if it is going to be forever!



I had an episode like that a few years back. Migraine every 3 days turned into a migrain every other day, which turned into a migraine every day. After a month in pain I went to a neurologist and he ordered a couple of brain scans on me (MRI and the other one can't remember the name.. EEG maybe?) to make sure I didn't have a tumor or something. He told me there are no preventative medications specifically designed for migraines, but there are a few meds which are often effective at migraine prevention although their purpose is for other ailments. 

He prescribed me Topamax. I started taking it as prescribed and it had some pretty dramatic side effects; It made it really hard to think. I couldn't draw rational conclusions about anything or troubleshoot (which was my job) and I was perpetually irritated about not being able to think clearly. I think I got a taste of the early stage of dementia at a young age, and if that's the way I start to go when I get old, I hope someone takes me to the back pasture and puts me down quickly. On top of that I had a really bad temper. My wife and I rarely have dramatic fights. We both have cool heads and will walk away from a disagreement and revisit it later when we can discuss it civilly. But when I was on Topamax I was slamming doors, throwing things, cussing at my wife in front of the kids. When I raised my hand to hit her and saw the terror in her eyes is when I decided migraines are a better deal than Topamax. Thankfully it didn't happen; I can say that I've never laid a hand on my wife, and I can say we've never fought like that before or since. That month of migraine went away, either because of the Topamax or "just because," and I haven't had another episode like that.

Fast forward a couple of years and I applied for life insurance and was denied. I had to call MetLife half a dozen times before I could talk to someone who would tell me why. They said it was because I had a history of epilepsy. WHAT?! I asked them where they got that idea, and it was because I had been prescribed Topamax, an anti-epileptic medication. Thankfully they were human about it and gave me a chance to explain myself and I was able to get insured in the end.


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## Randall Marx (Jul 6, 2016)

I tried Topamax twice now, with similar side effects and weaned myself off of it because of them. This last time, the medication did nothing for relieving the migraine, but gave the same side effects. I've also tried, to no effect, MaxAlt. I'm now taking Butterbur and Cayenne pepper supplements. They are helping somewhat, but not enough yet. Once I find the MgPlus, I'll try that one too. I just heard, last night, about Valerian root supplement and will try that one too. If one or both work, I'll certainly report back in hopes of someone else getting relief without pharmaceuticals.
Someone mentioned Immitrex as being effective. I may have to ask the doctor about that one.


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## strantor (Jul 6, 2016)

Randall Marx said:


> I've also tried, to no effect, MaxAlt. [...]Someone mentioned Immitrex as being effective. I may have to ask the doctor about that one.


Imitrex and MaxAlt are essentially the same thing. On second thought I'm not really qualified to say that, so let me rephrase: They are very similar.
Here's a comparison: http://www.iodine.com/compare/imitrex-vs-maxalt
Imitrex and MaxAlt give me the exact same result: It kills the migraine but causes muscle cramps (esp. in my neck) which are themselves painful. And it makes me like a "zombie" as best I can describe it. It's like the lights are on but nobody is home. If I'm on Imitrex/Maxalt and you ask me a question, prepare for an uncomfortably long blank stare before I get around to half-ass answering it.

For those reasons I only take it when Aspirin doesn't do the trick and things get so bad that I can't function, or when I have a migraine that lasts several days.
I'm not saying you shouldn't ask your doc about it, but just be prepared; my experience suggests that if MaxAlt didn't work, Imitrex probably won't either.



Randall Marx said:


> I'm now taking Butterbur and Cayenne pepper supplements.[...] Valerian root supplement and will try that one too.


Hmmm.... natural remedies? What's that? </joke>
I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't tried any natural remedies yet. I should though.
I have a deeply rooted predisposition to write off natural remedies which stems from my childhood. My mother was a bit of a ... "special case?"
Long story but she was into a lot of off-the-beaten-path ideologies and was strongly against modern medicine. It was homeopathic sugar pellets or no medicine at all, including aspirin.
I had migraines as early as 6 years old and I can remember it being a matter of normal routine for me to be laying on the couch for hours/days with a bucket to puke in as I writhed in pain. Only a cool wet rag on my forehead to ease the pain.
Those snake oil homeopathic placebos might have eased my mother's sense of duty, but they did nothing for my suffering.
That's long in the past though and I really should let it go and open my mind. I'll start with a bit of research into the supplements you've listed and see where that takes me.
Thanks for the lead.


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## cvairwerks (Jul 6, 2016)

As to whether MaxAlt or Imitrex works, it can also be the difference between delivery methods. My wife can take the Imitrex tablets with no problems, but the injections are extremely hard on her. In fact, so hard, she can only have them under the direct supervision of an ER physician due to her reactions. If one did not know she had just had an Imitrex injection, you would assume that not only was she having a heart attack, but a massive stroke at the same time. The normal cycle for her and the injections was the Imitrex and after about 20 mins when most of the scary side effects had gone away, they would hit her with a load of Demorol and have me take her home. With all that, she would crash and sleep for the next 12-16 hours and then start functioning again, with things getting better over the next couple of days.

There are various natural things that help some people. I would suggest that you only try one at a time for a long enough time period that you would now if it helps of not.

Something else to note, is that a couple of studies have evidence that light with a predominate blue component aggravates migraines. Part of the study utilized sufferers that were totally blind and they reacted the same way. There has been some info too, about  use of a narrow band of low intensity green light to help alleviate some of the  light sensitivity as well as   reducing the pain component of the migraine.


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## Tony Wells (Jul 6, 2016)

I'll preface this with my personal opinion on serotonin: We don't know enough about it yet to be messing with it.

Now I don't suffer from migraines, but my older sister and younger brother do. I am blessed with cluster headaches instead.

My siblings have been suffering for a long as I can remember, anywhere from a mild discomfort to a full blown disabling migraine.
And, they have tried just about everything there is that can be suggested. We have a family friend who we affectionately call "the
Witch Doctor" who is considered an expert in acupuncture and alternative medicines. Humorously, he lives in CO, but as far as I know
he has not dabbled with the newly legalized herb there. He has worked with my brother over the years and has yet to find anything
substantial that can give any relief. My sister works in a major hospital and has been to every sort of doctor and endured every imaginable
test to find some solution. 

Both of them seem to have settled on the partial relief they get from a drug known as Relpax (eletritan HBr). I do not know the pharmacokinetics of 
this drug, but it seems to be related to the same systems that control serotonin uptake, and uptake inhibitors. My brother had at one time taken
a SSRI for about 6 months, per Rx, to address his migraines, but no real relief was present. And the withdrawal was pretty rough. The Relpax,
while it does seem to work for migraines, it is very expensive and the fear is that a tolerance may build up and the headaches may worsen with no relief at all possible. I work with my brother on occasion and I can tell immediately that he is suffering a migraine. I can hear it in his voice on the phone, and his ability to think is definitely impaired. I wish a solution could be found. 

Cluster headaches are no picnic either. I won't dilute this thread with information about them, but I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. Hmm, wonder who that would be?


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## Randall Marx (Jul 6, 2016)

The light sensitivity thing is very familiar to me, but I had not thought about different color light...will have to experiment with that. Fluorescent lighting is about the worst, with the constant flickering...which is what I have to deal with at work. Might have to hang green filters on the diffusers!


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## TOOLMASTER (Aug 7, 2016)

i hate flickering lights


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## Charles Spencer (Aug 7, 2016)

TOOLMASTER said:


> i hate flickering lights



Ha!  Pretty "Slick".


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## dirty tools (Aug 7, 2016)

A few years ago I had brain tumor since then head aches all day and night. I haven't found anything to stop them sometimes they go away for a few hours.
Usually they don't stop me , but they sure hurt.


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## freebird914 (Aug 18, 2016)

I use to suffer migraines 2-3 times a week ... I also slept very little,  mind would never turn off... Three years ago they sent me to get a sleep test done. I was the biggest critic thinking it was just a scam for the medical industry ... I have been using a cpap for three years now and I may have a migraine once a month normally I associate them with a weather front moving in or dehydration... I am amazed how the lack of sleep affected me... Though I do not still sleep much still, the sleep I get is refreshing and lets me be more alert. I hope it helps someone else sharing my story ...


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## quickcut (Aug 18, 2016)

I don't suffer from migraines regularly but when they happen ,it is usually hospital with some sort of morphine derivative. Any way I asked my sister who is an anesthetist and she recommended that I take the combination of an ant inflammatory and a muscle relaxant. She also said treat the onset of the headache/migraine aggressively as soon as you feel it starting. This has worked well for me and the combination of the two medications have left no side effects, unlike morphine.


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## brav65 (Aug 19, 2016)

Randall Marx said:


> I've been loosing an ongoing battle with migraines since January (single continuous migraine that I cannot shake). I'll have to find some of that MgPlus and try it. I'm almost to the point of trying the new Botox injections for it. Never had one last this long and am wondering if it is going to be forever!



I dislocated my neck due to two collapsed discs at c5 and c6.  I had horrible migraine headaches and they treated me with the Botox injections.  It did not eliminate them, but reduced the frequency a fair amount.  I hope the magnesium pills help!


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## Randall Marx (Aug 29, 2016)

Well, here is an update. I hope someone else can get some benefit. The pepper pills did not really do much for me. I found that out when I ran out and had no increase in symptoms. The magnesium is helping. Without protein, it caused diarrhea just like someone said it would. I got some chelated magnesium from Puritain's Pride (chelated is another word for being bonded to protein as far as I can tell). It is making a noticeable difference, as verified by the time between finishing the first batch and the delayed delivery of the next batch being accompanied by a marked increase of symptoms.
The valerian root supplement helps me relax, but does not seem to have much effect on the migraine issue. I now only take it when I think I'll need additional help getting sleep. It works pretty well for that.
Now, I have a regular set of supplements and drugs that is giving me enough relief to be tolerable without the negative side effects: (1) Excedrin 4 times per day, (1) Butterbur capsule 4 times per day, (1) chelated magnesium pill 2 times per day, and all of the other pills that are not directly for migraines that I take for other things.
Again, I hope that someone can glean something helpful from my experience and avoid some misery!


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