Transformed Migraine

or... chronic migraine.

Last month I had the opportunity of attending a migraine meeting here in Sweden.
The speaker touched on the subject of chronic migraines which made me sit on the edge of my chair.
The term chronic migraine is not much talked about because I think many doctors refer to the International
Criteria for migraine & headaches. It said that about 2% of the population suffer from chronic migraine.
I guess I am one of them since I have a migraine type of headache which fluctuates on different days.

What I found interesting was the doctor said that people who have chronic migraines are often tired during the mornings
and often need to rest, even if they have had a good nights sleep ? She hit the nail on the head there and then ! I only wish I had asked the doctor WHY ?
Can anyone comment on this please ?

Another doctor said migraine treatment should be assessed when they know if the pain comes from
a MUSCLE OR NERVE OR ARTERY ?

I know what I am going to ask my neuro next time I meet him

Cheers
Angela

Lots of good stuff! I've heard about the sleep issue tie-in to chronic migraine and I certainly have sleep issues.

[quote]What I found interesting was the doctor said that people who have chronic migraines are often tired during the mornings
and often need to rest, even if they have had a good nights sleep ? She hit the nail on the head there and then ! I only wish I had asked the doctor WHY ?[quote]

See this article on possible causes.

http://www.clinicaladvisor.com/could-a-sleep-disorder-be-causing-your-patients-migraines/article/253915/

I think the idea to get evaluated by a sleep specialist is very good. I did this on the recommendation of my pain specialist (who was mostly concerned about one med I'm on which can cause a form of sleep apnea). A sleep study can diagnose a lot in addition to sleep apnea--a couple hundred disorders actually. They found I get very little REM sleep, which made since to me since I'm always fatigued (but not sleepy tired, except the first few hours of the day). They didn't have any good ideas for that though, but I got started on a stimulant in the morning which has been helpful. I also figured out that I only breathe through my mouth at night. I've tried a few things to minimize that, but no such luck yet.

It did ease my mind to know that there wasn't anything else going on though. I've always had insomnia but that has been minimized since my headache started as I've been on Zanaflex. Its only mildly helpful for my neck, but I've stayed on it for sleep, as my doctors wouldn't agree with a traditional sleeping pill (nor do I think I need one if a muscle relaxer works). They couldn't figure out what type of muscle twitches I get in the night since only my legs were wired, and it was well under the threshold for RLS (hubby reports I wake him up with my body jerking)...its got to be one of the meds I'm on. I think a lot of these health conditions can be related...headache, IBS, fibro, insomnia/sleep disorders, etc. best wishes.

for RLS (hubby reports I wake him up with my body jerking

That is not RLS. If it was RLS you couldn't sleep. Look up Periodic limb movement disorder. My husband does this too. He sleeps just fine. It's me he keeps awake.

Migrainegirl wrote:

What I found interesting was the doctor said that people who have chronic migraines are often tired during the mornings
and often need to rest, even if they have had a good nights sleep ? She hit the nail on the head there and then ! I only wish I had asked the doctor WHY ?[/quote]

See this article on possible causes.

http://www.clinicaladvisor.com/could-a-sleep-disorder-be-causing-your-patients-migraines/article/253915/[/quote]

I'm another one on here who has sleep problems triggering migraines. I've had a CPAP devise I sleep wearing for over a year now, and it's changed my migraine pattern completely, and all for the better. Before getting diagnosed and getting on cpap, I had a constant low level migraine that could spike with little provocation and wipe out anything I planned.

Since the diagnosis, I still get migraines, but only one or two a month, and they respond to treatment that the old migraines never would. I used to have to have Relpax (6 tablets), frova (9), maxalt (12), and 28 cafergot per month. I haven't filled the cafergot since getting the cpap unit, I haven't refilled the relpax since December, and the Frova since March. I filled the Maxalt this month, but before that I'd filled it in May, and I wasn't out of Frova or Maxalt when I filled it.

I have found I still struggle with occasional menstrual migraines, which the Frova are good for, so I like to keep a few of those on hand. The Maxalt work better for my average migraine, so if I could only have one prescription, it would be the Maxalt, but I'm only using about 3 of those a month.

I guess what I'd want someone to take away from my novel is that there can be underlying physical issues triggering the migraines. Please keep looking for a reason, and I hope everyone here finds it.

I do have RLS and I do have medication for it which works well.
I also take a sleeping pill every evening..the new type of pill which
leaves the body within 8 hours.