Hey comrades, a lot of you saw that post i made yesterday about my terrible headache. i was doing a lot better today, but out of a sudden the pain is back to a 9.8/10 and it’s spread to my face as well. i phoned my doctor a while ago and he said it was just one of my usual migraines, which makes sense based on the type and intensity of the pain but they have NEVER lasted this long, it’s literally been a little under 36 hours. what if it never goes away? What if its actually brain cancer?
Help me i cant stop crying, i hate to sound like such an attention-seeker, but please send virtual hugs as on top of it all im home alone and i dont have anyone to talk to :((
Heeeeey. hug
It's ok. It's probably not The Big One. But that's really hard, and I'm really sorry it's happening to you. I care about, and want you to be well, and so do so many other people here. Just try to take deep breaths and calm down if you can. No matter what's happening, all you can do is just try to make it through the night as peacefully as you can.
It's really good you called your doctor. And it sounds like it's just a migraine. Migraines can sometime last up to three days at the longest, so I would really try not to worry too hard if you can. And you can always call your doctor again and get looked at tomorrow, if it's still really worrying you.
All you can do is just breath, try to be calm, maybe do something relaxing, if you can? I dunno, mostly I just wanna say huuuuuug and u'll be ok :af-heart:
Thank you so much, i’ve called two doctors thus far and they both refused to prescribe me a scan bc i had a clear one in May :( i’ve really just been trying to survive honestly. i just finally managed to eat a nice dinner and it seems like its getting a bit better, gotta hold on to every bit of hope :/ 😔
It’s good it sounds like it’s getting better. If the pain does go away, but you’re still worried in, say... 1 week’s time, maybe give the doctors another try. It’s important to be calm and rational about our worries, but it’s also important to be firm with our doctors, just not too firm hahaha.
If you wait a bit, you’ll know you’re just not panicking because of pain and stress, and so will your doctors. And if you schedule a time to ask again in the future, you might not worry about it so much in the meantime.
I’ve spent a lot of time panicking, and I’ve always made it through ok :)
Anyway, I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better. Remember to drink lots and lots of water, and get as much sleep as you can. You’ll make it through this :af-heart:
i always have this same thought when I have really bad migraines. but if you’ve gotten a scan recently (which I think you mentioned you had this year), it is almost definitely nothing. but I know that’s all you can think about when in that much pain.
I’d also second laying down in a dark room with something warm on your face / forehead. Hope you feel better soon, I promise it’ll get better
i did have a clear scan in May, but i know tumors can develop quite fast...
oh i’ve been 100% living like a mole, just laying in bed in complete darkness with a hot tower around my neck, which always gets incredibly sore when i have migraine.
sorry i took so long to reply, as you can imagine i have been pretty much hibernating all day. Thank you so much for ur kind words, you understand what i’m going through and know it’s the absolute worst. 🥺
Thank you! Yup i’ve been living like a mole in complete darkness and tryna avoid my phone as much as possible
they're utter shit i sympathise
they're also not very well investigated so i think thats where the fears about cancer come from, but it's very likely not cancer. if you already get migraines, it's a migraine. facial muscle/nervous effects aren't uncommon for migraines, you can also get gastrointestinal stuff too and I get general lack of coordination & "weakness" in all my body from them.
theres some new research linking them with epilepsy (like a kind of slowed down wave of stimulation across your brain/nervous system rather than a super fast waves like a seizure), and possibly other disorders like anxiety/depression, in a kind of cluster of disorders (probably all related to neurotransmitters but i dunno I'm not a scientist).
i've also had them last a long time (not continuous, but reappearing the next day), usually when whatever triggered the first isn't resolved or happens again. Its hard to say what the trigger might be though, as far as i can tell it can range from what you consume to stress/anxiety to mood to amount of sleep (fixed sleep routine is the most important thing for me to avoid them, dunno if it'd work for you).
get through this one, find a chemical/medicine that works to manage them & get hold of a supply, and also try to find out what is causing them (it might be multiple things so it may take a while). You don't have brain cancer just a relatively common but underinvestigated neurological condition, it isn't fatal & it can definately be managed to the point where it doesn't just take you out for a day or more. And also its possible that the usual (and justified) panic about death response may make them worse/last longer, so try to relax you won't die its just an indefinate period of intense all consuming pain :D
Hey thank you so much for taking the time to write that out, ur right migraines are incredibly poorly understood by medical professionals and there are so little resources available, unfortunately i cant take triptans bc of some other medication i take so that really restricts my options. i had a clear brain scan in may, do you think a tumor could’ve developed since then?
no worries.
have you looked at what other treatment options there are other than triptans? also for some people weed works, for me it sort of dulls the pain a bit but doesn't really take it away tho.
ok, about brain scans. I'm not a doctor nor have i studied the subject. But afaik, doctors will not diagnose a brain scan for migraines because migraines don't damage your brain, and you'd need some other symptoms to make a brain tumour a possible or likely diagnoses.
brain tumours (again afaik) will usually have other symptoms as well caused by the pressure where the tumour is. headaches from a tumour would be different depending on the position of your head, and they also wouldn't necessarily develop straight away, it'd take time for the tumor to grow & it'd have to put enough pressure on the right area.
doctors would want another symptom like (persistant & worsening, not temporary - migraines can have temporary visual effects) loss of vision (due to pressure again) a thing they call papilledema. Or other effects i guess like effects on your other senses or memory/cognition/mood swings in some way.
if you already get migraines, and you're not getting other unusual symptoms, even if the migraine has changed a bit in where it is, it's vastly likely that it's a migraine. Especially if you already had a scan, it'd be amazingly unlucky to develop one since, and if you did it won't have grown much by now so you've got plenty of time in the worse case scenario anyway.
the reason they won't give you a scan (i guess) is because at least some types of brain scan have the potential to cause issues (including cancer) because to scan you they have to beam particles/waves through your brain. plus those machines are really expensive.
if you're really worried, it's not as good as a scan but it's safer/less of a hassle, get a blood test i think they can detect some cancers or at least an indication of cancer from those.
Can't provide any medical advice but wishing you the best from here! Hope you'll feel better soon comrade :og-hex-bear:
Chronic migraineur here. If you need someone to talk to, please feel free to DM me. You're not alone.
They really are, and the worst part is just how ignorant most people are about migraines. It's so much worse than "just a headache". Finding a good headache specialist is the best thing that's happened to me in my adult life.
I do see a migraine specialist actually but i cant take a lot of migraine meds bc they interact with some other meds i must take. he performs botox injections in a lot of his patients, but is hesitant to try it on me bc of my age (i’m only 18) :(
Hey can i ask you something? How frequently do you get brain scans. I had my last one in May and it came out clear, could it be that a tumor’s grown since then?
I'm not a doctor, so I don't think I can speak on anything related to a tumor. I'm only familiar with migraines, and even then only from a layman's perspective. I've had 2 sets of brain scans in my life.
I started getting botox injections when I was 19 and they made a huge positive impact. I'd highly recommend giving botox a try if your doctor will allow it.
Did you see what I posted in the last thread about my old co-worker who started microdosing LSD for his migraines? He said it worked! And he was the most straight edge dude, he didn’t even drink, so it wasn’t some weird hippy spouting bullshit. Maybe look into it and give it a try. Get well soon comrade.
hey sorry i did not see it no. i would love to try it but i dont have any acid atm and my plug is outta town :(( thank you so much for the suggestion though and Im sorry i didnt reply the first time around
Someone I know takes a very small puff of high-CBD weed every night before bed, and he hasn't had migraines since... going on a couple years now. I don't usually recommend self-medication, but it's one person I know this worked for so 🤷♂️
oh pot has been a life saver for me, its the ONLY thing thats ever significantly helped. not only does it numb the pain but also alleviates the nausea and helps me eat. unfortunately though i dont have any rn and my dealer is out of town atm, ugh :(
If you lived in canada and I wasn't afraid of us doxing each other, I would send you ounces and ounces for free, comrade. I'm wishing you the absolute best :heart-sickle:
Ah shit. I sent you love and hugs yesterday, and I'm sending you even more love and hugs right now!
Seriously tho, if you really think this is something more than a migraine, then get your doctor to give you a proper checkup, or find another doctor!
Awww thank you. I phoned my both my neuro and my psychiatrist and they were both pretty dismissive bc i had a clear scan a couple months ago, but if things are not better tomorrow i’m 200% rushing to the ER
that's sucks. i'm a migraine sufferer as well. i didn't see your post yesterday, but hearing that it spread to your face may mean it's progressing. could be a good sign.
the migraines i get have a pretty steady progression, but only last around 12-24 hrs. but i don't think it's uncommon to have 36-48 hr migraines for some people. a truly hellish experience i can imagine.
unfortunatly, medicine never really help my migraines, aside from giving me strange hallucinations. maybe calling your doctor again if it gets worse wouldn't be a bad idea.
My girl gets bad headaches and normally we just have her do a bunch of whippets till she can sleep comfortably. With a bit of pratice she can slowly hit a baloon periodocally to keep headaches and period cramps at bay.
ive had mine last three days once <3 wish you many silent dark and cold days
hey the queen of Chapo commented on my post, that does cheer me up a little :)
