Migraines

Anybody else get them?

Yes, yes, yes! I know it is related to stress. If I'm stressed I can get one easy. I take migraine medicine and drink something with caffeine and mine go away pretty easy. I am fortunatenot to have the debilitating kind like some do.

All too well! Had one the other day actually... Yuck! While I can still function when I have them (get up, get food, take painkiller etc.) they will sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night and I usually don't go to class when I have one because concentrating is extraordinarily difficult! Can't really pinpoint one cause although I think stress and lack of sleep might be two potential causes. Luckily if I catch them early, take a painkiller then sleep for an hour it will usually kill it. It's when they persist that's the worst! Yuck yuck yuck...

I get them 1 or 2 times a month, though more with some medications. I have painkillers which allow me to function, otherwise, it's debilitating. According to my docs, there is a correlation between bipolar and migraines or at least seratonin and migraines.

Well i get them too often and sometimes they get horrible! Youthink it's anything to do with recent lithium dose increase?

I haven't had any since I started taking verapamil.

I'm on verapamil!!!! Ugh!!

I used to get them frequently when I was younger. I only get them a couple of times a year now. Imitrex gave me terrible palpitations. I used Fiorinal w/ Codeine for pain relief when I got them more frequently. Thankfully, they do seem to become less frequent over time.

Lithium can definitely cause headaches, and a dose increase may increase the frequency of those headaches, but I am not sure about lithium causing migraines specifically. I run a blood level of about 0.5 and can count on 3-4 headaches a week requiring ibuprofen or more. I get a classic migraine about once every 1-2 months that I take imitrex for. I have read that migraines are more common among those with BPII but I have not heard of an increased prevalance amongh type I bipolar patients.

Yes, and debilitating. Glad to report that they are MUCH less frequent than when I was younger.

Check with your doc. I know that migraines can be affected by blood pressure and Lithium can affect fluid levels in the blood, so that might have some effect on your headaches. My mom has migraines in her family. I just get stress headaches and to tell the truth, it's a toss up who suffers more.
really, talk to your p-doc. Maybe he can work this out for you. Hugggsssss!

I called. They're calling back