Migraines

[nepuinthesky]

visual do you have anxiety because of your visual symptoms?

i would guess you dont?!

one thing these HPPD taught me is:

Knowledge is Power!!

my symptoms freaked me out for the first maybe two weeks then i begun starting resaerching alot and the anxiety was gone completly.

i imagine its very hard for people to trust helpless doctors. if you are completly lost in your symptoms not a bit knowing whats going on, the base for depression and anxiety is founded.

i always was interested in neurobiology and chemestry. also it is part of my job.

i am working in a psychiatry.

if there is one good thing in this HPPD stuff(maybe only for me) i learned alot more about the brain and its functions. which is also helpful for my job.

[nuroeone]

I am very curious about the brain and how it works since my hppd started but its all just so advanced for me to comprehend some of the information i read.

I'm kinda scared to try any sort of med, knowing that it could either go one way or the other (Bad to worse, bad to good)

I was also quite anxious in the beginning until i researched hppd a bit and found this forum, which was when it first started but i never signed up since reading about others experiencing the same things i do, when my visual symptoms play up i no longer freak out at the drop of a hat and have a full blown panic attack, i believe stopping drinking has also alleviated some of my anxiety not to mention stopped increasing/creating new symptoms i.e starbursting (something i only recently developed)

I guess i should try get in touch with my neuro's again and maybe look further into dopamine and medications, i really don't like going there though, they never give me any answers nor do they know anything about hppd i walk out unsatisfied and with substantially less money. I shouldn't be the one guiding them to help me it should be the other way around.

[VisualDude]

visual do you have anxiety because of your visual symptoms?

i would guess you dont?!

one thing these HPPD taught me is:

Knowledge is Power!!

my symptoms freaked me out for the first maybe two weeks then i begun starting resaerching alot and the anxiety was gone completly.

i imagine its very hard for people to trust helpless doctors. if you are completly lost in your symptoms not a bit knowing whats going on, the base for depression and anxiety is founded.

i always was interested in neurobiology and chemestry. also it is part of my job.

i am working in a psychiatry.

if there is one good thing in this HPPD stuff(maybe only for me) i learned alot more about the brain and its functions. which is also helpful for my job.

Initially had enormous anxiety. Felt like my brain was dying and nobody knew why ... nor did they seem to care much - they saw anxiety so dismissed their ignorance as anxiety disorder. Ironic, in the end they finally admit that parts of my brain were indeed dying (and instruct me to not let any more die). Embarrassing to admit, my anxiety was longer that a couple of weeks... While there is no more anxiety about visuals and what may happen, there is still 'random' anxiety (the instability of parts of the brain) that must be kept in check.

It helps to learn to live in the moment and appreciate each moment ... something healthy for people to do anyway. I guess by some of the responses to what I've experienced - I've had some 'corkers'. But I look at people reporting OEVs, CEVs, thick VS and weird purple shifts with equal astonishment (since I don't have any of these).

Ironically, psychology ends up being more helpful than neurology, though in this country they go to the same schools [ Look at Dr A ... he is a psychiatrist not a neurologist ]. You have learned some valuable stuff with HPPD (although we hope you get better).

Forums like this are helpful. While some people freak reading about some symptoms ... and some get discouraged about mix med results ... knowing more about HPPD (etc.) can give people an anchor. And the most likely meds that might help.

Knowledge is power

I am very curious about the brain and how it works since my hppd started but its all just so advanced for me to comprehend some of the information i read.

I'm kinda scared to try any sort of med, knowing that it could either go one way or the other (Bad to worse, bad to good)

I was also quite anxious in the beginning until i researched hppd a bit and found this forum, which was when it first started but i never signed up since reading about others experiencing the same things i do, when my visual symptoms play up i no longer freak out at the drop of a hat and have a full blown panic attack, i believe stopping drinking has also alleviated some of my anxiety not to mention stopped increasing/creating new symptoms i.e starbursting (something i only recently developed)

I guess i should try get in touch with my neuro's again and maybe look further into dopamine and medications, i really don't like going there though, they never give me any answers nor do they know anything about hppd i walk out unsatisfied and with substantially less money. I shouldn't be the one guiding them to help me it should be the other way around.

The brain is more advanced than anyone knows. After all in contains the sum of a person - Wow! Perhaps the only 'sane' way to go about it is casually learning piece at a time.

You are right - the doctors should guide us. If you go back to one, be sure to pick one who has extensive experience with TBI and the like - they should understand the use of dopamine and other things most docs miss. You can make phone calls to offices and other agencies that focus on TBI to find such a doctor. Also, IMO it really helps if you find a doctor who is involved in research - it doesn't have to be HPPD or TBI research ... what you are looking for is a mindset and researchers have to be far more knowledgable and open to ideas than docs who just practice.

[mgrade]

I don't know about you guys but i have been plagued with terrible headaches. i truly do not think they are migraines. But i feel like I'm....dying.

I have not gotten headaches until somewhat recently and never had them the first 25 years of my life. Help ....give me some advice

(other than to look for a tumor) "It's not a tumor."

[brendan]

if you can get it you could try flunarazine, which is a migrane med that some people have found good for hppd.

[1998]

These are pics of ocular migraines I get occasionally. The light show usually lasts from 15 to 35 min. mainly in my peripheral vision, one and sometimes both eyes are involved. After the crazy lights subside I get major migraines for 4 to 6 hrs. Although some ppl get ocular migraines w/o the horrific migraine afterwards.

I get daily tension, cluster headaches and headpressure, but exercise helps greatly keeping those in check.

Although migraines (w/ or w/o visuals) usually get worse if I try to exercise best to lay in a dark quite room.

I just try to be active and most of these hppd (anxiety) induced headaches will come and go through out the day but aren't nearly as severe.

As far as meds, try muscle relaxers like flexeril, soma or zanaflex. If they still won't go away vicodin, percocet and benzo's will knock them out. Narcotics are obviously the last resort since we get these on a daily basis so you'll always have to be taking them. Try the muscle relaxers, Zanaflex and Soma work the best with minimum addiction.

Caffeine helps w/ any migraine type headache but of course ups your anxiety. My Nuero gave me Fiorocet barbitual tablets with caffeine, those are great for migraines since the barbituates calm you and the caffeine helps as well. This info cost me 30k to find out going to specialist after specialists (didn't know about the hppd board back then

I never got any of this pre-hppd either. I didn't reread this or more then one post in this thread, hopefully it helps and makes sense....take care all!!

[mgrade]

I definitely get those visuals you show but the headache and visuals come together----i have had the zigzag too----- i am just getting over a sickness, though this is the case normally------I took one Benadryl and it went away.

What the hell is wrong with me? .......................I'm like a norepinephrine addict.

[mikethemerc1]

Painkillers never hurt my hppd or migraines and some think it can treat hppd cause of dopamine release, as for things to avoid, my god be careful of tricyclics like desiprimine made me a hundred times worse, actually had hallucinations at night and sleep seizures.

[1998]

My visuals look very similiar when I smoke weed and stop, take care!

Painkillers make me love hppd lol, if I could find one that wasn't addicting or you didn't get tolerant to, it would be as good as a cure..shit that's more likely to happen then them figuring out a cure so I'll keep my hopes up

[mikethemerc1]

Well if you taper on and of painkillers like klono pin then you might be in luck, yet that's a tightrope act. Mg I feel you, the headaches were terrible with my "real hppd" a few years back. It felt like there was a boulder on my head and some bastard was sitting on it. It was like a pressure, implosion of my brain, during these I couldn't move. Adivan did help but did not cure them. Then I tried desiprimine, it made the headaches stop but made me hallucinate. I dealt with the hallo contains because it was better than the headaches! Then I went clean, detox followed by a cleansing diet by this Vietnamese girl of only water for 10 days and steam, she made it less terrible with massages of my head ( both of them). After everything was said and done the headaches went away not hppd but it was better and remissed three months after, I don't know what the hell the headaches are from but they are not migraines maybe it's our brains putting shit back together.

[mgrade]

I am always thinking government-chemical exposure of some kind ......but that just may be too out there. ........Where do you find these Vietnamese girls?

[shaolinbomber]

I used to get daily headaches before I went on Methadone maintenance. It's kinda what lead me down the path of opiate addiction. I would dose to get rid of the pains in my head.

The shitty thing is that if you're younger like me and go to a doctor for pain medicine to hep they usually won't give it to you or just tell you to take an OTC medicine.

[mgrade]

The funny thing is most doctors have a bottle of opiates they use at home.

[VisualDude]

I don't know about you guys but i have been plagued with terrible headaches. i truly do not think they are migraines. But i feel like I'm....dying.

I have not gotten headaches until somewhat recently and never had them the first 25 years of my life. Help ....give me some advice

(other than to look for a tumor) "It's not a tumor."

As far as meds, try muscle relaxers like flexeril, soma or zanaflex.

So these actually get rid of opthalmic migraines for you ? !

People often get migraines from upper neck spasms/tightness, so muscle relaxers could help. Just a little surprised about this one.

I definitely get those visuals you show but the headache and visuals come together----i have had the zigzag too----- i am just getting over a sickness, though this is the case normally------I took one Benadryl and it went away.

What the hell is wrong with me? .......................I'm like a norepinephrine addict.

Gut reaction is that is may have been allergy related since that is what Benedryl effects. Benegryl increases epinephrine ... haven't seen that it has effect on norepinephrine, but if you have a link about it, it would be appreciated.

[mgrade]

Well I think i does effect it (NE concentration) a bit but ..........i was probably off-my rocker at that moment. Please excuse.

[mikethemerc1]

Diphenhydramine ie Benadryl made me trip balls when I was denying this was a hppd relapse. I couldn't sleep so I took it, nothing permanant but I was seeing snowflakes all morning.

[Monkey_magic]

The couple of months before my hppd trigger, I had a couple of migraines after taking E, where I thought my brain was going to split in half right down the middle. (Had never had a migraine in my life up till then). Yet I still took them again (crazy what you'll do with a combination of youth, chronic depersonalisation and self medicating). Sometimes I get persistent migraine over 3 or 4 days, differing pain levels but all the symptoms of classic migraine. Nausea, pale, weak, all that shit! And my vs gets worse especially my night vs.

[mgrade]

NDPH is New Daily Persistent Headache. Check it out. /i have been having migraine-aura-like headaches lately. Maybe Topamax would help some of us. Anybody with any experience?