Is there a neurologist in the house?

[SouthernCruizer]

For the ladies in the forum...I am NOT a neurologist, but I AM an amateur gynecologist...I may not know what I'm doing, but I'm willing to take a look :dribble:

Jay

'04 FJR 1300

 

[Bounce]

I can apparently eat a whole box of Oreo cookies with no ill effect, but 2-4 hours later i get the punishment for my gluttony. It seems my pancreas has no problem producing insulin to fight the sugars, but maybe it produces more than it should, and I have an over dose of insulin after the digestion begins, and that is what causes the migraines and so on. (or at least that is what I"m coming to believe). So, I tell the Dr that I get headaches and migraines a few hours after eating something, or after i get active after being inactive for a while, and he comment was "if eating makes you fell better, eat". Not what I wanted to hear, I've gained some weight since this whole thing started, and I don't feel good about it.

my grandmother was an insulin-dependant diabetic for as long as i can remember. my mom is hypoglycemic. i'm borderline (and control it by watching what and when i eat certain things).

coffee in the morning without any b-fast is fine for me. coffee and any kind of sweet creates a reaction before lunch. instead of migrains, the symptoms i'm familiar with are cold sweats, tunnel vision, and if ignored long enough, black outs. your description of how OJ helps is spot-on with our experiences. a slow-release fructose (juice) instead of processed sugar (soda, cakes, cookies) is best. however, sometimes a fast response is needed and (as disgusting as it is) a teaspoon of table sugar gets into your blood steam fastest. the trouble is that all processed sugars leave you on the blood sugar roller coaster. you want something that stabilizes your system. depending on how severe your situation is, many, small meals are preferable to a few large meals (what my grandmother had to do). look toward vegetables and avoid processed sugars. balance it with small portions of proteins to stave off hunger as it's slower to process (what my mom does).

ditch the oreos, dude. they are spiking your blood sugar and causing the follow-up crashes.

 

[huk finn]

Bottom line, I need to look for a new Dr. I think it'd be a good idea to find one that specializes in blood pressure/ blood sugar. Maybe a Dr that has alot of handicapped parking out front. (that means old patients)

Am I the only one here with this issue? Anyone else got any suggestions?

Maybe you should monitor & log your blood sugar with one of those finger sticking machines that diabetics use. Record your numbers when feeling good thru onset of migrane.

Many of us who've had parents pass away should have a spare machine (think I've 1 or 2 stashed away somewhere). you can have for free (u pay postage) if I can find them.

That blood sugar log/diary might help your doctor in diagnosis or ruling out sugars & pancreas. maybe take bloodpressure reading also when you feel onset.

 

[IndianaTom]

The bag of oreos comment was a little exaggeration, but a big handful isn't out of the question, until now.

I've tested my blood sugar a few times lately, 2 hours after a medium quiznos sandwich, blood sugar was 100, then tried it again at 1pm the next day, (14 hour fast) and that was 93. Dr said both were good, and no big whoop.

My wife picked up a book at the library called "the disease your doctor won't treat, Hypoglycemia". I've browsed thru it a little, but I plan on reading it over the next few days to see what I can get out of it.

Yea, monitoring and logging blood sugar is probably a good idea.

Huk, thanks for the offer, I'll be in touch after I explore the availability of local testers.

 

[Bounce]

I've tested my blood sugar a few times lately, 2 hours after a medium quiznos sandwich, blood sugar was 100, then tried it again at 1pm the next day, (14 hour fast) and that was 93. Dr said both were good, and no big whoop.

that's what makes it so tricky. it's like trouble shooting an intermittant electrical gremlin. you have to catch it while something's going wrong or everything "looks normal".

 

[kulwen]

I got my first migraine when I was 11 or so. Holy crap, I thought I was going to die!!! All my mother kept asking me was if I smoked anything or put anything up my nose with friends. Over the years I have learned the best place for me to be during a migraine is a walk-in freezer if I work at a place with one, or a bath with ice in it.

Over the years I have identified a few of my triggers. Sausage, dehydration, aged Swiss cheese, or a good dose of MSG are my main triggers. The one I fear the worse is sausage links. For me it does not seem to be the sausage itself, rather the casing used for sausage links. I can have some brands of sausage patties, but I am very careful which brands. I also found not being addicted to caffeine helps. I average only one soda with caffeine a month and I stick to the same soda no matter what. Some sodas can trigger a migraine, I think it has something to do with the fake sweeteners.

Just a thought, you mentioned you went back home and got a bunch of migraine. Did you consume anything most of those days? This is how I learned about sausage being a trigger of mine. I went to visit the family one week and spent the whole in pain. At first I thought it was the related to the long flight I took, but it turned out I was wrong. A week or so after being home I missed the home good breakfast I had every day while at the families house. I purchased all the normal breakfast stuff including sausage links. Wham, I got a migraine. Now, I had a theory, but I need to test it. I sucked it up the following weekend and had eggs and nothing happened. The following day was bacon and nothing happened. Certainly it is not the sausage since I have in on my McDonalds breakfast sandwich. I tried the sausage anyway an got a migraine.

I suggest any time you get a migraine create a log of EVERYTHING you consumed, eat, drink, drugs, sunscreen, and so on. Document the brand also. I work with a guy who can't have certain brands of peanut butter, but some brands are okay.

 

[IndianaTom]

Just a thought, you mentioned you went back home and got a bunch of migraine. Did you consume anything most of those days?

Well, when I was at my brothers, he was very generous with the donuts in the morning for breakfast, and by lunch I had a migraine. After a few days of that I laid off the donuts (thinking it was something in their recipe) but the migraines didn't really subside. Then eating other sweet breakfasts I had similar results at lunch the next day. i didn't really put it together that it was blood sugar, I've never had an issue before, but with the 40th birthday, and the 240th pound, I guess I have an issue.

Now, after talking to some diabetic people, I find that the migraine is probably blood sugar related. If I eat a lot of sugar, 4 hours later, as my glycemia is crashing, I get a migraine. Now i wonder if all of my migraines in the past were sugar related. I don't usually gorge on sweets, usually, but since I've figured this out, if been very mild on sweets, and I've been much better off.

This is hard with all the Christmas cookies flying around right now.

 

[BobG]

It is funny what triggers one persons migraine and not others.

I drink every morning a pot of coffee with Splenda sweetener.

For a while I listened that the caffeine can cause migraines. I got off the coffee for a couple of years. Didn't make a difference. I am aware of the caffeine head ache.

I check my blood pressure at least 4 times a month. During several severe migraines I took my blood pressure and it was normal, during the aura period and the pain period.

From all I have read is a migraine is very similar to epilepsy. It is caused by a electrochemical miss firing in the brain. One of the longest I had was after I drank some positive charged water, or what ever they call that crap.

There was suppose to be some work being done on low voltage electroshock therapy to stop the migraine from coming into fruition. Don't know what happened to the study.

The problem with my migraines is they are severe enough that they have damaged my optic nerve. I am missing things in my vision now and have to scan back and forth in order to see all in front of me. I have also had several occasions where I passed out from the pain.

I have also read that people have died from brain seizures caused by migraines.

Got to go.

All take good care of your selves.

Bob