My Biggest Wedding Headache

My Biggest Wedding Headache

April 12th, 2011 @ 2:05 pm by Mrs. Prairie Dog
Share

Like most brides-to-be, I have some fears, rational and otherwise, about our wedding day. I fear that all the hotels in Cincinnati will book up before the procrastinators get rooms, and then I will spend my wedding day to setting up a Hooverville in my little urban backyard. I fear extreme weather, and gridlock traffic, and having a bad hair day.

But mostly, I fear I’ll get a migraine.

They started about six months ago, and now I get them about once every two weeks. Luckily, (I mean, if you can call losing half your weekend “lucky”…) they’ve tended to fall on Saturday or Sunday about half the time, saving me from using up all my sick time at work. I’ve tried three different medications now, to no avail. At present, there’s a fourth kind waiting in my purse. If it doesn’t work, the next step will be taking a daily pill to prevent them. I don’t especially like taking medicine, but these aren’t regular headaches—the kind for which you can drink a lot of water / a bit of caffeine and pop some Aleve.

Once it comes on, there’s no stopping or powering through it.

I get tunnel vision, the pain feels like a metal rod between my temples, and it reverberates all the way to my teeth, each nerve shrilling. Time passes in a blur of what feels barely like consciousness, and I can’t do anything but lay in the dark and quiet, begging sleep to come. It’s completely incapacitating, and I honestly have no idea what I’d do if it got one on our wedding day.

I have one more, last-ditch doctor’s appointment before our big day. In the meantime, I’m trying to exercise, drink a lot of water, eat healthy, and prioritize sleep because…well, because I don’t know what else to do.

Do you have any health problems you worry about for your wedding day? Anyone else get migraines?

Tags: cincinnati, health |

Share |

Latest Gallery Pics

Hot Pink and White with Zebra 36" Lighted Spandex Ostrich Feather Centerpiece

47 Responses to “My Biggest Wedding Headache”

1 2 3 Last

Member

mrsbowieii (message) 692 posts, Busy bee

Occassionally I get a sty on my eye and sometimes they go away quickly and other times it has had to be surgically removed. My biggest fear is that I will get one just before the wedding that I can’t get rid of…

Currently my doctor is advising me to wash my eye lashes with baby shampoo twice a day and so far that has been working great nothing in over 6 mths.

4/12/11 @ 2:13 pm (reply)

Member

smo2011 (message) 39 posts, Newbee

I too am also worried about migraines. I usually get them about once a week (also usually on Saturdays and Sundays), but get really bad ones about once a month or so. Right now, I’m on Imitrex which helps…but not immediately. I usually take a cocktail of ibuprofen, Sudafed and Imitrex. I’m also taking nortriptyline and Vitamin B12 & Magnesium for prevention (clearly not working).

I’ve related most of mine to stress…I’ll usually get them a few days after stressful day at work, got them in college right after final exams, etc. Not ideal for a wedding! Yikes. I’ll cross my fingers for you!

4/12/11 @ 2:18 pm (reply)

Member

DiamondsandLace (message) 109 posts, Blushing bee

One of my coworkers started getting migraines a few years ago, and they were absolutely horrific. It turned out she developed some kind of food allergy - I believe it was to MSG, but other things like wine started to cause migraines as well - so figuring that out, in addition to her medication, totally turned things around for her.

If you haven’t tried it already, you might want to ask your doctors to identify any allergies like that! Just my two cents. I hope the migraines cease and desist (permanently, but especially for your wedding!)

4/12/11 @ 2:19 pm (reply)

Member

witnessourvows (message) 133 posts, Blushing bee

Miss Prairie Dog,

I do not get migranes, but I used to get headaches so frequently, I finally decided to go to a chiropractor instead of taking all the pain killers and muscle relaxers the docs were giving me. my Chiropractor did a thorough exam with xrays and thermal scans and found that my c1 (top vertebrete in your spine - up by your skull) was way out of alignment. With frequent and consistent visits to her, and small alignments each time, my headaches went away. I highly recommend you look into a chiropractor. It couldnt hurt. Also - speak with a nutritionist. there are food triggers for migranes that you wouldnt even think would do that! Aviod those foods for sure.

4/12/11 @ 2:22 pm (reply)

Member

jbaby731 (message) 164 posts, Blushing bee

I’m right there with you I get horrible sinus headaches about once every two weeks. It’s like clockwork. I have the same fear as you do, also. I’m not sure what I can do to prevent them; I just hope I’m okay on my wedding day!

4/12/11 @ 2:23 pm (reply)

Member

Melini (message) 1,130 posts, Bumble bee

I was worried I’d get a cold sore, so I got a script for acyclovir in advance. Guess what? 5 days before, I got a cold sore. I dosed myself hard with the meds and put every otc product made on it, and it never got big enough to notice. It was gone by the wedding.

I hope that you find a way to hold your migraines at bay for your wedding.

4/12/11 @ 2:26 pm (reply)

Member

amarissak (message) 52 posts, Worker bee

Did you change your BC recently? Other than that, I second the food allergy idea. My aunt used to get horrible migranes, then found out she was allergic to wheat, I believe. She cut that out of her diet and it did her a world of good.

4/12/11 @ 2:27 pm (reply)

Member

MissBucky (message) 29 posts, Newbee

Miss Prairie Dog,

I’m a pharmacist and have occasionally suffered from migraines myself. I do not want to sound “preachy” but if I might offer a couple of suggestions?

1) Try to keep a headache diary. Write down what you ate, what the weather was like, what “time of the month” is was, what you were wearing, where you were, any smells nearby, how you were feeling, etc. This might help you to figure out if you have any migraine triggers. Although not all triggers can be avoided - you might be able to find one that you can eliminate near the big day.

2) Rescue medications (like Imitrex, Maxalt, Relpax, etc) can only get a person so far, especially if they are having migraines as often as you are. I would recommend talking to your doctor sooner rather than later about using a preventative medication. There are a ton of medication options available so chances are you can find something that would work for you AND wouldn’t cause a bunch of new side effects to deal with. But you should start this sooner rather than later because it can take up to 3 months to see a good response to these treatments.

3) I know it goes without saying, but trying to reduce stress is a big part of controlling migraines. Also, making sure that you take your rescue medications as soon as you even get the hint of an impending migraine. If you get an aura (which you didn’t mention, but you did mention tunnel vision) as soon as that starts, pop an Imitrex and head to a cool, calm, dark room to relax.

I hope some of the advice from myself and others will help you avoid an awful migraine on your wedding day!

4/12/11 @ 2:31 pm (reply)

Member

wingsofhopegirl (message) 217 posts, Helper bee

You might want to look into TMJ, I have TMJ which causes horrible migraines for me. And while I had it under control for a year or so, about two months before our wedding the migraines came back horribly!! I got a new TMJ splint from my dentist and all better!!

4/12/11 @ 2:32 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

Jess

Migraines are awful! Mine started about four years ago, I was 24. My mom gets them too. Right now, my miracle cocktail is Amerge (naratriptan) with two Aleve pills to wash it down. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without Amerge, that stuff is amazing. It stops the migraine from progressing to the “throwing up, body shaking hot-cold feeling, knife in my right eye” phase. Also, I find my migraines can be triggered by low blood sugar - make sure you eat every two or three hours. Even just a few crackers can help. I also get migraines if my sleep cycle is messed up - that’s usually why we get “weekend migraines” - because we sleep late on the weekends. Try waking up at your normal weekday time, eating breakfast, and then going back to bed if you want. Weird, but it works. Good luck!

4/12/11 @ 2:32 pm (reply)

11.

Member

kayely88 (message) 263 posts, Helper bee

I get pretty bad migraines too. Mine stem from anxiety though but I am worried too about getting one the day of my wedding. Actually I’m worried about waking up sick the day of my wedding too.

4/12/11 @ 2:33 pm (reply)

12.

Member

blondiebri (message) 102 posts, Blushing bee

oosh, PD … right there with you. I take Imitrex but lately, it’s not been working (even when I catch it right in the beginning!) even after 2 pills. And then I’m loopy beyond belief, with the migraine still pounding away. My neurologist started me on a bunch of vitamins to help combat the frequency, since I didn’t want to start a daily preventative or shot and it seems (knock on wood) to be helping a little bit.

Keep yourself as hydrated as possible and hopefully you can limit the stress the day before and day of. Sending hugs!!

4/12/11 @ 2:33 pm (reply)

13.

Guest

Margarita

Yikes!! That’s so scary.

I agree with the food allergy/intolerance testing. I realized that when I eat too much of a food that I have intolerances to (in my case, the big ones are yeast, wheat, cane sugar) it triggers fairly nasty migraines- nowhere near your scale, but still pretty nasty.

4/12/11 @ 2:41 pm (reply)

14.

Member

mclove (message) 102 posts, Blushing bee

I was just worrying about this yesterday during a migraine - what if I’m debilitated by this monster on my wedding day? How unfair would that be? I take a generic of Maxalt for my menstrual migraines, and it’s turned into this cycle: migraine occurs, taken sumatriptan, feel better (with side effects) within 2 hours, migraine comes back in 6 hours, suffer for another day then take an excedrin to rid it completely. That’s ridiculous, and I really don’t want to go through that trouble/worry on W-Day.

You’re a smart cookie so you’re probably already doing this, but keeping a headache diary really is a good idea, like MissBucky said above - food, activities, anything can be triggers.

I feel your pain, literally!!

4/12/11 @ 2:41 pm (reply)

15.

Member

kate02121 (message) 396 posts, Helper bee

OOo my sympathies! I’ve been getting migraines since I was 8 and they sure can ruin a day! Mine are also stress-related (as well as too little sleep / food / water) so there’s a pretty good chance I’ll get one on my wedding day too. Luckily Imitrex or Zomig typically work for me although the side effects do make me feel a little flu-like. Best of luck with your fourth medication - there’s GOT to be something out there that will work for you!

4/12/11 @ 2:44 pm (reply)

16.

Guest

Brittany

Try Feverfew, it’s an herb. I have been suffering from migraines since I was very young. I had exhausted every resource, specialist, and medicine known to man when it came to suppressing these evil devils. In the beginning I took it twice a day everyday to now just one a day. It is definitely worth looking into. I went from averaging 10 a month to 10 in the last seven years. I swear by it and tell everyone I know that suffers from these PITA (pains in the a**)! Good Luck!

4/12/11 @ 2:45 pm (reply)

17.

Member

Miss Peanut Butter (message) 9 posts, Newbee

The only thing that’s ever worked for my migraines is visiting a chiropractor 3x/week. A few weeks after I started this, I stopped getting headaches completely, and they came back after I was unable to continue going to my chiropractor. Give it a shot!

4/12/11 @ 2:46 pm (reply)

18.

Member

besitos10210 (message) 76 posts, Worker bee

ok, as a migrain sufferer i know you are going to get a milliongabillion opinions on this….what caught my attention the most is you said you get them on the weekends. i too had a tendency to get migraines on the weekends…..i thought for a long time it was cuz i am more likely to drink on the weekends. so i layed off the booze and i STILL got weekend headaches. at this point i did some googling and finally figured it out…
monday - friday i get up and have coffee at 6:30, 7 am and eat breakfast before work. saturday and sunday i (used to) sleep until 9ish, get out of bed at my leisure, have coffee by 10 and usually didn’t eat until 1 or 2 pm. the headaches were caused by this slight shock to my system: caffeine withdrawl and low blood sugar.
so NOW i get up and have a shot of espresso no later than 8 (my husband gets up to make it) and eat a little something. i keep things i can blindly stuff in my face like dinner rolls just for this reason. if i wanna sleep more (hey, gotta enjoy it while we can, one day the kids won’t let us) i do, but i make sure to get a little coffee and food in me @ the same time i would monday - friday and i don’t get those weekend migraines anymore!

4/12/11 @ 2:49 pm (reply)

19.

Member

ArwenBride (message) 783 posts, Busy bee

Your migraines sound a lot like mine. The throwing up, passing out, and migraine “hangover” is just awful. It’s difficult to explain to people why this isn’t “just a headache”.

A couple of years ago, I was getting one every month (probably associated with my period) and I would be out of commission for hours (like 6 until I would finally fall asleep) and then the next day.

My mom convinced me to try this: http://www.aromasensations.com/rosemary.htm

Seems weird, but it worked. It smells really really strong and the idea behind it is…odd…but it did work for me. It would be worth a try!

Feel better!

4/12/11 @ 2:54 pm (reply)

20.

Member

mkendrick (message) 460 posts, Helper bee

Another migraine sufferer here. I started getting them in law school and have suffered ever since. I don’t like to take meds either but I do have a “rescue medication” that I use only in emergencies (e.g., if I don’t catch the onset soon enough with relpax or the like). It’s call Fiorcet and it has been a miracle drug for in those dire situations where nothing else works and I have to function. Again, I don’t take it on a daily basis but it might not be a bad one to have “just in case.”

4/12/11 @ 2:58 pm (reply)

1 2 3 Last