Migraines

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

I am in awe of the number of students I have with "migraines". They come in smiling, saying "oh, I have a migraine" and proceed to talk non stop. They balk at having the lights off and door shut for quiet. I have one in my office now and he doesn't even mind me typing on this old, noisy keyboard. Most have imitrex or Maxalt prescriptions, meaning some physician believes this stuff. Our future for pain management seems extremely bleak.

[Farawyn]

I don't get kids these age having migraines like this.

Smart phones 'causing eye strain and tension headaches, maybe?

And, come on. Many docs will prescribe anything.

[jess11RN]

I get migraines. I don't believe anyone who says they have a migraine and can still function like a normal human being. That's all I have to say about that.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

I don't get kids these age having migraines like this.

Smart phones 'causing eye strain and tension headaches, maybe?

And, come on. Many docs will prescribe anything.

This particular student is constantly on screens. I agree with your assessment, why do parents always want to exaggerate their child's issue?

[OldDude]

Check it out...Silicon Valley Tech companies send their kids to private, technology free school...hmmmmm.

At Waldorf School in Silicon Valley, Technology Can Wait - The New York Times

and another article...hmmmm.

Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free - Business Insider

[Farawyn]

I get migraines. I don't believe anyone who says they have a migraine and can still function like a normal human being. That's all I have to say about that.

AGREE!!!

Check it out...Silicon Valley Tech companies send their kids to private, technology free school...hmmmmm.

At Waldorf School in Silicon Valley, Technology Can Wait - The New York Times

and another article...hmmmm.

Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free - Business Insider

I wouldn't go that far. I think that puts kids at a disadvantage scholastically.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Check it out...Silicon Valley Tech companies send their kids to private, technology free school...hmmmmm.

At Waldorf School in Silicon Valley, Technology Can Wait - The New York Times

and another article...hmmmm.

Silicon Valley parents are raising their kids tech-free - Business Insider

Our model takes the best of Montessori, Classical and Waldorf philosophies. We do have computers, but very limited and accelerating in MS as most of our graduates go to public HS.

[EnoughWithTheIce]

I know I have posted this on another thread but it seems like migraine is the new term for headache AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. I don't have migraines but the students I have that have legit ones look awful and they cannot even stand to say anything when they come in. Literally, I point them to a dark area and try not to disturb them after passing their meds. So, everyone else calling a run of the mill headache a migraine to me diminishes what real migraine sufferers go through.

While I am on my soap box - now every tiny bump on the head is a concussion because every single injury makes them dizzy, nauseated. Kid tried telling me she had a concussion from someone throwing a kleenex at her. Thank goodness that parent laughed at that. I can think of many others who would have rushed theirs to the ER.........

[bitter_betsy, BSN]

I have migraines and I really try to minimize them and their effects. I get quite angry when someone says "have you tried Excedrin Migraine?" Yea - if that crap worked it wouldn't be a migraine. Today I even had AIWS along with my beloved migraine. Trying to get your hand to your mouth when your arm feels like spaghetti is interesting. So is trying to read the bottle to make sure you are taking the right med when you can't see. People who don't have migraines but think they do should be issued one. I wish there was a way to induce it so people could actually experience them. Mine aren't usually just a migraine either - its usually prodrome, migraine and post-crap too. If you can walk or form complete sentences - it isn't a migraine.

[TriciaJ, RN]

This thread reminds me of an incident when I worked in a jail. A freshly-booked inmate announced he had a migraine and demanded his narcotic of choice. We didn't have an order for it and offered him ibuprofen, for what it was worth. I initially felt sorry that we didn't have anything better to offer him. He refused it and then spent the next few hours hollering and banging on his cell door. He even refused offers to have the light turned off. Needless to say, my sympathy soon evaporated.

[Duranie]

I have migraines and I really try to minimize them and their effects. I get quite angry when someone says "have you tried Excedrin Migraine?" Yea - if that crap worked it wouldn't be a migraine. Today I even had AIWS along with my beloved migraine. Trying to get your hand to your mouth when your arm feels like spaghetti is interesting. So is trying to read the bottle to make sure you are taking the right med when you can't see. People who don't have migraines but think they do should be issued one. I wish there was a way to induce it so people could actually experience them. Mine aren't usually just a migraine either - its usually prodrome, migraine and post-crap too. If you can walk or form complete sentences - it isn't a migraine.

I agree that "migraine" is being overused by people without that dx. But I disagree with the fact that excedrin won't work if it's a migraine. If I can take it at the super-early stage of my migraine, like when my head is just barely beginning to feel "wrong", and before I develop nausea or photophobia, then it will generally work... but we're talking like a 30 minute window to take it if I'm lucky... and if anything is distracting me from those early symptoms, then I'm screwed.

Also, my I had to take dh to the ER for what I was pretty sure was a migraine, but urgent care declared he was too old to be a new-onset migraineur (46 y.o.). ER doc initially agreed, and they sent him for scans to r/o a brain tumor or other scary "space occupying lesions"... and when that came back fine, a different ER doc (shift had changed) theorized that dh had indeed had migraines before, but that he was one of the lucky few who had relatively mild ones, and that Excedrin actually took care of them.... but unfortunately his luck ran out as he got older, and he finally had a doozy. The doc tested this theory by giving him a "migraine cocktail" of dexamethasone, imitrex, zofran, and Benadryl (still not sure why that was in there- the Nurse didn't know either, just that it's part of the cocktail- she thought prob. to help patients sleep....) and within 30 minutes, my husband was tad drowsy from the Benadryl, but every one of the severe migraine symptoms was gone, and didn't come back.

When we walked in, my-tough-as-nails, healthy-as-a-horse dh literally had tears in his eyes, and when we left, he was his normal, laid-back, happy self. The Neurologist dh followed-up with later said that he agreed with ERdoc#2's theory/explanation.

So all that to say that Excedrin can work (although neuro gave dh alternate dosing recommendations from what is on the bottle).

As for not being able to walk or talk if you have a migraine: I can power-through for quite a while sometimes, if I have to-- but there is a price to pay if I do that... it becomes exponentially harder to get rid of my migraine, if I don't treat it aggressively sooner, rather than later.

And dh certainly functioned with his for years before he had his bad one.

So, I know first hand that it can be possible to have a migraine that doesn't put you down for the count from the get-go. Of course, the longer it goes on, the harder I'm gonna fall when I finally do go down.

[Amethya]

I rarely get students with migranes but the ones I do get are for real. And I know when it's a real one, because I had really bad ones in MS. I didn't know what my trigger was and I would get constantly sick, and my sweet Texas History teacher would advocate for me to the SN but she would ALWAYS send me back and not let me rest. And I would have to deal with this mirgrane the whole day until I go home and passed out on my bed each night.

I then realized it was the chili cheese fries at lunch that was causing that issue and I gave it up cold turkey (I love Chili cheese fries, fyi) and I finally ate them again in College and I was fine. I think it was the meat they used.

But since then, when I get a potential migraine in my office, I take care of it. I don't play around that and I inform their parents right away to make sure they take notice and can take them to the doctor.