It takes 2, baby
Recently I’ve had a little experience with migraine at the hospital. I’ve gained a whole new empathy and understanding for those who go to emergency with a migraine, and I’ve done a lot of new thinking on the pros and cons of the situation.
Upon reflection, here’s one thing which stood out. Certainly there were times when I felt like a lab rat being experimented on. "Let’s see if this works", "Let’s see if that works". Any migraineur who has been to the doctor more than once probably knows the feeling.
As a matter of fact, to my surprise at one time I found myself trying to put the brakes on the amount of drugs they were giving me. I actually had to ask when they had last given me drugs, and I suggested that perhaps I could wait a few more minutes before they pumped the next experiment into my blood stream (I know many of you have had the opposite experience, but stay with me here).
So here’s one thing the experience taught me, and you can tell me if you agree. It often takes two things to relieve a migraine attack. First, a migraine drug or painkiller can be helpful. Second, sleep. In particular, deep sleep.
Now you’ll often hear that part of the migraine cycle is deep sleep. But you may have also heard that deep sleep is itself a migraine antidote (see for example this article on migraine in children). If you take a drug and can’t get to sleep, the symptoms may stubbornly hang on. If you get to sleep without the drugs, (sometimes) the migraine symptoms are still there when you wake up.
So this was the problem at the hospital. The constant monitoring. Every few minutes, you’re asked to rate your pain, you’re asked how your stomach is, your blood pressure is taken, whatever. So you never reach that deep sleep, and the new drugs keep coming because the pain isn’t disappearing fast enough. May I humbly suggest to health workers with migraine patients that they try a natural therapy – a little sleep. 1.5-2 hours, or even less, may be all it takes to move you from getting worse or staying the same to improving. You may find this works at home too – if you wake up with a migraine attack, try taking your abortive drugs (perhaps with a little juice for blood sugar) and then getting another 1-2 hours of sleep.
It’s time for your comments. Is it just me, or is this an ingredient that’s being forgotten?
2 February 2006 @ 6:08 pm
You’re totally right! This is exactly what I do if I wake up with a migraine. I take my abortive, call into work and say I’ll be late. Then I’ll go back to sleep for another 2 hours or so. More often than not, I’ll wake up well enough to function.
Sometimes I’ll wake up with a full-blown migraine and I know an abortive won’t work. In these cases, I’ll skip work altogether and take something to throw me into a deep sleep. I’ll sleep for several hours. I’ll typically wake up hungover but it’s better than suffering through an attack.
There are sometimes when this plan doesn’t work, but it’s a safe bet.
4 February 2008 @ 1:49 am
Usually, when I go to the ER, I wait there for four or five hours snuggled up to my barf bowl while the sound of everyone around me and the florescent lights stabbing into my eyes want to make me jump out of my skin. Then, I am moved to either: a. a ward which is still bustling but a little quieter and oederly, or b. a nice private patient room. I wait there for a half hour or so, and then a doctor comes in for all of thirty seconds, and a nurse administers the shot. Then I am told to go home and sleep. They never ask me to wait. And that is why I hardly ever go, because, if I’m out of meds, I’d rather suffer at home in silence and the comfort of my own bed, unless, of course, the attack has lasted for a couple of days.
17 May 2012 @ 4:56 am
First of all, I want to say thank you for the postings. I am just learning about migraines and have been dealing with them for six years. Speaking of the last six years, I went to countless doctors and emergency rooms and was shoved back out the door with the same symptoms I walked in with. (If I could walk at all) This last time I went to a different one and told the doc that I didnt care about anything else but the pain. Please take away the pain!! They gave me a pain med mixed with Benadryl and shot it in my arm. I went to sleep and woke up coming out the migraine. Do I believe sleep helps? Oh yes!! Along with the meds, I think the brain needs the downtime to deal with what is going on and uses sleep to heal itself.
17 May 2012 @ 7:06 am
The er is the last place ill go now. That used to be the only place I could go for relief, however when you are told that you aren’t going to be treated next time you come in why go. He said they don’t specialize in migraines. Yes I know this but as a chronic migraine sufferer when I get one that lasts a few days and will not go away and it’s unbearable, im visiting the er.