I have suffered from migraneous headaches for 35 years and have observed a change in their pattern and type as I have got older. Alcohol has always been a trigger (life's a bitch!) so I don't drink much. If I take painkillers at the right time, and depending on the type of alcoholic drink, it doesn't always develop into a full-blown attack. I also used to find that they came on after a stressful situation. My mother always said that you only have them when you have "time" to have them: i.e. after stress. Nowadays they are as likely to come on during the stress. I suffer no visual disturbances, but I at least usually lose my appetite and get nausea with the worst and get sensitive to odours sometimes. I use migril tablets if I feel one coming on, coupled with painkillers for the worst, and although these are not always effective, the only thing my GP has come up with lately is a LARGE dose of Ibuprofen at the onset (the new thinking, apparently - hit it hard at the start). It is no use taking a preventative treatment for migraine when you don't suffer from "proper" migraines! The best treatment I ever used was in S.Africa when I used a painkiller that also contained meprobamate (a tranquiliser or anti-depressant). This is not available in the UK but it worked well at the time: I know especially these days that with me tension does play quite a part, as do hormones, and as I reach that "time of life" more so. I also have started suffering with neck problems, partly due to muscle tension/inflammation from time to time, and also when at its worst, crepitus in the neck and shoulder. It seems that the headaches feed into the neck muscle and vice-versa. Sometimes I have the pain in my temple and also at the base of my skull. If I touch the base of my skull the muscle is very tender. I find a heat pack sometimes works for a while, but I find these days that I can expect to suffer for at least 2 days at a time if it is an intense attack. Here's where confession time happens: I do drink too much coffee. A year or two ago I did cut right down for a few weeks but it didn't make a lot of difference. I now take Feverfew and St John's Wort daily as well as Starflower Oil. One of my favourite things is to bathe my head and neck with lavender water and I also burn lavender oil sometimes in my bedroom. I have also tried mint tea and camomile from time to time. I keep telling myself that I need to take fewer pills and use more natural remedies, but when I go through a time like the last 9 days when I am beset with hormones, tension, a 24 hour gastric virus and the inevitable 2 and 3 day headaches either end of it, it's either pills or a swift bullet! Trouble is, it nearly always reaches the point when the pills aren't working, and then you know it's gonna be a long day! Anyway, I feel quite a bit better today and I am crossing my fingers that I will have a week or two's respite (as long as I am not tempted to have a beer!)

mouldy