I have always had migrains but for the last month, I have had a headache that gets worse as the day wears on. It seems to start in front of my left ear where my jaw joint is and follow my bone up along my eye socket. I can feel bumps and it is somewhat swollen. I have to keep closing my left eye as the light bothers it. Does any of this sound familiar? Or maybe some of you get migrains? How do you spell migrains, anyhow? I have been using Excedrin and an ice bag on it which helps some but it comes back the next day!!I also have lipomas under my jaw. Boy, is that TMJ joint sore!!!
Hi, Sylvia.
All sounds very familiar, although I have no lumps in my face that I’ve found so far. A few sensitive areas, and one or two lumps in my neck, but nothing that can be seen.
I went to the opthalmologist last fall to get new glasses, and it took three visits before I actually got a prescription, and I go back in April. He isn’t happy with how poorly he was able to correct my vision and he seems to be suspecting that something is going on.
My eyes are extremely light sensitive, and I get that pain in the side of my face, too. I’ve had migraines (that’s the way you spell it. 
) since I was a child. At one point I had so many that I was taking high powered drugs for them - but that was many years ago when I was on the Pill. Now, I suspect that the gabapentin and Cymbalta work together to keep them from being too horrible. (I have the beginnings of one as I type.)
me
Yes, I get migraines, and have since I was 7 years old. Migraines are generally severe, one sided headaches with sensitivity to light and sometimes sound. You may or may not be nauseated. TMJ can cause them too. Not everyone gets an aura that they notice, but often you will have visual disturbances before the headache strikes. My left eye tends to close during a bad migraine too. Ice bags help, but put it where you think the headache originates, like your jaw. I have a spot in my shoulder blade. When I ice it the headache eases.
Pamela
Wonder why my email does that thing where it puts just a few words on each line?? Weird! Anyway, Cindy and Pamela I can always count on an answer from you…we must be sisters in symptoms. I know I read before that DD doesn’t usually affect the head but since I have it everywhere, it must have decided to attack my cheek and forehead. I am deaf in that ear. I also know I need cataract surgery and new glasses. My husband did not come out of his cataract surgery very well so I have been trying to postpone it. I do go in for my diabetic eye check every 12 months. I don’t drive at night or anytime I can avoid it, my husband drives. My ankles and feet are so swollen I don’t know if I can drive. The endocrinologist says the swelling is not from my heart, kidneys or diabetic neuropathy problems and to ask my PCP what is causing it. I think it is the DD which she says she has not heard of. I think I will take in some info on it next time. At least I can spell migraines now : ) This has been a long day as I am trying to do our taxes. It seem like we spent more on RXS, medical and wheelchairs than we had coming in…so I will have to add that up again! No wonder I can’t get rid of this headache!
I have headaches quite often and get mirgranes once or twice a month, but they usually are better after a day or so.
I’m lucky in that I don’t have any lumps on my head or neck at this point.
I have the severe swelling in my ankles, feet and calves too. It started several years before any lumos appeared there. I think swelling happens when lumps are forming, because the whole area is plastered in them now. You might also want to have your doc check for lymphodema. That happens in some of us too.
Pamela
Sylvia:
I have migraines that last months, without any relief by anything. As they are starting to go away, about 2-3 days before it resolves, I get this “knee-walking” drunk feeling, very distant feeling. It then sets off they myoclonus which in turn make my nodules hurt because of the muscle seizures make the muscles rub against where the nodules/tumors/fat pads are. Had elevated spinal cord fluid pressure. When they took some of the fluid off my spine, my severe migraine suddenly stopped. I take preventive meds to help keep the migraines from even starting but it doesn’t always work. You might want to consider going to a neurologist that specializes in migraines, there are tons of preventatives, melt on your tongue meds that can help and worst case, self injections of imatrex.
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Benita
Very interesting Benita…One of my many sisters went to the Cleveland Clinic once for hers and they said she has 3 day migraines. This is different from my usual migraines. It is still bad after several weeks. I tried various meds over the years until now I just use an ice bag and Excedrin and going to bed or staying in bed. They usually wake me up around 6:00 and I have to have John get me an ice bag and wet towel right away. I take Excedrin and he makes coffee which I drink as soon as it is ready. This has been working well since I don’t have to shower and drive to work. When I was working this was so bad as I was so sick to my stomach and it hurt to try and see and drive. The light hurt so bad and just bending over in the shower to wash my hair was so painful. Now that I am home I can treat the pain but this headache is so persistent! I have had a few others that lasted this long…but it is not fun! Thanks for your info. Maybe this is just a month long one that will eventually go away. Hope your aliens are behaving. Enemy Mine is on the TV…great flick but I have to go to bed as my ice bag awaits and my butt aliens are screaming for me to lay down. : )
Here I am again, I was rereading your post Cindy and I also have a very large lipoma on the back of my neck off to the right that my doctor could see across the room. My neck has an electric impulse that goes up my neck a lot. It is not painful just hard to ignore. My neck on the other hand is very painful. I try to exercise it every day but it is stiff as a board and when I have an acute episode I can’t turn my head. I can barely turn it anyway and it creaks and snaps and is really quite noisy. If I do anything at all physical or try to life anything it goes into muscle spasms and is really beyond standing. I know a lot of my headaches come from my bad neck. I try to bring my neck up when I go to doctor’s but I have so much else wrong with me…they never get around to helping me with it. Right now it is killing me a usual.
Wow! Davana here again, I just read your post about the migraines this time, and went WOW! I used to have these too! they put me on immitrex. I take one when I feel a headache coming on and it goes away before it gets to migraine stage… it was a miracle for me because none of the usual headache meds worked (excedrin, Acetaminephin etc.) the immitrex comes in pill, injections or inhaled forms. I tried all 3, but thenpill works for me so i use them. I used to be incapacitated for days with migraines and they made me so sick I could actually feel them for days afterwards. My daughter has to use injections especially if she doesn’t catch it right away before full blown migraine sets in. Hope this will help you too.
Another lumpy buddy,
Davana