I started getting migraines with auras at about age 14. At first they were frequent and scary, especially that first year or so - but their frequency lessened with age.
No one ever mentioned migraine as a possible diagnosis, but they prescribed Dilantin - (which was ridiculous - Dilantin is an epileptic drug.) I also went through a spinal tap and a slew of other tests. But I quit testing when my small-town doctors wanted to inject me with something very painful to check for aneurysm. I told them I'd come back if it got worse - it didn't.
I quit the Dilantin too, after a year or so. It didn't seem to matter much, anyway - the migraines came less frequently on their own. But I noticed they were usually triggered by a stressful event, such as after a bicycle accident, or an intense family argument.
By college and my 20's, they might only happen a couple of times a year, or less. My brother's fiancee', who was a nurse, suggested it might be Reynaud's Syndrome, so when I noticed an aura coming on, I started \"calming\" my way out of it, including running my hands under warm water in the bathroom. That seemed to work.
Around age 30, I had a bad attack that left a slight bit of nerve damage to the left corner of my mouth - a very slight paralysis. No one noticed but me, but that scared me, so I looked for an effective prophylactic. I started taking baby aspirin daily, to thin my blood enough to get through tightened blood vessels during attacks.
A few years later, I started taking feverfew herb to further relax my blood vessels at the first sign of an aura. That, and the aspirin, seemed to do the trick. If a migraine does slip through my defenses, I throw a couple of SAM-e's at it, avoiding the run-down, wrung-out exhaustion I normally feel after an attack.
I have never taken prescriptive triptans, though I do keep them in the medical cabinet, and bring them on vacation, just in case.
I rarely get migraines these days, maybe once every few years. I recently added (alkaloid-removed) butterbur herb to my daily regimen, to reinforce my blood vessels. A history of migraines can presage strokes, especially among women, and I aim to lower my odds.
