Smart Door Power Options

[Lesley]

It could easily be the de-caff Sheila, if it is one of the brands that chemically de-caffeinates rather than using a natural water filtering method.

[Snowy]

Whay about the lighting? Does she have fluorescent lights, or old light bulbs with a slower flicker rate? They have been known to trigger migraines in some people

Hope you get to the bottom of it Sheila!

[Hens@HalfMoonLane]

Strange mystery.

 

I get migraines with Shiraz but not Merlot. I also get then with the sun very easily and some perfumes but my wierdest one is I get an instant violent migrane if I I'm in close proximity to a consultant who comes to where I used to work, so bad that I had to ask him to send someone else. The wierd thing was he was such a lovely bloke, good at his job and I got on with him.

 

Have you tried Imigran tablets - if they work you could still stay at your sisters?

[The Dogmother]

Could it be the bed/bedding? I'm not a headache person, but always get one when staying at my folks place. It's not the stress of putting up with my mother, but the rubbish mattresses they have; I am used to a hard mattress, but theirs are very soft. I asked Pops to put a board under the mattress of the bed I sleep on and the headaches went.

[Lewis]

I thought it could be something in the air, maybe the paint or something you wouldn't really think of? Coffee does sound like it could be it.

 

Could it be the travel to her house or something like that, is it a long way to get there, then it wouldn't affect the other guests?

[Gem_Seb]

I've more or less given up drinking because it makes me feel so ill generally, but I have found organic wine less of a problem - someone will doubtless correct me on here, but I think it's something to do with sulphates, and organic wine having less of them?

 

Found this on the internet earlier when I was searching something someone said on my thread! Hope it helps!

 

the most usual allergen in commercial wine is the preservative, normally a sulphite type of chemical (if memory serves, it's a metabisulfite). Blocked nose and blotchy skin is a typical allergic response

 

Many wine allergic reactions are not true allergies at all but are related to the sulfites used to preserve red and white wine as well as beer. If you’re able to drink other forms of alcohol without a problem but have problems with wine and beer, you may be experiencing a sulfite reaction. Generally, wine allergic reactions that are related to the presence of sulfate

[Olly]

Ah. I often get a runny/blocked nose when drinking wine, but not with other drinks. I'm going to start looking at labels a bit more closely now!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Slightly bizarrely, I get a migraine if I put the breadmaker on overnight but not if it's on during the day........it could just be a coincidence, but it did happen twice & I'm not prepared to repeat the experience to check the theory

 

I hope you get your conundrum sorted soon, it's no fun not knowing the causes of these mighty headaches

 

Sha x

[The Dogmother]

Now this is a bizarre one, but possible when you think about it...

 

I was talking to a friend about something similar when she mentioned that she wakes up with a headache if her OH forgets to turn the computer wifi router off at the mains. Took them a long time to figure it out, but their room is above the room where the router lives. Must be summmat to do with the radio waves.

 

I have to say that staying with my sister would be enough to incite murder, let alone a migraine!

[sadietoo]

Sorry if this is a bit of noddy point but is it likely that because you've previously suffered a migraine whilst staying at your sister's that worrying that it might happen again is enough stress/tension to cause another one???? Thankfully I don't suffer myself, but my DS does if sufficiently stressed, as do two of my friends so I do know how debilitating and awful they are and you have my every sympathy

[redhotchick]

Lots of ideas already, here's another one to throw in. Does your sister get her curtains dry cleaned, or the carpets or the furniture cleaned professionally?

 

Re sulphate/sulphites in wine, it's very difficult to get a wine without them.

[Sheilaz]

Sorry if this is a bit of noddy point but is it likely that because you've previously suffered a migraine whilst staying at your sister's that worrying that it might happen again is enough stress/tension to cause another one????

 

That's a really good point, but I have ruled that out too.

I hadn't even thought about the connection until the last visit this summer. It was so pronounced and a repeat of my stay the time before, but it was only afterwards that I realised that it had happened about 5 times in as many visits, over about 5-10 years. (I'm OK if I visit but don't sleep there).

I really like my sister, so it's not family tension either, nor curtains/carpets.

 

Some news; Discussed it with my sister, so feeling terrible that I've upset her.

It's not decaf. coffee, she has Cafe Direct that I have for visitors at home, and I've been fine drinking tons this week to test.

 

She said, "so you're thinking ley lines and I have sick house then?" Which, isn't a route I've been exploring, I'm looking for the more obvious, but apparently an acupuncturist told her (unbeknown to me) that it was a "bad house", so I've really touched a nerve talking about my sickness.

 

However, after I asked her if she was poisoning me (which she didn't deny ) she rang back & suggested the mattress. Now, this ties in. It was a new double Dunlopillo latex foam mattress, bought 5 or so years ago, ironically because of guests having asthma or dodgy hips & backs with the old mattress.

Even though I'd changed guest bedrooms, so had the bed, so we really think that I must have a sensitivity to this mattress.

 

She wants me to stay soon, in a different bed, and see if I'm OK. Off to research mattress manufacturing. (and ley lines & poisons.

[Joojoo]

Hi Sheila

 

Oh I really sympathise with you on this . Headaches/migraines are dreadful and it must be horrible for you to know that it's only when you visit her, and as she is your sister you obviously want to keep in touch and be able to stay now and then.

 

I've had very bad headaches and migraines 24/7 for nearly 25 years now (really not one day without pain in some shape or form) and have wondered at times (particularly in the past 14 years that I've lived in this house) if it is something to do with the property itself. They can be so debilitating and I'm not entirely convinced that they didn't end up being part of the cause of my marriage going down the pan as I have lost so many complete days to it being so bad over the years that I was in bed constantly. As a family we had to cancel so many things that were planned Funny enough though they did get easier once ex OH moved out of the house I must have been allergic to him!!

 

However, I've been off work for 3 months now with them again (they haven't been this bad for about 10 years now) since Dad died in June and my Neurologist has just checked the MRI I had in 2000 and found a problem with the nerves being too tight around my head Why they never noticed it before I don't know . Anyway, I am now waiting for another MRI and the likelihood of surgery to sever the affected nerves - I'm really not looking forward to that!!!!!!!!! BUT as terrifying as that is for me, the thought of being pain free after so long is an absolutely amazing feeling. I honestly can't put it into words

 

I just hope that you can get to the bottom of it all . Is it worth you going to see someone for a complete allergy test? They would be able to check all sorts of random things that you may not have thought of, which may then tie in with something that is in the house or happens while you are at your sisters.

 

Very best of luck

Jue xx

[Sheilaz]

Goodness, I do hope you find an answer for yours Jules. I had thought, but neglected to say, that if I felt this rough just half a dozen times, then it must be terrible for anyone suffering regular migraines.

I do count myself very lucky in not being prone to headaches, which is why this occurances are so marked.

[Guest]

Hi Sheila! I have been thinking about your sickness/headaches since you posted this and trying to think of ideas which make sense but haven't already been mentioned. As you know, I suffer terribly with my neck and it causes me pain, headaches, sickness and lethargy. Now that you have said it only happens if you sleep overnight and also that you have mentioned the mattress, I am wondering if it could be to do with the alignment of your spine and neck.

 

If my pillow is too flat, the muscles in my neck tense up as I sleep. The tense muscles pull the vertebrae out of place and I end up feeling really ill. I don't usually vomit, but sometimes this happens too and certainly that is quite common with migraines. I am wondering if the combination of mattress and pillow doesn't suit you somehow. My pillow works very well with my mattress and I always take it with me if I go away. I have found though that my pillow doesn't always work well with other mattresses and if they are softer than mine I have to bolster it up a bit with a cushion or towel.

 

The other thing that causes a migraine is sitting with my neck at an angle as you do when talking to people. I think you can rule that out because it wouldn't just happen at your sister's!

 

I'm sure you have mixed feelings about trying a different bed in her house. It would be lovely if you remained well but if you are ill again . . .

[The Dogmother]

Could the latex mattress be giving off fumes?

 

No idea about mattresses, but it strikes me as a possibility.

[Sheilaz]

...I'm sure you have mixed feelings about trying a different bed in her house. It would be lovely if you remained well but if you are ill again . . .

....exactly, I just don't think I'd dare tell her, I'd pretend to be fine!

Thanks for thinking of me Ginette (hi, it's been ages!)

 

I do know what you're saying, but I can sleep on any mattress/pillow anywhere else, new old, anything, so I don't think it is.

I'm lucky it only happens there & not anywhere else aren't I?

 

...thanks Claret, I'm wondering about something in the manufacturing process. Turns out other sis gets a dodgy tum when she stays there, will ask more later. Curiouser & curiouser.

 

Might have to guess it's the mattress and leave it at that assumption. I'm now concerned that either my sis or I, or both, will be getting paranoid about it.

[Guest]

It doesn't sound like the sort of unwell you can cover up though Sheila - and this is your sister you're talking about (who will now be looking closely to see!) not some stranger who doesn't know you.

 

I too think latex fumes might be the next most likely cause. Are you allergic to latex?

[Lesley]

Could the latex mattress be giving off fumes?

 

No idea about mattresses, but it strikes me as a possibility.

 

I was going to ask that as well - I can't cope with the fumes from latex pillows.

[katieandnick]

My money's with energy saving lightbulbs. They trigger my migraines, so god knows what happens when the normal ones run out. Thanks Europe, pah.

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

I'm with the lights, power cables, internal buzzy electrical stuff (wireless, cables etc), mattress fumes and pylons theories.

 

Also, weather. I get migraines and headaches in high barometric/stormy conditions. Get a cheap portable weather station (Tchibo!) and follow the barometric pressures. I had a minger of a head on Friday, the day I bought my weather station, and low and behold - really high barometric pressure.

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Ooh! A whole migraine site!

 

http://www.relieve-migraine-headache.com/barometric-pressure-headache.html

[Sheilaz]

Hope its useful for some, but I'm narrowing down the possibilities and can rule out things that are not specific to the one place.

 

Light bulbs was a good one, but I'm fine until I've been asleep. We have far more weird electrical things at home than they do, so I doubt that in this case.

 

I don't know if I have a reaction to latex, (perhaps I should test some gloves ) but Dunlopillo state that the production process deals with this so it shouldn't be a factor.

 

Mattress fumes seems the most likely as the latest conversation ties in with it. The mattress was new about when this started and, importantly, changed rooms last time when I did too, which I hadn't realised.

Can it really be so strong after 5-10 years, and now in a large room? The small room, when new, I can understand more.

 

Poor sis is feeling really bad, and I feel terrible for asking her.

[Guest]

Maybe production and controls were different 5-10 years ago. Is it worth asking the company for advice?

 

Poor you xx