covid vaccine and migraine changes
Hi,
I'm 43 and usually have 1-2 migraines a week, a pattern which has been relatively steady at least for the past 10 years. The most I've been without an event is something like 2 weeks which happens very rarely, once in a year or so.
Now for the strange thing. On the morning of February 1st I took the 3rd dose of the pfizer covid vaccine. That evening I had a migraine which went away after taking a zomig, as is usual.
Until this morning I haven't had another event. It has been nearly 4 weeks without pain, which is unheard of for me. Plus, during this time I've occasionally drank wine and spicy food (which are both known triggers for me).
Now, this morning I was working in the garden and with the wind got some soil dust into my eyes. This triggered a visual aura (its not the first time that stuff getting into my eyes trigger a scotoma). I waited for it to go away, already expecting for the pain to start afterwards. However, it never got to develop into a full fledged migraine. If I sneeze, I feel a slight pain around the eye where the migraine usually hits worse, but that's it. Its as if the migraine is there but there is no pain.. this has never happened to me before.
This being said, the vaccine can be just a freaky coincidence, and I was surprised that searching on the forum it seems most people reported the opposite (an uptick in migraine events after the vaccine).
I was curious if anyone had a similar experience or a possible explanation for this change in pattern/behavior for the migraine.
Thanks
Thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your story with us. I've not experienced a change after getting vaccinated/boosted ,but have heard from others who have. I'm sure they will be along shortly to share their experiences with you. In the meantime, here is some general information on Covid and migraine; https://migraine.com/search?s=COvid.
I can tell you it's not uncommon for our migraine patterns and symptoms to change over time, mine sure have. Migraine is so complicated!
I hope you let me know how you are doing and wishing you a low pain day, Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator Migraine.com TeamMy blood pressure was fine before I got the Covid vaccine last year. Within a week of getting it, my blood pressure went from regularly 96/75 to 154/98 with a pulse of 120. WTF?!! Migraines have become more frequent since then too despite being on Emgality, Topiramate, Propranonol, Gabapentin, Butalbacetamine, Methocarbamol, and another muscle relaxant.
So sorry to hear you've had changes in your BP recently. We've had a fair amount of people reporting changes in their migraine patterns that they relate to either a Covid infection or the vaccine. While I'm not recalling mention of the tie between the vaccine and a rise in BP, you might be interested in perusing them here: https://migraine.com/search?s=covid%20vaccine. Warmly, Holly (migraine.com team).
