Gliding and migraines?

Having suffered my first ever migraine last night and specifically the visual disturbance (aura) that came with it, I am keen to discover how gliders pilots who are prone to migraines cope? Although sufferers are allowed to drive and indeed fly, the advice for coping of 'pull over' seems less than helpful!

Any advice and experiences most welcome!

Chris

Originally Posted by K6Chris

Having suffered my first ever migraine last night and specifically the visual disturbance (aura) that came with it, I am keen to discover how gliders pilots who are prone to migraines cope? Although sufferers are allowed to drive and indeed fly, the advice for coping of 'pull over' seems less than helpful!

Any advice and experiences most welcome!

Chris

Has this been confirmed by a competent medical practitioner? I am not a doctor nor have I played on one TV but I did play one with a cute blue eyed blond once but that's a story for another time. Since you said you experienced your first one last night I would question if you have had time to insure that this is what you actually experience.

Since you said you had the headache in association with the aura I might tend to agree with you but again this needs to be confirmed. That being said, there are many TRIGGERS to a migraine. Stress, certain foods, changes in sleep patterns and a plethora of other things can bring this on. Are you on any medication for BP such as a vasodilator?

I have seen how debilitating a migraine can be, not sure I would want to experience something like that while flying. There are a couple of fast acting medications for migraine available on the market, just not sure how convenient some of them might be to administer while strapped in.

Walt

I had a migraine once - and only once - in 20 years of flying. It was
April, I was up to 9000' in wave in Tennessee. I don't know if it was
altitude / temperature fluctuations or what.
The headache came on, no vision issues, just pain, and I had to land
in 25knt x-wind. Broke the tail boom. Not fun. There was another more
suitable strip nearby, but I didn't take it.
Did it affect my judgement? Maybe. I just wanted to get down...

If migraines were a reoccurring issue, I would be concerned...
Flight-capable meds?

Cheers,
Tim


On Jul 19, 7:52*am, K6Chris k6chris(AT)live(DOT)co(DOT)UK wrote:
Having suffered my first ever migraine last night and specifically the
visual disturbance (aura) that came with it, I am keen to discover how
gliders pilots who are prone to migraines cope? *Although sufferers are
allowed to drive and indeed fly, the advice for coping of 'pull over'
seems less than helpful!

Any advice and experiences most welcome!

Chris

--
K6Chris

On Jul 20, 9:24*am, qflyer1 wrote:
I had a migraine once - and only once - in 20 years of flying. *It was
April, I was up to 9000' in wave in Tennessee. I don't know if it was
altitude / temperature fluctuations or what.
The headache came on, no vision issues, just pain, and I had to land
in 25knt x-wind. Broke the tail boom. Not fun. There was another more
suitable strip nearby, but I didn't take it.
Did it affect my judgement? Maybe. I just wanted to get down...

If migraines were a reoccurring issue, I would be concerned...
Flight-capable meds?

Cheers,
Tim

On Jul 19, 7:52*am, K6Chris k6chris(AT)live(DOT)co(DOT)UK wrote:



Having suffered my first ever migraine last night and specifically the
visual disturbance (aura) that came with it, I am keen to discover how
gliders pilots who are prone to migraines cope? *Although sufferers are
allowed to drive and indeed fly, the advice for coping of 'pull over'
seems less than helpful!

Any advice and experiences most welcome!

Chris

--
K6Chris- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Chris
Admiting that you suffer from migraines seems to disqualify you from
being president. To keep from limiting your possible career choices,
you might want to start using an alias online. On real hot days
taking a couple of Potassium tablets in the morning seems to cut down
on headaches in the air that afternoon. I Don't know if this will do
any thing for migraines. Using Oxygen might be another thing to
contemplate. I'm not a doctor and its been a long time since I stayed
at a Holiday Inn.

SF

My daughter started flying last year but developed frequent migraines
and and had to go on medications that aren't allowable, although the
dosages are much lower than for the medication's normal use. *Once
they are under control, we may start lessons again, but I won't allow
her to solo unless there is medical clearance.

Just in case your daughter's headaches turn out to be actually
"cluster headaches" and not migraines (those two maladies have
confused many a doctor): the most effective treatment for some (like
me) is 100% O2. And guess where I can hook up to it the fastest ...
convinced the local authorities' aviation doctor!

Uri

On Jul 21, 5:36*pm, chipsoars wrote:
On Jul 21, 3:46*am, Uri wrote:

My daughter started flying last year but developed frequent migraines
and and had to go on medications that aren't allowable, although the
dosages are much lower than for the medication's normal use. *Once
they are under control, we may start lessons again, but I won't allow
her to solo unless there is medical clearance.

Just in case your daughter's headaches turn out to be actually
"cluster headaches" and not migraines (those two maladies have
confused many a doctor): the most effective treatment for some (like
me) is 100% O2. And guess where I can hook up to it the fastest ...
convinced the local authorities' aviation doctor!

Uri

We have her under treatment at Thomas Jefferson Medical Center's
Headache clinic. *The approach seems to be helping, but it is early.

Probably folks who know their business :-)
I don't wish anybody (friend or foe) the agony of cluster
headaches....in comparison, a migraine is a good thing :-(
Yes, the common wisdom has cluster headaches as the most painful
possible - way more than bearing a child...as reported by women who
had both.

On Jul 22, 2:50*am, Uri wrote:
I don't wish anybody (friend or foe) the agony of cluster
headaches....in comparison, a migraine is a good thing :-(
Yes, the common wisdom has cluster headaches as the most painful
possible - way more than bearing a child...as reported by women who
had both.

Pretty hard to compare experiences.

I've had people tell me that dislocated shoulders and kidney stones
are the worst, and certainly worse than childbirth.

I've had both the former but don't have the equipment for the latter.
And I fortunately don't get headaches that are even remotely
comparable.

The FAA takes a dim view of migraines. I'd be cautious about self-
diagnosing anything that the FAA doesn't like.

On Jul 22, 8:16*am, Jim Meade wrote:
The FAA takes a dim view of migraines. *I'd be cautious about self-
diagnosing anything that the FAA doesn't like.

I believe that in power planes migraines are a disqualifying
condition. Maybe someone with more knowledge can confirm that.

"Steve Freeman" wrote in message
...

On Jul 22, 8:16 am, Jim Meade wrote:
The FAA takes a dim view of migraines. I'd be cautious about self-
diagnosing anything that the FAA doesn't like.

I believe that in power planes migraines are a disqualifying
condition. Maybe someone with more knowledge can confirm that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They are indeed.

-- Jim in NC