Migraines

[PirateLover]

I totally forget that I, too, used amitriptyline for a while. Took a dose every night before bed. I do think it helped. Mel I am sorry to hear about your anxiety issues. My husband is also very anxious about flying, it's not a good scene at all when we have to fly, and my mother-in-law has been having those kinds of severe panic attacks since my father-in-law died last year. She gets the numbness and everything, really scary. Thought she was having a heart attack once. I mainly just get the sped up heart rate, mind won't stop racing kind of thing. I hope you get answers (on everything) soon!!!

[diz_girl]

I've been getting migraines on and off for about 12 years. I'm not sure if it is just hormonal, or stress, or a combination of the two. Thankfully, I get the aura as a warning, like this morning, and I take two advil and by the time the aura is done the advil are in my system and numbing the pain to some extent. Then it's on with my day. Maybe I'll lie down for an hour (if I'm lucky) if it happens on a weekend. I often get very tired the day before one hits. My symptoms are the fatigue, the pain, the aura, and a little confusion and the inability to concentrate.

I first started getting them about 12 years ago. They happened a lot for a year or two and then I didn't get them for a few years. It was kind of around the time my thyroid fizzled (I think) because I gained 30 pounds in under two years. My neurologist prescribed Maxalt back then because they didn't occur often enough to warrant a preventive medication. I recall him saying that the maxalt is for someone who gets migraines no more than 3 or 4 per month.

After not getting them for a few years, I got them again when I was pregnant with my first son five years ago, right around Christmas. That was a cluster of four migraines in five days. Of course, I couldn't take Maxalt, so I just suffered through those. Fun!

I got them very infrequently until I was pregnant again, and I think it was last year around Christmas I got a couple in a row. I didn't get them much after that.

Guess what happened again this Christmas? You guessed it! Five in five days, right after my youngest boy (our baby, now 13 months) was in the hospital right before Christmas. I'm now considering converting. But I now get them at least weekly since Christmas. We actually moved last spring, so there's a stress element there, but I'm also weaning the baby, so my hormones are fluctuating again. With the frequency of my migraines, I would have gone to see my neurologist, but I didn't get a new one since I moved.

I didn't know about the amitripyline. I give that to my cat for his aggression.

[wildernesslady]

Migraines are just a pain in the you know what. It is unfortunate that we all suffer from them, but I'm glad to hear alot of similarities to mine.

I take Fiorinal with Codeine and have for about 29 years now. I got my first migraine right after my first daughter was born. I would like to blame them on hormones, but they never come at the same time of the month.

Some things I have learned are have a cup of hot caffeine when the vision aura starts. It sometimes helps it go away faster. If you are just having a regular headache that won't go away, try sucking on lemon slices or drinking a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice. It's a natural anasthetic that really works. Sometimes it does mess with my stomach a little, but the headache is gone. Also, I have low iron and once I controlled that, I do not have as many migraines. Diet is also important. Stay away from lunchmeats, soft cheeses, only eat chocolate in moderation.

I have not figured out how to get rid of the numbness, but is usually doesn't last too long. At least with all the pre symptoms, I can take my meds right away.

Hope this helps. Stress is definitely a huge factor and something you cannot always control.

[Jeff]

Migraines are tough Mel. My daughter gets them. She actually had her first one while we were at WDW once.

Anyhow. She is also an Imitrex taker. If she gets it down when she sees the aura it works pretty good.

Good luck!

[Fangorn]

Mel, sorry to hear about the migraines. I feel your pain too. Mine come on every 3 weeks and last for 3 days. At one point, I could actually mark out those days on the calendar, and even give you a four-hour window of the onset. My neurologist tried everything EXCEPT the triptans - he was very old school and felt they were too dangerous. There wasn't a pain reliever out there that even touched the pain. And that include shots of morphine.

(Sidebar on the morphine - I remember one particularly bad episode where the doctor upped the dosage in hopes it would work. I remember sitting on the couch thinking "you know, my head still hurts just as much, but I don't really care")

Finally, after 4 years of this (including the amitriptyline) he relented and gave me the lowest dose of Imitrex and told me to only take half of it. The next incident came, the Imitex went in my mouth and the headache was "gone" in 15 minutes.

It's never worked that fast or with such a low dose again, but it still works. I've tried some of the others, including Maxalt, but for me, they don't work nearly as well. Thankfully, the generics came out last year - $3/pill is a whole lot better than $20/pill

Also, for me, the migraine doesn't really go away, even with the meds. I can still feel the incident happening, but with the Imitrex, the pain is 99% gone and I can function normally. It still takes 3 days to completely go away, but with an Imitrex every 18-24 hours, I can go about life.

Adding the Aleve to Imitrex does seem to help, but not a whole lot. I actually find Excedrin Migraine to help me much more.

Hope your get some relief.

Steve

[Lacy]

I read your post and totally feel for you. I went through the same thing when I learned that Midrin was discontinued. It is the only thing that works for me. The others that I have tried either make me very loopy beyond the point of comprehension (I believe this was Maxalt) and still got very sick or had no affect (Topomax).

After doing A LOT of research on the internet I found out that compounding pharmacies will still make midrin. But you have to get your doctor to write a compounding prescription and these type of pharmacies are not everywhere. I worked with my doctor and we decided that this was the best option for me so I was able to get a refill. This was such a relief for me! I felt like I had my life back. I was previously not taking the midrin when I should have because I was saving it for a bad one and was getting them quite often.

[azdisneymom]

So sorry about your Migraines. No fun at all. I never had them bad enough to seek help. I have learned to recognize the symptoms as they start (aura for me). A good friend who has suffered terribly suggested tiger balm ointment. If you rub it on your temple as soon as you think one is starting it helps long enough for the meds to kick in. It has a strong, unpleasant smell but works. Many people I work with now use it. Best wishes.

[Melanie]

Hope you get your orders soon and that you aren't sent to the middle of no where.

Was reading back through here and had to giggle remembering where you live. So hoping we don't go to Jacksonville?

Seriously though, we spent 7 lovely years at Lejeune, and both my boys were born there, but now I think we'd die going back. We've lived too many places now with so much to do right at our fingertips. Yes, we are SPOILED! At least Wilmington is getting baseball now though.

I can't thank you all enough for your suggestions and experiences. I hate so many of you suffer as well. Looking to find what works for me.

[BrerGnat]

Seriously though, we spent 7 lovely years at Lejeune, and both my boys were born there, but now I think we'd die going back. We've lived too many places now with so much to do right at our fingertips. Yes, we are SPOILED!

How do you think we feel? VA is NOT as "great" as everyone told me it was going to be.

I feel like suing the Marine Corps for emotional distress related to leaving Southern California after THEY made us live there for 10 years!

[DisneyDog]

I have had a prescription for Fiorcet for a few years. I've never taken anything else for migraines. I have high bp, and I take 2 prescriptions for that, one is a diuretic. My body cannot get rid of my salts fast enough on it's own. I find that mostly, I get migraines at "that time of the month" but I also get them if I have very salty foods. For example, if I go to the movies and have popcorn and a soda, I almost always leave with a migraine. My doctor told me to take the Fiorcet at the very first moment I notice my migraine. I have become very in tune with my symptoms. The Fiorcet does a great job of stopping my migraines in its tracks, but I have to take it very quickly. If you wait too long, it won't work. Actually, if I go to the movies and decide to have popcorn, I will just go ahead and take the pill right before the movie starts to help me avoid the migraine.

Recently, I have changed my diet. I really think about how much sodium is in something before I eat it. I try to avoid those foods and eat lots of extra fruits and veggies. I find that I have far fewer migraines and I have lost 13 pounds. So, I can't complain

[diz_girl]

How do you think we feel? VA is NOT as "great" as everyone told me it was going to be.

I feel like suing the Marine Corps for emotional distress related to leaving Southern California after THEY made us live there for 10 years!

I don't know how you military families do it. Our base closed and our (DH's and mine) jobs transferred to MD, so we followed our jobs and I'm just miserable here. We have two small children and this will be our home now, but I hate it here. People bash NJ, but it's a great place to live. We used to live by the ocean with everything only five minutes away, good schools, a great park system, culture, and excellent restaurants. Now, Bugtussle. Maybe the move is part of the reason for the migraines, but I can't imagine doing being uprooted like this every couple of years.

Mel - given what your husband does in the marine Corps (I don't know, but you don't need to mention it) is there any inkling where you may go? Does your DH get to put in preferences? Maybe they'll send you to Hawaii.

[SBETigg]

I was just following Mel's AK tweets at Twitter and thinking how much I would miss living close enough to just pop over to a park and enjoy a slow, low-crowd afternoon. If I was ever so lucky to enjoy that situation in the first place. Moving to FL is not in the cards for us, but I think that would be fun. But there are new, fun things to discover in other places, too. Wishing you all the best, Melanie.

And yes, Amanda, NJ is a pretty great place to live. I have family and friends there, and I prefer MA and CT, but NJ has a lot of great things to offer, too. My daughter is in college in NJ and she loves it. I hope you can get back, or maybe find new reasons to love where you are. Sorry, off topic.