Saturday, July 2, 2011

End of My Rope

I first wanted to thank you all for your anniversary love. And to those that just had one, or are about to celebrate one....Happy Anniversary to you!!  At your request, and at your boycott request *Andrea*  I was going to post wedding pictures the night of, but was struck down by the worst migraine I have ever had :o(( Needless to say, our anniversary ended up being a dud! We had a great day at the lake, but then we were unable to go out to dinner, and I went to bed at about 8pm.

I live my life in the grips of headache after headache, and this is why I am at the end of my rope!  I am hoping for some advice in this area. If you have any information, I would greatly appreciate it.

The History of the Horrible Headaches

I have been getting migraines for the past 18 years, that is half of my entire life ;o( I used to just grin and bear it until it subsided. I began keeping a food journal to see if there was something specific triggering each headache. I did not find any pattern other than, sometimes alcohol. So, I have quit drinking, on and off, and have not seen much difference.

I then began taking Imitrex pills, which caused my headache to laugh. I took higher doses, my head laughed harder. I tried Imitrex spray, and that did not work either. I then was on Maxalt, and had horrible chest pain, so I had to stop those immediately.

My headaches became worse, and worse. I was then prescribed Imitrex injections. At first, they were a dream come true. I would do a shot, and within 5 minutes I would be on my merry way.  Over time, I would have to do two, and three, and many times the headache would still be there.

At one time, I was going to acupuncture to get pregnant. His specialty was actually headaches. One day, I had such a severe migraine, that I called and told him I could not make the drive. They urged me to come in, telling me that my Imitrex shots could give me a heart attack, and they could solve it immediately.  The drive over was horrible. I made it though, and became a mystery to him, because he actually made it a million times worse, and I had to come home and do shot, after shot. Needless to say, I stopped pouring money into that avenue.

I had a CT scan in the meantime, and all was fine. I had been putting off a daily medication forever. I do not like the idea of taking a pill everyday, and wanted to actually solve it through something holistic.  I did fill the Topamax prescription, but only ended up taking about 5. They reside in my cabinet still.

I have had a handful of hardest hitting migraines in my 18 years, and the one I had the night of our anniversary took the cake, literally! It was the worst I ever experienced. It came on slowly, the night before. I am always leery to do my shots, based on the 'death factor' so against the 'take at onset' recommendation, I wait. I went to bed early, and woke up with the same slight headache. I wasn't going to baby it as I normally would, because Dave had taken the day off, and it was our anniversary. I went to the lake anyway. I was okay, but once home, it smacked me upside the head. It was horrific.

I did a shot. I did a second shot in the morning, and in my agonizing pain, had a lapse in rational thinking, and accidentally did a third shot 12 hours too early. I called Kaiser thinking I was going to die, and they said to monitor myself for the next 12 hours. If I had any heart related symptoms, I needed to come into the ER immediately. Wouldn't you think the prize for shooting yourself in the arm three times in under 12 hours would be a headache free day? Not so, yesterday was bad, all day long. Today, it's still there, but not half as bad ;o(

Here is my current plan of attack...I have not been drinking alcohol for many, many months. I am going to get back to juicing. I will make time to juice every other day. I am going to get my hormone levels checked. I have extensively researched getting my four remaining silver fillings out by a mercury free dentist, and once again, I am going to keep a detailed food journal, to see if there is anything new.

I know this was long winded, but I feel I had to tell the whole story in order to get help. I am so D.O.N.E with headaches, and I just want to live without them!!

Any help, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am more desperate than ever to get rid of these things.

Thank you!

21 comments:

  1. I feel your pain Jen. I get horrible migraine and headaches too although not quit as bad as how yours sound. I can usually tell when a headache has turned into a migraine that will not go away for a couple of days and now I take Amerge. I LOVE Amerge! I don't know if it would work for you as yours seen more severe but it is worth a try. They make a generic pill now so it is not as expensive. My Insurance doesn't cover it but as you can relate it is worth everything to take the pain away.

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  2. Sorry for the typos. I'm doing this on my phone. :-)

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  3. Oh man, I'm so sorry. Trina used to get horrible migraines a few times a month that would send her to bed for a day. She always used to get them but noticed they got worse and more frequent after she got pregnant with Asa, I don't know if the hormones had something to do with it or not. Nothing worked with her. I'm very very lucky in that I only get normal headaches a few times a week and Fioricet (sp?) works with them, I know it doesn't work with migraines. I'm so so sorry, I've seen how debilitating it can be. I hope you get some rest..... and get around to posting wedding pictures!!! Love you dearly, hope you have a not so crappy holiday (you know what I mean ☺ )

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  4. Have you tried an herbal supplement called Feverfew? It has been helpful to one of my friends for migraines.

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  5. Hey. I would highly recommend trying the topamax. I used to have extremely terrible headaches all the time and this was the only thing that worked after trying a million different things for years. I found that you have to let it build up to work, I used it regularly for about 2 weeks before I saw any results. If you already have it,I would really try to it out for a couple weeks. You will start out with some weird side effects, but nothing too bad and they all go away once you get used to it. I worked with it after a while and I'm on a much lower dose then I was originally and headache free! I would really try it, trust me, I've tried everything else.

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  6. I second the Topomax (or if that bothers you another anti-seizure med that will help migraines). Other than that, insist...like refuse to leave a doctor's office if you have had a non-stop migraine for over 72 hours that you want a spinal tap done. Too much spinal fluid will result in a very bad headache that mimics a brain tumor.

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  7. I take Topamax, wonder drug. Fran It's not a barbituate. Somehow people think taking a drug everyday is bad, think of it as life saving. People take Zocor or blood pressure pills every day, they are life saving, Topamax could save you from headaches every day. Misconceptions about medications, that was my job. Take it from a retired pharmaceutical rep., Topamax could save your life too. Fran Topamax vs. another 18 yrs., seems a clear choice to me.

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  8. Have you tried a natural progesterone cream? We women tend to have unbalanced hormones - I've heard the natural progesterone creams can help with migraines. I'll try to see if I can find information on that...

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  9. I am SO sorry. I've gotten them since I was twelve, and it is miserable. It might be worth looking into muscle tension, too. That is easy enough to check. I tried the Imitrex shots, but they made me feel like I was going to pass out. The dang injection pens hurt worse than a regular needle and syringe, too. Another option you might want to try if you haven't already is chiropractic. It doesn't get rid of the headaches, but it helps for me. Most of the Kaiser plans cover it, too.

    Hope you feel better soon!

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  10. I don't know if it would help but I have heard of it causing different issues with different people but try giving up wheat. It is very hard to do and you have to look close at labels but I feel 1000x's better when I give it up.

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  11. I get horrible migraines as well. I've been trying the supplement Migravent for a few months now with EXCELLENT results. It's only available online and I take 2 a day. Worth a shot to see if it might work for you too.

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  12. Those sound horrible! My husband gets them - he was up to 3-4 a week. Fortunately, Imitrex and Maxalt work for him, but our insurance covers oly 9 pills a month. What a joke. Anyway, he also tried topamax, and acupuncture with no results. This january he started chiropratic, covered by our insurance even! He went every other day at first and weaned down to now 1 a month. He went from migraines every other day to migraines 1 time a week. Its worth a shot!!

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  13. My mother-in-law also suffered from migraines. Not sure how often she would get them, or if she still has one now and then or not. But I do know that she started going to a chiropractor a number of years ago, and that really has helped. I can't tell you if it's eliminated them entirely, but I know she has had great results. I haven't seen her in her sunglasses in the house, as I used to at least once a month in the past.

    I surely hope you can find relief.
    Nancy in the Midwest

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  14. I'm so sorry you have to deal with those migraines! My former coworker used to get them and would have to soak her hands in hot (as hot as you can stand) water to get rid of them. I thought it sounded so weird but it was something to do with blood restriction or blood flow or something. Took her pain away. Thought I would mention it. Hope you find relief soon!!!

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  15. I feel so bad that you get migraines! I don't have any advice, but I hope that you find a cure soon! Poor thing! :(

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  16. When reading this, I initially thought, "That is horrible, but I don't have any experience and have no advice." But after reading Katrina's comment, I wanted to let you know that I routinely use progesterone cream (my sister, a DC recommended it) for extraordinarily heavy and very painful menstruation. It has made a HUGE difference. Carmen had gall stones and my sis insisted she get on the cream too, because gall stones are also somehow related to hormones. And as Katrina said, many of us have hormone imbalances. I say it's worth a try. It is pretty inexpensive (~$35 per bottle that lasts months) and it has made a huge difference for me. Also, it absolutely cannot hurt. xoxo sorry about your noggin.
    -Fi's mama

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  17. I've had headaches for 20 years with no successful treatment. Tried everything! Headaches everyday. Started topamax about 8 months ago. The side effects the first few weeks were freaky, but ALL went away. I would say it helped by 75% which was huge for me. I take fioricet for breakthrough headaches especially during/near my cycle. I've only had one throw up headache in 8 months versus every week. Wonder drug for me.

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  18. I never wanted to be on medication either, but got desperate and tried some things with horrible side effects. My gyn then figured I probably had hormone problems and I take Jolessa birth control which helped immensely and have seen a chiropractor which has also helped.

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  19. hey sweet girl. look into gluten intolerance and migraines. it's not always the answer but i've seen remarkable results with some patients. i have other ideas too. shoot me an email to remind me and i can call or email you some ideas and more info about the above. xo samantha leigh

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  20. first happy (belated) anniversary....second ~ sorry i have no magic cures for migranes. i have had a few dibiliatating ones over the years (mostly sun induced) but nothing like you have described.

    i hope you can find a cause and a treatment.....you should not have to live this way :(

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  21. I've suffered from Migraines for about 20 years. I was recently put on blood pressure medication (although my blood pressure is low) and it has worked great)

    BUT the best thing I've done is researched and tried BOTOX!! it has taken me from 5-6 migraines/week to 1. The FDA recently approved BOTOX for prevention of migraine use and the results of the studies are remarkable! I am so happy with it and soon will be weaning off all my other drugs - topomax, enderol, etc.

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