Week 11 of migraine

Well here I am week 11 of this horrid migraine. The trigger point injections I got didnt work. The topamax hasn't had time to work yet but it can't really prevent a M when I already have one can it?

My insurance agreed to pay for Botox, just waiting to get started. It's my last hope. My MRI came back normal. My brain may look normal but I know it's far from feeling that way.

I have been taking lortabs for the past week or so for pain related to possible endometriosis and my ovaries. My neuro told me I would have to take for at least 3 weeks before I would be able to tell that it would make my M worse. WRONG!!! I could tell within a couple of hours.

My daily pain is still a 10 and is still spiking at least twice a day everyday. I have found some triggers that cause the spikes unfortunately some can't be avoided.

Still having the severe nausea. The vomitting is not as severe as it was but is still daily. I ha e completely changed my diet and now eat very limited variety of items that I know don't either make me sick or cause M to spike.

Going to my first biofeedback appt tomorrow. Was going to cancel it but thought I would give it a try. I go to my general doc this week too. Gonna discuss possibility of having fibro and possibly having lupus.

Still struggling at work. I may be let go in July if I can't get this under control. I am logged into a phone to take calls and everytime I have to run to bathroom sick at my stomach it counts against me. It is causing me to lose my job. That or fact that because of M there are times that my mind is completely blank for several minutes and I have at times forgotten where I was and what I'm doing. Pretty scary.

I don't like driving with M but I can't depend on my mom and brother to do it so I have to. The other day I had some errands to run and was driving down a road near my house I have driven down for years. I have lived in same house since 1988.

I suddenly had no idea where I was, what I was doing, where I was going, or why I was driving. I have been having some strange symptoms lately due to my M and this is just another one. I am scared to drive now so I have a notebook in the car and I write down where I am going before I leave home in case it happens again.

Just thought I would give an update. Hope everyone is doing well.

So sorry you are having such a tough long one right now. I came through a 3 week migraine about 2 months ago and was exhausted and frustrated and depressed. I can imagine how you might be feeling now.

I know that when I started a preventative after my daughter was born I was in such a mess with my migraines that it didn't seem to be working. When I finally got some relief I don't know if it was the preventative starting to work or just the end of that cycle of migraine.

It sounds like you are doing so much to help yourself. I hope you find some relief soon.

Jo

Thanks. I am pretty depressed right now and that's another discussion I will be having with the doctor. My life consists of forcing myself to get out of bed to go to work just so I can keep my insurance. And when I get off work I come home and go straight back to bed. Very little contact with outside world other than work and ocassional trip to store. Definitely no fun.

I am so sorry for this bad spell.

1) Side-effects of lupron.
As far as I know, side-effects of any drug are stronger in the beginning and then tend to decrease/disappear after 3/4 weeks. Maybe you should discuss about this with another doctor.

2) Topomax, like any other preventative, needs a while before it begins to actually bring benefits. I think that, again, in the beginning it gives mainly side-effects rather than help. Maybe you should give it a chance. I have never tried Topomax, but I know that it takes a while before it works on migraine prevention

3) Food triggers: it's very difficult to detect the triggers for each individual, but there are some foods that seem to be poison for most migraine sufferers. These are: aged cheese, citrus, chocolate, onion, wine, nuts. It's worth trying to eliminate them as a first rescue remedy, but don't expect miracles...

4) Memory loss and temporary amnesia. You said that you vomit daily. This might cause dehydration in your body. Dehydration can cause hallucinations, fainting, memory issues...So try to stay hydrated. I know that with nausea and vomit it's quite difficult to drink, but maybe you could try with ginger drinks. They help a lot with nausea and keep you hydrated at the same time.

I wish I could be more helpful...
I sincerely hope that this horrible pain will soon ease, no one deserves such a life, especially a young girl

Take care

Oh Becky,

Feel for you girl. I'm still in h e l l as well but it's totally due to the wacky weather. Few thoughts.

1 - Topomax can mess with your stomach. Try taking a Tums or two and then talk to your doctor about something stronger if that doesn't help. I was only on 15 mg last week and it hurt my stomach so bad it was interfering with my sleep. Tums help a bit and I have some omeprazole that gets rid of the worst of it. Just something to try. I totally get it. And my compazine did squat with it.

2 - The lortabs - I know you don't tolerate pain meds well and endo is totally miserable. Sorry that it's made the M worse. One thing you could do is to use warm towels to put on the area (not sure if it bugs you in the front or back) - it won't get rid of it but it might help to ease the muscle tension. I'd consider doing the lupron as you can - it won't get rid of it immediately but you will start to feel better sooner (well minus the hormonal issues - just think PMS cranky but no pain).

Me - I had a decent day yesterday. Got a lot done but as I was still working away at 8 pm last night I had a sneaking feeling today would be bad. I get into a "nesting" mode right before a worse one hits. I wasn't far off ...brushing my teeth this morning and I almost puked - the taste of the toothpaste almost sent me over the edge. Lovely. I know it gets old - I'm at level 5 or 6 every day which doesn't compare to yours but it's so hard...

Hang in there!

Becky

I've been on the topamax for almost 5 weeks now and I know the doc said it would take a while to work. I was on it couple years ago and it worked for a while but my body built a resistance to it as my body seems to do eventually with any med I find that works.

We decided to try again. I have had stomach issues for long before the topamax. Inherited yet another thing from my dad. My gastro doc has me on omeprazole and sucralfate but I can't tell a difference after being on them for several months.

The sucralfate coats my stomach and is supposed to keep me from getting as nauseous. Didn't work. Actually made me sick. And it kept my other meds from being absorbed. If and when I take it now it doesn't stay down so I usually don't bother with it anymore.

Sprite and ginger ale is my best friend. I'm not a fan of plain Ginger ale though so I add lime sherbet, make it into punch and the Ginger ale and the cold seems to soothe my stomach some. I can tell that the stomach issues have gotten worse since starting the topamax but if it will help with M I will suffer other side effects.

I called gyno today about starting lupron. She has to get my insurance to approve it and get it ordered. I have an appointment next tuesday and she seemed pretty confident I would be able to get my first shot then. If not then it will be the following week.

I seem to get hyper before I have a spike in pain. I guess a high before the low. Happens even when I already have existing M. Happened last week. In excrutiating pain already and I couldn't sit still, I put on my sunglasses and hat and went shopping which normally I hate doing with a M. The next day I stayed curled up in a ball on couch with my head covered.

Yes brushing my teeth. It never bothers me at night but in the morning the toothpaste makes me sick everytime. I usually have a spike in pain when I wake up and with those spikes in pain come the lovely puking spells. I guess that's why the toothpaste doesn't set well. Funny how they say peppermint is supposed to soothe your stomach and I'm not even swallowing it!!

Hope yours doesn't get too bad today.

((((((Tngrl83))))))) Sending you my prayers. I so wish I could do more.

Angela

Just wanted to drop by real quick and say that my doc did some blood work the other day for lupus and rhuematoid stuff and everything came back normal!! We can cross that off the list of worries.

Still trying to figure out what's causing some other problems so the mystery continues as does the M. Starting WEEK 12. Three months of this pain is crazy.

We had a thunderstorm come through yesterday and of course my pain spiked. The pain chart only goes to 10 and most people don't understand when I tell them I'm at a 10 everyday and the spikes go above that. Oh well.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and a great holiday weekend here in the US!! I will be working