Another despondent Brit!

Hal wrote:Isn't Triptan what Turkey has in it? I think I will just start eating a nice Turkey sandwich with mayo, lettuce and tomato or two followed by a cold coke.

Hal

You're thinking of L-Triptophan, an amino acid that is found in turkey and milk that has been heated. It's a very safe and effective sleep aid and many people use it to treat clinical depression. I have read of several other uses for it but can't remember them right now.

I know my migraines are 90% anxiety and 10% hormones. So anything that treats anxiety tends to help with the migraines too.

I have tried various anti depressants over time as preventatives for migraine, but they didn't do anything at all. Neither for migraine nor for depression. I went to my private GP once for a whinge and a moan and he told me about a patient of his who told him that her migraines were helped by Cipralex (escitalopram). It is an antidepressant sepcifically designed for anxiety. He prescribed it and it did work very well for some time. Side effects are minimal, compared to Ami. (I lost a bit of weight on it). Unfortunately my migraines found a way around it after a couple of months, but at least it gave me a blissfull summer with minimal headaches a couple of years ago.

Go and pester your GP to prescribe it. It can't hurt. I started with 10mg and went up to 20mg a day. I am still on it, because I like the anti anxiety effect. I am much better at dealing with the headaches, I am not constantly in floods of tears, and nothing really faces me anymore. I am an island of calm in a stormy sea ;o)

Good luck

Petzi

Thanks, I've made a note of that. Although my migraines started life as hormonal, they evolved into CDH but are always made worse by stress. When I'm on holiday, the migraines are invariably better, even the menstrual ones. If only life were one long holiday

Liz

OK, this is going to sound naive and stupid, but how do you know regarding the anxiety/stress please?
I have no idea ,I do not feel stressed, never have.
My anxieties are mainly weird symptoms that no one will explain for me.

How do I know and what do i do?

P

Pen,

Here is a thought; if you do not feel stressed or anxious, then the headache probably is not caused by either. Once in awhile, I allow myself to get really stressed. Such as when some jerk drives into the back of my truck and never puts the breaks on. That really sets me off and I always end up with a migraine.

Hal

I have been anxious for as long as I can think. At 7 I was struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and as a teenager I developed Bulimia. Both conditions are manifestations of anxiety.

Luckily I have grown out of these conditions by now, but a general anxiety and overwhelming sense of dread remained until I found a solution with the Cipralex.

For a long time I was not aware that I am anxious. For me it was the normal modus operandi to have symptoms like palpitations, feeling stressed out in social situations, excessive sweating and always worrying and expecting the worst case scenario, but I guess the older one gets the more self aware one gets too.

When you have a nightmare or stressful dream and you wake up with a migraine as a result it is a good indicator that anxiety is a contributor to your migraines.

Stay chilled!

P

Petzi,

WOW! That sounds just like me. All of my life I have had nightmares. Some I have understood and others are really wierd, like people trying to kill me and succeeding. Those are really bad. It seems that I am always waking up with a bad migraine. Another prevalant horror film is dreaming about a post nuked WWIII.

Hal

Hal,

my favorite migraine inducing dream is a massive tsunami approaching on the horizon and I am rooted to the ground and just cannot escape ....

P.