Emergency Room

I am so frustrated I hope this doesn't seem whiney. I woke up around midnight with a headache, just sort of stuffy feeling and put the window up a bit to get some air. Woke up again around 2AM and realized I should take something, so I used the imitrex injectible and went back to bed. It seemed to be easing up, but around 4 Am I had to inject again and by 10 AM I was unable to hold my head up, it hurt so badly. I ended up going to the ER and cam home better but not cured and stayed in bed 'til 5PM, when I felt much better.
I am grateful for feeling better and a bit peeved at losing a whole weekend day before Christmas. Our tree is still in a bucket on the porch, no cards written, no cookies baked.... I went to work twice this week after waking up with Migraines and I am feeling really beaten up.
I started seeing a Neurologist last month and am on nortriptyline (sp) increasing the dose weekly from 10mg to 50 I'm at 30 now, but seeing no results. I tried Topamax this summer and it stopped the headaches completely, but the side effect were terrible (hair falling out in handfuls - which the Neuro said wasn't the Topamax??, suicidal thoughts and a constantly burning stomach). I have low blood pressure and the beta-blockers don't work for me BLAAAH... I am also taking MigRelief(feverfew, b vitamin and magnesium) which may or may not be helping. I have been taking it for about three months and don't see a big difference or even a small one There are so many variable it is difficult to tease out what works and what doesn't.
I wish I could find something that worked like Topamax without the crazy side effects.
I drive an hour each way to work as a teacher and I have to have energy and be able to think clearly, but I feel like a wrung out dishcloth. I sometimes get 5 and 6 migraines a week. Not the ER style, but enough to really be debilitating when you add it all up. Thank you all for listening, I really appreciate it.
Shirley

I really feel for you and wish I had some advice. I'm not sure how long you've been suffering from migraines for, but don't give up, keep trying different medications, you may just come across something that works for you.

Hope you feel better soon. It's awful when you have so much to do especially this time of year, and your head won't let you get things done.

{{{{{Hugs}}}}}

I really appreciate it. I have been getting migraines since I was about 7 or 8. They really started getting out of control about 5 years ago. It has been a real struggle the past few years. I hope the nortriptyline will help soon. Thanks you for responding.

Sorry you have been suffering. What did the ER give you? Is it something your neurologist can give you, too?

I am on topamax and nortriptyline together, and it has been working pretty well. I had to give the topamax side effects time to wear off/get used to them. Now it's pretty much like I'm not even taking it.

Hope you feel better soon.

I feel like a great big whiner after reading your blog. The ER gave me Toradol and Fiuricet when I went home. I would love to take Topamax, but my hair was falling out and I felt suicidal and I couldn't eat, my stomach hurt so badly. It was crummy. I hope this new med works soon. I hope you are feeling well. Is it warm there? It is really chilly here in Maine.

Ah, toradol and fioricet, a splendid combination. Glad it helped.

Yes, it is warm here. In fact my kids ran through the sprinklers Sunday afternoon.

Thanks for the comments on the blog. I plan to continue, when the inspiration strikes.

We are all here to support each other, go ahead and share your concerns and ask your questions.

I'm a new poster here, but I have been seeing a neurologist since July and she put me on Zonegran. I tried Topomax before and had horrible side effects. I have had no side effects from the zonegran other than I don't have migraines every day. I also take verapamil and the combination has been miraculous for me. You might ask your neurologist about the zonegran.

Big Shirley~
Our stories are so similar. I was at Urgent Care on Sunday too. I got Toradol and Reglan for nausea. It did help, alot.

I am on 75mg Topamax and it does help some, but like you, I am still getting the migraines. They come in waves. I'll have a decent stretch of maybe 10 days without any, and then once I get one, I'll struggle for another 10 days with almost one a day or feel like I'm on the edge of getting one.

I too have had the migraines for many years and they got worse about 5-6 years about, just before I turned 40. Hormones are a huge culprit, but I get them at other times during my cycle so that doesn't explain all of it.

I really hope you find something that helps. This disease is so hard to manage sometimes. We have to be so gentle and easy on ourselves and try not to get bummed out when we cannot get eveything done. That is a very difficult thing for me to accept.

Hang in there.

Sadly Zonegran (zonasamide) made me allergic to everything (chronic rhinitis). Coughing and stuffy like crazy. I had to get rid of any feather pillows or blankets, could not be near anyone wearing perfume or scented lotions, I could not even sleep in the same bed with my husband. Finally got him anti-allergenic shaving cream and deodorant as that was all the products he used. Once I stopped the Zonasamide, the problems all stopped. I wish there was something that didn't have so many side effects. It's just weird being like this.

But there seems to be at least one thing that works for everyone, so keep trying.

I cringe every time I see the topic "Emergency Room." The last time I went to the ER with a migraine they put me into a dark office off the waiting room to get me away from the florescent lights. I was wearing sleep pants, sweatshirt and my head was wrapped in a towel to avoid the lights. I was wrapped around a small trash can to catch the vomit.

I heard a voice at the door say "Don't worry Mrs. Johnson, we'll have that out of you in no time." I couldn't move. I could only wish that my body didn't have whatever Mrs. Johnson needed removed! I later learned that my mom (who took me to the hospital) "corrected" the nurse.

I think that was 1992 and I've not been back! I can sit in a dark room clutching a trash can all on my own without the additional worry of having anything removed.

i'm with you, riverside kid; am never ever going back to the ER. (it's good you consider yourself a kid; me too, although i am now the enormously huge age of 70).

time is the only thing that makes me feel better with the twice/year killer migraines. i've had every drug in the history of the world in the ER, and none help except very temporarily. when i get home, all the pain comes slamming back, and worse, because i throw up so much from the narcotics. so, done with that scenario.

but here's a little positive note.......in my 41-year history of migraines, several years ago they were putting me to bed, non-functional, as often as every 3 weeks! since i changed my diet very drastically, to all-natural food, (i.e.: without added chemicals, not necessarily organic), they are "only" about twice/year.

now, though, i have them every single day, but they are bearable with my triptan habit. yes, i take a huge amount of them, maxalt and amerge, but i would have very little quality of life, if i didn't. neurologists are worthless, imho, and so are most other doctors. it's so rare to find one who actually cares......dianne

I have toridal vials and needles at home. Keeps me out of E.R. maybe your neuro will write you a script for it. works great with an imitrex then go to bed, wake up pretty refreshed.

I also just started on something new to me anyway, Klonopin, generic: clonazepm. so far so good! I break a 0.5 tab in 1/2 and take twice a day.

Just some suggetions, e.r. can really stink. Last time I went I got 2 rounds of morphine. Melted my head!

I heard a voice at the door say "Don't worry Mrs. Johnson, we'll have that out of you in no time." I couldn't move. I could only wish that my body didn't have whatever Mrs. Johnson needed removed! .

Great story! Thanks for the laugh

I only wish it weren't so true.

Shirley - your doctor is wrong about the Topamax. The side effects can be horrendous. I also quit taking it. The only way you could bet me back on it is if it cured the migraines altogether. But it doesn't. I had one of the worst migraines ever while on it. I know how you feel. I get that overwhelmed feeling when I get them also and mine are mostly manageable. When they aren't though, you are completely useless and disabled. Hope you are feeling better.

Thank you for the advice and support. It sure is nice to talk to people who understand. I have been better since Saturday's episode. I am having weird pains that come and go in the back of my head the past few days. Don't know what that is, but it's better than the migraines!
I am sure the Doc was wrong about the Topamax side effects. I showed my husband how my hair was falling out in hand-fulls and had to call him one day and say I was afraid to be home alone (we have a swimming pool). Scary stuff.
I see the neuro again on the 21st and I will ask about the Zonegran (sp?). The nortriptyline may or may not be working I can't tell now. This is the longest I have gone without a migraine in months!

shirley, ask your neuro next time about occipital neuralgia, if the back-of-head pain continues.

there are actual treatments for this that actually work for some people.

it's fantastic that you have gone so long w/o a M. when i have the really bad ones, (41 years now....) i always think that this HAS TO BE the very last one. i couldn't possibly, i think, live thru another one. yet i do and we all do. dianne