sappatoti
Posts: 14844
Joined: 10/30/2006 From: the edge of darkness... Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: nursygirl Demerol doesn't actually do a lot for the migraine itself - it just makes you feel good. Morphine is a bit more selective in the painpaths that it blocks. That is the reason for all those other drugs first - the anti-nausiant, the anti-histamines, the non-narcotic pain killers, the steriods. They all work on different pathways. Sometimes a dose of a few of them will be repeated. And now these days Fentynyl is by far preferred over morphine. At least it worked on me! My last taste of a medicinal treatment was 18 months ago. I could not tolerate the side effects of that pain prevention treatment and thus far, there is no other drug in that particular class of medication that will help reduce or prevent the symptoms of complex migraines. So, I've been trying to deal with my situation via lifestyle changes, but only with very limited success. The only reason I get morphine in the ER is if I'm brought in with stroke symptoms. I'm extremely claustrophobic and cannot get into an MRI without being sedated in some way. Morphine is in my medical records as a proven drug that's well tolerated and works quickly enough in order to get the MRI done within the time needed to see if a stroke is indeed happening. If it weren't for the MRI, I would not receive any sort of medication at all. As it is right now, the docs are calling my diagnosis "complex migraine/TIA/stroke" syndrome. Because of the "complex migraine" portion of that diagnosis, the usual arsenal of classic migraine medications are contraindicated (according to the local neurologists), so triptans and the like are immediately dismissed. What's left behind are a number of anti-seizure medications which, as resulted by past experience, my body has severe reactions with. At present, my only recourse is lifestyle changes and to deal with the syndrome as best as I can. That and an enteric-coated 325mg aspirin each day -- on the outside chance that my syndrome may actually be stroke related after all.
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Never mind the man on the edge of the darkness... he means no harm... "Community, Identity, Stability." ~ A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932 If you don't like my attitude, QUIT TALKING TO ME!
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