RE: Migraine Medications (Full Version)

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Hansbrink51 -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 4:47:03 PM)

Kitten,
I understand.  I went to a chiropractor, did acupuncture, tried hypnosis, changed my diet, cut out sodas completely.  Everything I could do the month before I did the Botox.  But I wanted to get out of the dark room that I was in for 7 months and get back to work more than anything else.  Now 4 years later, I am off the botox completely!  I went through a Headache Clinic too.



xoxkittenxox -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 4:48:57 PM)

I dunno... I'll look into Botox... It just frightens me. I'm freakin' 19 and getting botox shots? Great.



BossyShoeBitch -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 5:14:52 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: xoxkittenxox

I stretch regularly, medium to light workouts. Don't do yoga. Been to a chiropractor once but they could find nothing wrong. They certainly do help. They have been my only help.

Don't you think you have hit on something there then? If going to a chiropractor was your only help, why on earth did you only go once?
Going to the Chiropractor is salvation to me when I have a migraine and I feel yoga is an extension of that salvation. When I combine regular chiropractic visits with regular Yoga classes, I sleep better, I have more energy, I have much less headaches, I just feel better all around.

quote:

After these damn migraines are gone, I can't wait to quit smoking, though.

I don't understand what you mean by this? You are excited to quit smoking but find you can't do that until the migraines are cured?

quote:

No problems with my blood sugar. I can go days without eating and I can eat a lot in one day and I feel no different. I drink TONS of water.

The reason I asked about blood sugar is because of the fact that you wake up with migraines every day and since your blood sugar levels are highest when you are sleeping, it made me wonder what you are eating in the hours leading up to your falling asleep.

I'm hoping you are just using extreme examples and that your daily nutrition habits fall into the more normal distribution. (heh.. I said normal.. wtf was that? lol)

quote:

I've been thinking about Botox but its just more shit going into my body that I would prefer not to have there.

Understandable.

quote:

Right now, I don't have a mattress. I use a few pillows. My primary pillow is one of those tempurpedic things.... Another is a soft down and the last is a regular firm pillow. Each serves different purposes. Firm under my hips, down between my legs, and primary under my head. I sleep on my side, on the floor, right now. I don't wake up sore, though. I don't toss and turn.

Really? How long have you been sleeping like this?




Rule -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 5:46:14 PM)

FR: Maybe a weird question, but is there dust where you sleep?



xoxkittenxox -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 5:48:24 PM)

Okay, I think some of that first post got erased and that affected your second question. Okay... Chiropractor didn't help. Cigarettes and coffee help. Which means, I am not quitting til I figure out how to manage without them. They are my only help. Chiropractor did nothing but touch my back.

I've only slept like that for one night so far, gonna be a few more...

Usually, my diet is a little... Weird. Its healthy when I do eat, but, I normally do not eat. Some days, I'm dying of hunger. I eat three meals. Other days, I am sickened by the smell, taste, touch, thought of food and I just want to PUKE.
I blame the migraines for this "eating disorder".




thornhappy -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 5:57:37 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule

Your migraine may be caused by a herpes virus.

Hi Rule--

They aren't caused by herpes viruses...



BossyShoeBitch -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:00:29 PM)

It may be that cigarettes and coffee both help you because nicotine and caffeine are both stimulants.

You have CM mail from me...



BossyShoeBitch -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:04:01 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: thornhappy

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rule

Your migraine may be caused by a herpes virus.

Hi Rule--

They aren't caused by herpes viruses...




Yeah, I read that and was like Wtf??



thornhappy -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:05:37 PM)

Using the "lightweight" stuff like Excedrin, Tylenol, and Ibuprofen a lot can lead to continuous migraine headaches due to rebound.  Naprosyn (Alleve) is the only one to not cause rebound headaches...



Rule -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:14:41 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: thornhappy
They aren't caused by herpes viruses...

Yes, I know. I read her post in which she asserted not to have any herpes virus. That does not alter the fact that her symptoms upon taking the medication to me strongly suggest herpes virus.

In any case, since she ruled out that possibility, and because I have not researched her medication, I did put aside the herpes possibility and instead tried to find another cause. Hence my dust question.



Rule -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:31:48 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: xoxkittenxox
Cigarettes and coffee help.

If I recall correctly, most migraines are caused by the blood vessels in the brain (and perhaps also in the body core) dilating. (This causes the blood vessels in the skin to contract.)
Smoking, if I recall correctly, causes the blood vessels to contract. This would certainly explain why smoking helps against your migraines.
I do not know what the effect of coffee is. I do know that some weekend headaches are caused because the affected people drink coffee at work, but not when they are in the weekend at home. Apparently the body adjusts to the coffee, producing dilating hormones to counter the contraction caused by cafeine. In the weekends these dilating hormones are still present, but the cafeine is not, hence weekend migraine.

To effectively fight your migraine, the cause of the blood vessel dilation must be discovered.
Blood vessels often dilate when there is an infection.

quote:

ORIGINAL: xoxkittenxox
I normally do not eat. Some days, I'm dying of hunger. I eat three meals. Other days, I am sickened by the smell, taste, touch, thought of food and I just want to PUKE.
I blame the migraines for this "eating disorder".

It is difficult in these cases to discern cause and effect. Indeed, it may be a viscious circle, with one causing the other.
Not wanting to eat also may indicate an infection.

You say that it started at age twelve. Can it be caused by a higher than usual estrogen production? You have no picture up, so I cannot get a visual impression of your estrogen production.

Also, I notice that you appear to be overweight. What is the cause of the overweight? It is hormonal, or dietary, or the result of disease, like a chicken virus? There may be a relation with your migraine.




theRose4U -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/17/2009 6:39:52 PM)

I'm just completely at a loss if you're having headaches daily what reason your doctor has for not running MRI, CT, and brain flow scans? Yeah I understand Kaiser is stupid that way but if all other options have failed do the freakin tests!!! Sadly if you're having them daily it will be next to impossible to get a baseline to compare to when you're in head ache.
referral to a headache clinic really does seem like the smartest coarse of action. Specialists tend to know things that "regular doctors" haven't even heard of yet.
I went to a specialist surgeon ages ago to have my knees done and the surgery I got there is now the common way they do it, the ER doc, sports medicine guy and another surgeon hadn't even heard of this surgery yet.



xoxkittenxox -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 7:26:53 AM)

Alright. A lot to respond to... Dust MAY be responsible, but again, 7 years of moving around from place to place, living in some beautiful homes, some random apartments and even Nevada, all my migraines have been the same. Daily. Starting from anywhere between waking up with one to an hour or two after I wake up. Nevada was no worse than the beautiful, well kept homes. The apartments were no better, no worse. They extend through all the different places I've lived, all seasons, all environments.

I am overweight because I don't eat enough. Also, I am now working around 11 hours a day and when I get home, I don't eat. I sleep. In time, this will be corrected. For now, I suffer for it. Also, not eating, I usually have a migraine before that. The nausea comes from the migraine, which causes me not to eat. I SOMETIMES feel a "Hunger headache" but I seem to get these only on days where I didn't start out with a crazy migraine to begin with. So, I eat a little something, and then, the "hunger headache" responds by turning into a migraine, making me puke up whatever I ate and then go to bed because I'm just exhausted from the dry heaving after everything is gone. I've done things to try and help the nausea, such as ginger pills and what not... Still comes out.

Yes, I agree, my migraines MAY be caused by the dilating of blood vessels. A mixture of smoking and heavy doses of aspirin help to correct this in some cases. Aspirin thins the blood, smoking contracts the vessels and allows blood to flow more freely and relieves some of the pressure build up. Coffee helps by jump-starting this process. It contracts further, but it ALSO helps things move quicker, because the blood pressure rises and helps things react faster together. Of course, this process still takes a few hours to even partially work for me. So, in theory, perhaps 25% of my migraines can be managed this way, with residual pain emanating after, for about 2-4 hours. Of course, the time this helps AFTER the wait, is only around 1-2 hours. And 75% of my migraines, this does not work. I can sometimes tell the difference, other times, I try a whole variety of things, and nearly poison myself on aspirin, Nortryptaline,   coffee, tobacco, Ibuprofen, and my Zomig.

My doctors reasons are... Shes overdramatic about the pain, it costs too much to run the tests, shes Munchhausen or, she just plain out DOESN'T care. Kaiser is just a peice of shit. They give out medications like candy, do not try to find the direct cause, and try to find the cheapest way of managing the symptoms, instead of treating them. Its a horrible organization.

I may try to go to a Headache Clinic. I did see one down the street a ways from where I live. Maybe I'll go in and see if they can't help me with figuring it out.

Thank you all so much for the time and effort you are putting in to helping me!
No one has ever cared so much!



yourdarkdesire -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 7:46:33 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: angelikaJ
Fiorinol with codeine would be another one to try.


Fiorinol is a juicy little drug, but it is very very addicting (speaking from experience).  It also has a nasty side effect of wrecking your intestines if you take it for a long time.




Rule -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 8:20:50 AM)

I am at my wits' end.

So dust may be a possibility. (Low probability, though.)

I have another hypothesis, which may be a possibility. How is your oxygen uptake? I imagine that when your oxygen uptake / transport is not sufficient, the blood vessels in the brain, which uses twenty per cent of all oxygen, may respond by dilating. This will require an examination of your red blood cells, and of the involved enzymes and proteins, such as hemoglobin.

Do your symptoms vary with high or low altitude?
If you breathe high oxygen content, do your symptoms disappear?




xoxkittenxox -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 8:36:53 AM)

Been higher in the mountains, no difference.

When I go to the doctors and they take my Oxygen saturation levels, its 99-100%. Hell, even if it was 98, I would do something about making it 100%. But its normal. Sorry.

All in all, I think I am very healthy. I think I just happen to have migraines because I may be unusually susceptible to my own hormone levels, or perhaps its genetic, or perhaps I just have constricted blood vessels. Either way, besides my slight over weight, I am completely active, completely healthy. All my blood tests, sugar tests, everything is within range. Cholesterol, good and bad, are within range. Hormone levels are even within range. Thyroid has been checked, I cannot imagine another thing it could be. 



Rule -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 9:52:07 AM)

I quote: "Nitric oxide gas is important in regulating blood vessel dilation, and consequently, blood flow. This gas is continuously produced by endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels".

I also quote: "estrogen is known to activate endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the vascular endothelium", and from the same source: "specifically blocked by the pure estrogen receptor antagonist ICI-182,780. Treatment of both TRLECs and HUVECs with 17beta-E2 stimulated the activation of Akt, and the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin blocked the 17beta-E2-induced activation of Akt".

Since your migraines started at age 12, increased estrogen production may be a cause; especially now that this article tells about the link between estrogen and vasodilation. I think that this ought to be investigated first, and if true, then a treatment must be devised.




xoxkittenxox -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 10:47:55 AM)

This is some interesting info. Thank you. I'll bring it up to my doctor and see if she knows what the hell you're talking about. I haven't gone to school yet, therefore, I have no clue. I'm guessing you are saying its hormonal.



DesFIP -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 3:43:17 PM)

Are you on birth control pills? If so, stop. If not, maybe try them.
It does appear to coincide with hormonal levels so playing with the hormones via the pill is easy enough to try.
SSRIs can also control estrogen.

But my brother, who has had tension headaches for years, had Botox injections recently and the daily headaches have disappeared. He can't frown any more, thus putting stress on the muscles and blood vessels in the jaw and neck, which were setting off the headaches. He did the Botox for vanity but will continue for pain relief.



thornhappy -> RE: Migraine Medications (9/18/2009 5:26:23 PM)

I was wondering...do you have any vision problems?  Things like your visual field going dark or going sparkly when you stand up?   Anyone seen swollen optic nerves (exam when your pupils are dilated)?  Some of this sounds like pseudotumor cerebri (benign intracranial hypertension).  Or a Chiari Malformation.  To diagnose the first, you need an MRI plus a spinal tap, the second you need an MRI.

Are there ombudsmen at Kaiser that you could appeal to?

Have you been tested for Lyme disease?

Hoping this whole topic's not been too frustrating...

thornhappy



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