---SR <SREINECKE@MIDWAY.NET>
GREENSBURG, KS USA -
I have suffered with migraines since I was 18. All 5 of my brothers have them and so does my father. I know it's genetic but I also know that I have several triggers. I know weather, hormones, food, perfumes, and various other things set me off. I have been a guinea pig for many doctors who wanted to fix me. Finally, I told my last doctor that I was tired of being a guinea pig and just wanted to take something that could handle my symptoms when I had them. For me, most of the time I start out with a Darvocet and if I am nauseous, a Promethezine to handle the nausea. Then my last attempt to handle the migraine would be my Imitrex shots. They are painful but I think they are worth it. My migraines most of the time disappear within 20 minutes. I can't take the tablets because they make my heart race but I can take the shots with no side effects besides the sensation of my throat closing up but it never does. It is only a sensation. I realize these shots are costly though my insurance covers most of the cost so I treat them like gold and only use them as a last attempt. I realize that Imitrex is not the answer for everyone since my brothers haven't been successful with it and my many friends with migraines, well...Imitrex works for some of them and for some of them it doesn't. I am just glad that I found a doctor who doesn't want to experiment with me and let's me handle my migraine treatment the way I am comfortable with. With my previous doctors, their "cures" made me sicker than the migraines sometime did. I was at a point several years ago after going from doctor to doctor, and some of them saying I didn't have migraines at all, I was down right suicidal though I have a wonderful family and life. It took a doctor who took me seriously and understood my pain and my family history and listened to me that gave me hope. I know I'll probably be migraine free but right now I seem to be handling the pain, nausea, and everything that comes from my migraines okay right now. I just thank God that I finally encountered a doctor who was as compassionate as he was smart.
---E. Ferrell <ferrellt@bellsouth.net>
Jacksonville, FL USA -
hello, i want to thank all of you who have kindly responded in sympathy to my posting last feb. only those of you who have had migraines know what they are like. ANYWAY, i just want you all to know that i've found RELIEF in FEVERFEW !!
yes, but you have to be patient. TRUST ME, it is worth the wait ! you have to take it for a month, at least, to really feel its protective effects. and the longer you take it, the better it works. i had a bitty bitty migraine last week, and it was a mere shadow of the former bombshell, it wasn't as intense, it lasted shorter...i can live w/ that. i know the feverfew has helped. and so what if it may be mere pschological, i don't care...IT WORKS !!!! the trick is...take some in the AM AND PM. i take capsules of the herb, but there are other ways to take it. it helps if you chew on a small piece of soft bread when you take it, if you are taking it on an empty stomach. there are no side effects, but it is a bitter herb, so it may irritate your stomach a tad, which is why the bread helps. GOOD LUCK, and a pain-free month to all of you! angie
---angie <FrumpyG@aol.com>
albuquerque, nm USA -
I was so happy to find your page in the internet and found it
fascinating to read common problems with migraine sufferers.
Hopefully this page will be educational to all of us. I have
suffered migraines since age 10, with my regular Monday afternoon
headache after piano lessons. I then progressed to having
monthly migraine with my menstrual cycle. I have not found
a way to beat those. At least I can point to a calendar and
know exactly when those wretched migraines are coming, but
cannot prevent them. Currently, I take Imitrex nasal spray for
those but would somedays the Imitrex doesn't work and I'll
have a headache for 3 LONG days! A friend told me to take
MSM vitamins and progesterone treatments 2x daily. After
having the progesterone in my system for 3 months, supposedly
the migraines should lessen. Has anyone heard of this new
treatment? Or any other treatment with menstrual migraine?
I have tried it all: seen a neurologist to rule out any internal
problems, inderal for prevention, midrin, fiornal, cafergot (but
now that's off the market), imitrex pills, exercise, diet,
no caffeine, etc. I think the hardest part is working with
those who don't understand headaches and think "it's all in your head."
Well it is!!! Thanks for listening and I welcome any and all
replies. God Bless all of you.
---Cynthia Clements <nrmc05@cybertrails.com>
Show Low, AZ USA -
I am wondering if other women out there have found that as they got older and went through peri-/menopause their migraines did not in fact get better, as we are so often promised? Do others get rapid heart beat and heart palpitations associated with either migraines or menopause? Thanks to all of you fellow sufferers.
---andie <phillpsak@aol.com>
Ellicott City, MD USA -
Thank you Rhonda for this page. I've suffered migraines as long as I can remember, at least since kindergarten (I can peg the date because I brought a souvenir to show-and-tell and I was sick on the trip.) I've been suffering with cluster headaches for a long time too. I can remember my mother getting called by my school, I had missed 21 days in the month of March. My boss sent me home from work because he could see how sick I was, when I got in my sister said she was going to take me to the emergency room. When I got there I looked so bad that the triage nurse sneaked me around the corner and into the emergency room, before a guy that was sitting there bleeding.
Without pages like this we would all still be alone thinking that we had to be the only ones suffering from these weirdo symptoms (anyone out there ever get nuero-dermatitis, or that "restless legs" thing?) I found a treatment that works for my migraine, I take Elavil before bed, and I take more if I get sick.
I'd like to rant and rave here, I'd also like to give advice to several of the people that make previous posts. I have many documents describing migraine and cluster headaches.
I'd love to hear from some people who have been denied drugs for the treatment of pain.
hugh_hayes(at)juno.com.
---Hugh Hayes <hugh_hayes@juno.com>
Thanks for letting us in, here's how I feel. ---Hugh Hayes <hugh_hayes@juno.com>
Orangeburg, NY USA -
Orangeburg, NY USA -
