Well, I have written here before and have gotten lots of letters of support from so many people, for which I am most grateful. I just wanted to post again and vent and ask some questions. Since getting out of the hospital in May, after three days of DHE treatments, I have had three "biggies" that I had to go to the doctor for and get the ol' Demerol and phenergan shots. I changed doctors because my last one was such jerk. Now this new one is wanting me to see yet another neurologist, to which I say I have seen four already and I am sick and tired of being a "test" for every known drug to man kind! The new doc also tried me on Verapamil and it made me so tired that I would have rather of had another migraine!!!! What the heck is the problem with these doctors? I am at a point where I am thankful I am getting them several times a month as opposed to every single day. Just give me the darn shot and let me go home to bed! Ya know? The question I have is have any of yall tried the Lidocaine Nose Drops/Spray? How did it work for you? Should I start bugging the new doc for it? Hope some one can give me some feedback on this. Thanks for being here, and lets all hang in there together! Something has got to break!
Pam <pgw@flash.net>
Roanoke, TX USA - Wed Jun 24 21:00:10 1998
Dear Journal,
Well here I am once again trying to get over my migraine. I have taken sooo many pain killers today and none have helped me! I have taken demerol/phenergen tabs, tylenol #4, fiorinal, flexeril, DHE-45 IM, oxycontin (like percocet, without the tylenol), etc..I have found that no matter what I take I just have to let the migraine "run it's course"..so to speak. Does anyone else experience the same thing? I would love to hear from someone else that is a having a heck of a time aborting their migraine. I have found that a "normal" migraine lasts anywhere from 12 - 16 hours. Then, I have a "hangover" feeling where I am extremely lethargic for a day or so. These migraines are really ruining my quality of life and I really wish I could go back to work, but that is not possible with the frequency and the severity of these migraines. I really need to get these under control because my husband has progressive Multiple Sclerosis and there is no telling how much longer he will be able to continue working. Thank you so much for this journal to enable all of us to write down our personal experience with this debilitating condition. We need to continue to support eachother and maybe one day will find a "cure." Please email me anytime! Thanks to all of you and good luck and may your days be pain free!!
~Jana~
JTROUTEN@aol.com
Jana <JTROUTEN@aol.com>
Atlanta, GA USA - Wed Jun 24 19:33:15 1998
I am 31 years old and have suffered migraine headaches since a car accident Sept. 1994. I have tried many typed of medications such as Imitrex, Ercaf, Verapimel, Hyrocodone and countless others. Nothing seemed to work. I also have spent hours in the ER where the medication they give you makes you feel jittery and irritable.
Being a mother of two young children it scares me not knowing when the next one is going to hit. The last one hit me while I was on a fishing trip in Canada. I had to wake up the whole cabin at 5:00 in the morning so that we could make it back to the states so I could get to the hospital, I felt so guilty. I have been trying a combination of treatments now that do not eliminate the attacks but have made them manageable. I go to the chiropractor, take feverfew, and use the hydrocodone as soon as I feel a headache setting in. Something else I experience after an attack is nosebleeds for a couple of days. Does anyone else experience this?
Dee <mclllc@aol.com>
Eau Claire, WI USA - Wed Jun 24 14:16:16 1998
I'm 38 and mother of a 5 and 9yr old. i get atypical migraines wit stroke like symptoms. And i need some real encouragement. the biggest problem is the speech problems that come with it. I can get through the pain but just trying to communicate is harder to deal with. It gets to the point where I can't think of words, or if i can i can't say them or I struggle to try to pronounce more clearly until I'm just worn out. Sometimes I just give up and try to write it down but even that is difficult and takes just as long. i must be able to function at least somewhat, I have kids. I don't know what to do. I'm afraid one of thiese times it won't go away and i'l;l be stuck hardly able to talk at all. When i have to go out some people aare really really nice to me because they think I'm retarded from how I speak or they are just very uncomfortable listening to me stutter and search for words while I try to make sense. My alternative is to stay home in bed for who knows how long and shut myself off from the world. I can't do that, my family needs me. I dread so much when I know another one is coming on. My husband is very understanding and helpful. Sometimes he ges as frustrated as i and tells me to just stop and write it down--I usually just shrug it off by then and forget it. Afterall, it's going to last just a few days beyond the migraine and go away,..............maybe. I'm an intelligent, educated an talented person. My husband says we'll just adapt and I can carry around a notepad. great. that's just the worst part of it on my mind right now and I would like anyone with something similar to e-mail me to share your experience and advice if you have any. Just got myself into a really negative attitude, sorry bout that. Feeling a little better today---really!
Mary <rmkelly36@aol.com>
USA - Wed Jun 24 12:15:52 1998
I have been suffering from a migraine now since Sunday 10 a.m.
I woke up with it. I have been to the ER ansd was given 2ccStadol IM,
4cc Decadron IM and 50mg Thorazine IM. I had only minimal releief. I then
ER again and was given 2cc Stadol IM and 100mg. Thorazine; again only minimal
relief. On Monday, Tuesday and again this morning I visited my family
doctor who on each ocassion prescribed 2cc Nubain. The last treatment
being at 10:45 a.m. this morning. I am still in a great deal of PAIN.
Does anyone have any suggestions of how to abort this headache?
Please contact me with your thoughts. I am sick of not being able to
get rid of this migraine. I need relief and soon. I would
like to be rid of this damn thiing so I can go back to work.
Chuck Raiines <csraine@ibm.net>
Reidsville, NC USA - Wed Jun 24 11:43:32 1998
I'm a physician and sufferer of migraines, some of which have kept me out of work for days on end. To date I have yet to find any reasonable solution that will allow me to continue working without the side-effects of the current drug treatment programs. I have however stumbled across a new company that is proposing to have a proprietary product for fellow migraine sufferers. It should be out in the next few weeks. If interested, contact me at elmerg@execpc.com. I'm hoping this may be the one!
Elmer G. Lehman, M.D. <elmerg@execpc.com>
Colgate, WI USA - Mon Jun 22 19:09:21 1998
I've been stopping by & reading these stories for about 2 months now and somehow it helps me (esp. when I have a migraine) to not feel sorry for myself :) In the last 2-3 months I went from maybe 2-4 migraines a month to 2-3 per week! I have been to the ER 6 times in the past 5 weeks! The staff knows me well now & my MD called them & let them know that he is OK with me going in to get a shot of Demerol everytime. I am not comfortable carrying around highly controlled drugs like Demerol or even Vicodin with me because they are very addictive. If I do not have control of them & I have to wait in the ER on average 4-5 hours to get an injection, I am WAY less likely to become addicted. Also in this situation you can't take them everyday or for every rebound headache you get. ( I get one after EVERY migraine) This is my insurance policy on my sobriety which is very important to me. I am only 24 years old & I am worried about spending the rest of my life in a ER waiting room. :) Hang in there everyone & thanks for your stories!!
Angel <AngelVipond@yahoo.com>
Grass Valley, CA USA - Mon Jun 22 17:32:18 1998
