Journal of Migraine Sufferers

hello ronda,

my name is scott....i live in calif, north of los angeles.

i just read "migraineZine"...and i wanted to puke!!

i then clicked on your web site and found immediate relief..

i dont know who the author of MigraineZine is, but he obviously is not a migraine sufferer.

i have had migraines for eleven yrs....starting with migraine to the left side of my head. as you probably know, before imitrex, the big solution was a trip to the ER for a shot of demorol, sent home with a pocket full of vicodin tablets. I am a police officer. I was treated like a common "drug addict" by hospital staff. I never became addicted to demorol, but i did become addicted to vicodin. I guess imitrex was approved by the FDA a little late for me...haha.

oh well...i have been in recovery for 237 days today!..no vicodin, no booze....but still lots of imitrex.

i am on my third neurologist...i finally decided to go to UCLA. My doctor is wonderful...she is a migraine sufferer herself..she is the director of the migraine and headache department at UCLA. I really lucked out.

About two and a half yrs ago, I got severe sinusitis that would not go away. I had to have surgery. the sinusitis caused a different type of migraine for me, behind the right eye. After the surgery, they continued. My neurologist at the time said "well, if its sinus, see your sinus doctor."....the sinus doctor said, "well, if its migraine, go see ur neurologist."....geeeeez!!

The sinus doctor looked into my sinuses with a scope and said, "well, it looks great, i did a great job!" Well, why shouldnt i believe him, hell, he's a doctor, right?

Anyway, my new UCLA doctor sent me to another UCLA doctor who is a head and neck specialist. He was great. He looked into my sinuses and said, "well, you need another surgery. We need to open up ur right sinus more."....so much for the first sinus surgeon!

I am scheduled to have the second surgery in about 12 days. Meanwhile, i do one to two shots of imitrex a day...thats alot. Thank god for medical insurance!!!

I heard the Glaxo/Wellcome company, the makers of imitrex, is making billions....my answer to that is.....They deserve it!!...

Imitrex saves me from countless hours of pain and demorol shots. Its the greatest invention of all mankind, in my opinion. I hope after my surgery, I wont need it anymore, but until then, it enables me to go on with life.

I feel like im rambling now, so i will end by saying two things:

one, MigraineZine doesnt know what they are talking about!!

two, Dont settle for your doctor's opinions....if you are still having migraines...keep searching! There really are doctors out there who will keep trying to look for YOUR cure...whatever that my be.

Thank you for your web site...it is on my hot list....would love to hear from you.

---Scott S. riversic@ix.netcom.com


I first started having migraines when I was about 16 --- at that time, I didn't consume anything containing caffeine - my parents couldn't afford to buy us soda (we lived on kool-aid) ... anywa, I never knew what caused then and usually had to wait for the aura to subside, throw-up, and feel better.

After my high school years, I was virtually migraine free until I was pregnant with my second child ... got one at work one day - the day I had my other daughter (age 2 then) at a new babysitter. It was as if I knew something was wrong there, and it turned out there was ... so was this hormones, stress? Definitely NOT caffeine withdrawal since I was very careful about anything I took when pregnant.

Then, I went again for years without any reccurrence until Dec. of '94 - I didn't think I was experiencing a migraine; thought it was a brain tumor (I like to go for the worst diagnosis) because all of a sudden at work (again) I couldn't "see" right - I could see parts of text, but others would appear as blank spots to me - my head didn't hurt. I went to my optometrist and he asked if I had been eating a lot of chocolate (which I had - Xmas and candy was everywhere) and/or consuming a lot of caffeine - I must confess to being a Mt. Dew addict and had been drinking a lot of it around that time. He attributed those 2 things along with HOLIDAY STRESS --- as the contributing factors to that migraine. The headache did come on later, but it wasn't as severe as some I remember from my past.

I haven't had one since the last one I described. But, I have enough other problems to make up for them!

---Mary fahleym@vaxa.cis.uwosh.edu


I have black spots in front of my eyes. I have had severe headaches in the past. Are the spots from migraine? Should I worry about a stroke or other problem?

Thanks

Rae Smith JAMIE0131@aol.com


I have a 7 year old son who has migraines and visceral hyperalgesia. (He has abdominal pain that occurs with normal bodily functions that most people wouldn't notice or wouldn't experience as painful. e.g.-when his bladder begins to fill up it is painful.) I don't have any experience with migraines but his are awful and it really tears me up to see him in so much pain. So here are my questions: Are there any other parents out there who have children with migraines? Are there any people who have migraines and associated ongoing gastro-intestinal problems? Is there a listserv for migraine sufferers?

I would love to talk to anyone concerning these questions. My e-mail address is lahti@peticolas.sparks.nv.us

Thanks,

Susan


8-12-96

Ronda--I just stumbled across this site, and am so thankful. To be able to share with others who understand the suffering of migraine is a blessing.

My name is Linda Nystrom, and I am a 48-year-old married female and full-time student in the Nursing program at Montana State University, with a l-o-n-g history of migraine. In my mid-teens, I began to experience headaches which were more annoying than anything else. When I married at the age of 20 (1968) I was placed on birth control pills, which soon made my "annoying" headaches turn to killer headaches (that was back when the BCPs carried doses high enough for a horse!). I was diagnosed with classic migraine appx 3 yrs later and started on Cafergot.

Contrary to the experiences of most of the other migraine sufferers I've read about here, my diagnosis has never been questioned and I have always had excellent care. It's just that no matter what I took, prophylactic Beta Blockers and Calcium Channel Blockers, Cafergot, ergotomine alone, and all the pain medications I've been prescribed, I continued to have headaches to a greater or lesser degree. It would probably be shocking to even me if I were to have a tabulation of the number of Tylenol #3 pills I have taken over these 25 yrs!

My migraines have always been left-sided, affecting my left eye, as well as the muscles at the base of my skull, preceeded by an aura which I describe as being like the "rush" a person gets with a strong cup of coffee on an empty stomach--I would wonder, "why am I feeling so good?" and then realize what was coming. I came to dread and then panic at the idea of another headache (36-54 hrs).

In recent years, I don't have the same identifiable aura, but recognize the onset of a headache when I start feeling a tightness at the base of my skull on the left side, and and note a queasy feeling in my stomach. The overall nature of the headache symptoms changed over the years, with sensory symptoms happening randomly and more or less continually--tingling spots on my scalp, arms, face; visual abnormalities; crawly feelings on my skin, or the sensation that something was on the back of my neck, etc. None of these lead to a headache, and this phenomenon has a name, but it slips my mind at the moment. One other note, my headaches nearly always follow the "let-down" from a stressful situation, such as excessive tension/stress at work, or a disagreement with my husband, etc. Occasionally, I will awaken with a headache for no apparent reason.

The wonderful new drug sumatriptin (Imitrex) is promising to be a lifesaver for me. I have been using it now for about 6 weeks, with 100% success. I keep both the injections and tablets at all times, and usually use the tablets first, before resorting to the injection. I have absolutely no side effects from the injection or the tablets, and the headache goes away as if by magic. I occasionally have to take one or more follow-up tablets, if the pain returns. But, the great thing about Imitrex is that I can wait several hours, or however long I choose, before using the medicine, because its effects are the same no matter when I take the med. This gives me a kind of "insurance" that I can count on getting relief. I don't have to "check out of life" for two days anymore. No more heaving my guts up for hours on end. No more taking Tylenol #3 every two hours and the pain still being intolerable. No more sitting on the floor, hitting myself over the head with a book, and crying because I couldn't stand any more pain. Hallelujah!! I only wish all you other migraine sufferers who have tried sumatriptin could have as positive an experience!

I should also note that for the last two years I have been under treatment for major clinical depression. I am treated with a new antidepressant, Effexor, which acts on serotonin in the brain--Effexor helps to keep serotonin in the brain longer, thus greatly diminishing the depression. I mention this because a lack of serotonin is linked to migraine, according to some experts, and sumatriptin also works (selectively) on serotonin receptors in the brain, to relieve an acute migraine attack.

Anyone who would like to investigate the medical aspect of migraine further should try the Virtual Nursing Center, nystrom@montana.avicom.net


Migraines.....Take an asprin.

I have been on the net for several years, but this is the first time I actually thought about looking for info on migraines (other than information about the medicine I have taken).

I have found a consistent but not foolproof cure for my headaches, but I will anounce this at the end...(I want people to read MY story too! No one else seems to be sympathetic!)

Migraines run in my family; my mother, her sister, their mother and father, and my father. My mother died of lymph cancer at age 34 when I was 12, her father died of some type of brain cancer in his 40's, my aunt still gets them mostly around the same time of the month (she is about my only support but many of you know how that goes), and recently found out my father had them from age 28 to 32, and has not had a "migraine" since although plaqued with daily tolerable headaches that he doesn't want many to know about.

I am 30 yr old male, and have had a few migraines in my early childhood but until about 3 years ago, they where not very often. One day on a business flight from Houston back to Louisville, I got a SEVERE!!!! SHARP!!! pain in my left eye at the corner by the nose. It was soooo painful i thought it was bleeding! I was sweating and crying, and no one was able to help. This lasted for about 5 min. then stopped. It happened once more on landing, and then twice on the connecting flight. Described as "a sinus headache" by all my doctors, I am convinced this caused some sort of damage that lead to chronic, daily migraines.

I too have just about given up on the medical doctors, not only for their reluctance to provide relief (addiction or junkie fears), but also in that I feel they believe it is just psychological although they have not said this directly (ok..it does sound paranoid, but you know what I mean...it's all in my head!.)

After trying everything on the market and switching doctors if I was unhappy with the service (don't be afraid to can that MD, it can only make it better!), I ended up in the Urgent Care center and later that morning, the ER room. I had visited the UC center about once every 2 months average for the prevous 10 months. I didn't know I could do this during the initial year of these headaches so I would just roll around on the bathroom floor and puke until I was too tired to stay awake. Also, redirection of pain was popular; banging head on the wall or tub, giving myself frogs in the leg, etc. helped for a few seconds and that was better than nothing.

Midrin was worthless, Fiorinol w/codiene worked great but I built a tolerance and had rebound headaches, tried Paxil and Prozac and Lithium; all made them MUCH more intense even with painkillers, Amytrip/Elavil did nothing but makes a great sleeping pill even with a bad head (recommended highly just for that reason but as needed not daily...unless you want to be a zombie), Imatrex injections worked for a while but was $50 a shot and I became immune rather quickly similar to ergot, Depakote gave me bad sore throat and made them worse, and Indomethacin was not easy real effective and made me car sick, Inderal was quadrupled and my heart rate STILL did not drop any so it proved to be ineffective.

Finally, on doctor # 6, (incidently, I quit my job and moved out of state to a new job as another hope for a cure...HA!) he gave me Indomethacin and Fioricette (Butalbital without the codeine) probably not intending me to take both at the same time. Well, first thing I thought was, "I have been on Fioricette since this all started and the Indo did not work real well, so HERE WE GO AGAIN! Well, to my amazement, taking 2 50mg Indomethacin and two Fioricette will kill even the most stubborn attack 95% of the time! It takes about an hour before it is gone, and I can't do much moving around, but by this time I can sleep well if needed. I don't know why it works, or why they dont work seperately, but why argue! I recommend this to all of you...try it. It takes a month or so to get rid of the side effects of Indo, (mostly car sickness feeling) but it is worth it.

Obviously, taking fioricette can cause problems, mostly flu like if taking too much too often (and the whole tylenol liver damage issue), but after almost two years, I seem to be OK. I have just got the lydocaine nose drops and did not have great success but I would like some feedback from others. I had to have the pharm. call 5 different clinics and finally the famous doc in CA that uses it, to find out how to make it, and it turns out it is just the 4% Lidocaine Hydrocloride topical solution used as a prep for Novicaine injections from the dentist. It is just put into a nose dropper bottle. I hope they are right on this...I don't even know how to use it! Any help?

Well, I could ramble on...no headache now....life is good...until the pain.

Mail me at DLYNCH@IGLOU.COM I would like to talk to anybody who will listen back!


IT WAS SO REFRESHING TO STUMBLE UPON YOUR WEB PAGE. I AM 35 YEARS OLD AND LAST OCTOBER I BEGAN HAVING VASCULAR HEADACHES. I DON'T HAVE ANY AURAS NOR DO I HAVE TRIGGER FOODS, I ALMOST WISH I DID BECAUSE IT IS SO FRUSTRATING TO NOT HAVE ANY TYPE OF PATTERN.WHEN I DEVELOPE A HEADACHE I CAN EXPECT TO BE IN BED ALL DAY WITH THE NEXT DAY SPENT FEELING VERY SPACEY AND SLUGGISH. IN THE MIDST OF MY HEADACHE I HAVE TROUBLE FINDING WORDS AND I AM VERY SLOWED IN MY GENERAL THOUGHT PROCESS. I AM A NURSE AND IT IS SO FRUSTRATING FOR EVERYONE TO ASSUME I AM JUST STRESSED OUT (including my husband). NOW I CURRENTLY WORK IN A VERY LOW STRESS ENVIRONMENT COMPARED TO WHEN I WORKED ON A NURSING UNIT. I USUALLY HAVE TO TAKE UP TO 4 VICODAN AND SLEEP ALL DAY TO RELIEVE MY HEADACHES. I ALSO TAKE 80 MG CORGUARD AND 500 MG FEVERFEW AND ANAPROX DS 2 TIMES PER DAY.PLEASE GIVE ME OTHER SUGGESTIONS OF THINGS TO SUGGEST TO MY DR TO PREVENT MIGRAINES (I CAN HAVE UP TO 5-6) PER MONTH. I AM VERY INTERESTED IN THE ROLE OF HERBS IN PREVENTING MIGRAINES. THANKS FOR BEING THERE.

---MAXWELL 3@AOL.COM. PLEASE E-MAIL ME WITH SUGGESTIONS.


Special to Monde:

Jake Mitchell wmitchell@insolwwb.net writes:

I'm looking for a person named Monde, who wrote to me in response to my posting on narcotic addiction resulting from chronic pain management. His letter was intriguing and very important. He deserves some answers. The problem is that he did not provide me with a viable e-mail address to which I could send a reply. I want to encourage Monde to try again, paying close attention to how he fills out his return address on the letter.


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