Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I used to have migraines about 3x/week for nearly 10 years. Tried a bunch of drug cocktails but what worked for me was a bit of acupuncture as well as a little green. :)

I managed to get them to subside with that combination of treatments. Badger Balm - Headache Soother is also a godsend. But really I learned that the erratic weather and constant temperature fluctuation in my former city of Toronto, Canada must have been a huge part of my migraines, because I moved to San Francisco two months ago and haven't had a migraine since!!

The wind storm and cold front that it's slowly bringing with it (I'm in WI) has given me a wretched headache all day today. I've managed to beat it mostly into submission by taking some OTC generic migraine reliever and putting peppermint oil on my temples and occipitals. I can function well enough to do things around the house, but I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere today.

Heat affects my migraines adversely as well- which is why Bikram yoga- no matter how hard I try to like it (it is a really nice sequence) is just out of the question for me.

I have given it so many tries and have just had to give up.

I can do other types of yoga without aggravating my migraines- but yoga for all its other benefits- has been pretty useless in terms of actually helping with my migraines

I'm curious whether anyone has successfully used contraceptives to skip periods in order to prevent migraines. Mine are usually menstrual and ibuprofen isn't working as well as I wish it did. I also bleed too much, so it's not just a matter of controlling one symptom. In theory, NSAIDs should address everything, but I've noticed I get a headache again when I stop taking them.

I have migraines with auras so hormonal contraception dramatically increases my risk of stroke so no.

Yeah, my migraines seem to have started after I came off the depo injections. All my other PCOS (although I don't have it) symptoms started after coming off it too. I don't know if the pill was stabilising my hormones or if being on it forked them up. The whole being over 35 & aura thing means I'm at a higher risk of stroke too so I don't think I'd try it again. My period migraine is actually the best one of the month because it's the only one that gives me a pre-migraine boost of energy and I get some housework done!

Oh since it's a new thread, I have to re-recommend that everyone read The Migraine Brain! It's awesome.

This is the 3rd Sunday in a row I've had a migraine. Odd.

So what did I do differently today? I had pumpkin seeds, I spent too much time on the computer, I didn't take my allergy pill and I didn't have a shower. The first two definitely didn't happen last Sunday. So allergy pill and shower (I really think the shower is relevant).

Hi, this is my first PPK post ever...I need advice. In short, I'm 18 and have had migraines for about 4 years now. I've had a lot of very smart doctors and have tried a lot of meds, but nothing has worked great and I'm very susceptible to side effects.

I was taking 45mg Pamelor (an antidepressant) for migraine prevention for several months, after working up to that amount very, very slowly. After it didn't appear to do much, my doctor told me to go off it, tapering 10mg less over a few weeks. Since going off it, the headaches (which were less than they had been in a long time) came back full-force, accompanied by nausea. I tried Cambia, an anti-inflammatory, which used to work (you take it as needed); it only worsened the nausea. I tried Amerge, a sumatriptan; like the other triptans I've tried, horrible neck/head muscle pain struck, worsening the headache. Nausea continued.

I've been reading a little and I think I may have come off the Pamelor too quickly. Now that I'm houseridden, nearly bedridden, still a little nauseous, and I feel like dying, is it wise to go back on the antidepressant? And then start a slower, more gradual discontinuation regime? If so, do I just take like 40mg, near what I was once on?

If anyone can give any advice, I'd be so happy. I'm seeing my doctor very, very soon, but in the meantime I was honestly contemplating going to the hospital and just surrendering to anything they could do.

Welcome! And I myself have been to the "I am just going to crawl into the hospital and hope they help me" phase so I understand!

I think possibly Fezza will have wise words because she too is very susceptible to side effects.

How soon is very very soon? Can you call the doctor's office and ask if you can go back on the Pamelor immediately? I've never heard of any of your meds - are you in the US or where are you?

I'm so sorry :( I hope that you start feeling better very soon. Keep posting if you can, we'll keep trying to help!

I am calling my doctor first thing tomorrow morning. I just took 10mg of what I was taking for awhile; maybe it is just a matter of going off the meds too quickly and suffering ill effects. I won't hang up the phone with him until I have a plan! I am in the US, though I know there are way too many names per medicine. What I was on is a tricyclic antidepressant, used off-label for migraine prevention. It's nice to know someone else seems to have every side effect in the book; I was reading online about the Amerge triptan I took and people were all "Oh, it's a godsend; just makes me a little tired, but no other bad effects." So. Unfair. Thank you for the kind words! I guess misery does love company, and migraine sufferers know misery. : )

Oh bless, you are having such a rough time! It sounds like the Pamelor was actually helping a bit so you might want to consider going back on it, discuss it with your doctor and they might even suggest a similar one that might help a bit more. Finding something that helps a bit is a start.

Have you tried Naramig? It's a triptan but it's a slower activated one so you don't normally get the same side effects. I get none at all on it yet the others leave me flat out with chest pains and shallow breathing.

Have you tried an elimination diet to see if it's a food allergy or sensitivity that's causing it? Have they considered that, at your age, they might be hormonal?

I may (or may not!) have stumbles upon the cause for some, if not all, of my migraines. I have a thread about it here viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1191&p=28051#p28051

I hope that working on the jaw stuff can be a way for you to reduce the pain. While I don't want you to have jaw problems, I sometimes pray for something to point to as a cause/trigger that I can actually try to do something about.

I am having the sort of migraine week that makes me want to cut my head off and just throw it away. Bah!

Okay, I am going to go back on the Pamelor for awhile, and try a higher dose to see if that's what I need to break the headache cycle. I've discussed them being hormone-related headaches and also food-related headaches with numerous doctors, and though I've tried gluten-free in the past I might do it again, just to see. They don't appear to be hormone-related, but since my hormones are crazy anyway, it's worth investigation. Fezza - I haven't heard of Naramig, but I'll look into it...a triptan that doesn't cause excruciating pain would be totally awesome. Thanks for the kind words.

Well, shiitake, that explains why I've had a migraine since last forking FRIDAY. I'm due for my next shot, like now. I had to walk a mile, in the rain and 40-degree weather to get my refills of my anti-nausea and pain meds at 8 a.m. yesterday morning. It was horrible.

I've had chronic headaches every since I can remember, and a full-blown migraine multiple times per month. I was hospitalized for it in April, and the damn hospital gave me imotrex without telling me what it was, because they didn't -believe- that I was actually allergic to it. crassholes.

To the topomax users, that stuff messed me up. Another hospital visit because of that... I react badly to nearly every migraine med there is. The most I can do is pain management with midrin, and the stupid company that's currently making the isometh generic has stopped producing for a while.

AGAIN. Bring the midrin back, pharmaceutical mustards! It's one of the few things I can take!!!

pigeon - hope you're feeling better!

fabulous - my mom said they still make generic midrin? but she's in menopause so doesn't get migraines anymore so maybe she doesn't know what she's talking about. midrin gave me endless rebounds - i ended up taking like 6 midrins a day. i was told they stopped making it cause it wasn't profitable (funny given how many I needed - i was getting 100 count bottles with 6 refills). what mg of topamax were you taking and what problems did you have? tonight i go up to 100mg and technically i'm taking topiramate.

I had a crapload of migraines when i was in the hospital with the kid, but between the stress, lack of caffeine, crepe diet/lack of food, fluorescent, it wasn't really a surprise. none since i got home. (knock on wood)

I don't know what the dosage was, but the mild tingling that most experience turned into my entire body going completely numb in addition to chest pains and shortness of breath. I thought I was having a forking stroke.

I've had it. Life, I give up on you. This is beyond shiitake. I've had a migraine since LAST friday. I'm approaching a week-and-a-half long marathon migraine. I'm at work, dying, but I can be dying in bed or dying in a chair. It blows either way!

I am SO sick of this!!!

I'm so sorry!! :( More than a few hours with a migraine is more than anyone should have to bear - it's 2010 for heaven's sake - with all the meds available, something should work! Any more one mile walking to see a doc for help?

Also I just noticed where you said they gave you Imitrex w/o asking once - Imitrex makes my heart hurt.

I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks, I hope it passes eventually. I'm seriously losing my mind.

It's gotten to the point where the relentless migraine starts to mimic the flu, I've lost all appetite (it hurts to eat anyway after clenching my teeth for hours whenever I do fall asleep), constantly dizzy, relatively apathetic and/or depressed (who can tell), and everything feels fuzzy and painful at the same time. To top it off, my boss told me I needed to be more "chipper" today. Chipper in a work environment that deals with the subject of dying people.

I wish they'd turn the heater on in my building. It's 42 degrees out there, but they won't touch it unless it goes under 40.

I know the losing my mind feeling and I believe you :( Cold helps me - it's better than hot, anyway - sometimes I feel like I can numb out the pain. Sometimes I just remind myself the pain actually can't last forever and it has to stop eventually.

added to the list of foods that give me migraines - so delicious coconut ice cream sandwiches and equal exchange organic 55% dark chocolate. but not all chocolate gives me migraines.

okay, i don't think the topamax is working - i think i'm basically cycling between exhaustion and headaches or the verge of headaches