Migraine

I really don't have the right words to thank you saintly people for just being here and for having so much helpful, and accurate information. I'm 57 and have been suffering since I was in my teens. Today I'm delurking and I've been climbing out of the deep hole of MOH and transformed migraines and have been painkiller free for ten days now. I have accomplished this on my own, holed up in my tiny apartment in Canada, with only my cat for comfort. My doctor and my physiotherapist had never heard of this phenomenon. I finished my summer teaching contract and in order to finish my obligation I started to take daily painkillers - OTC as well as prescription T3's and Fiorinal. I missed four days of work and they didn't renew my contract so now I'm unemployed. I've maxed out my Employment Insurance and have no income.
I did see a neuro who was supposedly a headache specialist and he just told me to take more Fiorinol and Maxalt.
I did a lot of my own research and figured out my own regimen. My family doctor has started me on Topamax and Propanolol and my Chinese doctor on Feverfew and Magnesium, acupuncture and treatment for food allergies. I"m also going for physiotherapy on my head and neck, and I've started restorative yoga.
The past ten days of detoxing have been like a living ####. I've been mostly in bed, with ice packs, taking Zopiclone, which I think is like your Ambien, and some herbal sleeping stuff. My goal is to sleep through the worst of the pain. It is almost constant, but I've already had two good days - almost free of pain - and my physiotherapist says my muscles are releasing much more easily and my tissues feel normal which they haven't since I started with her several months ago. It's cranial sacral therapy and the cerebral fluid is flowing much better now. She figures that the painkillers were blocking a lot of natural healing processes.
It maybe a bit early to tell, but if I can keep this up, I may actually get my life back. I've lost so many jobs, relationships, and opportunities. It's been a very hampered life. I feel a bit of hope now, and I owe a lot to this website. I'm going to print out information and share it with my health care providers.
Much love, Oksana

Edited by moderator-Ooops! Please remember to use family friendly language. See our “START HERE” folder for forum guidelines and policies. Thanks!

Welcome Oksana!

Congratulations on being 10 days with out pain killers That's such an extreme feat to accomplish for so many. Best of luck with keeping it up! I'm glad you've been able to do your own research. Maybe you can find another headache specialist to go see? It may be worth looking into. I'm so sorry you've lost your job over this and I hope you're able to get your life more on track.



Meli

Thank you so much for your prompt reply! I'm not even sure there are any headache specialists around here. My family doctor is usually very good at finding specialists, but I couldn't stand the neuro doc she found for me. A bad attitude and his knowledge was not up-to-date. But on a positive note I'm having my second pain-free day in a row (so far anyway) and that is glorious).

Oksana,

Congratulations!!! I'm so glad that you've decided to "de-lurk!" This is such a wonderful support group!! (One thing I might note is that it's easier for a lot of us to read shorter paragraphs at one time - doesn't mean to write less - just to add more white space! I hope that makes sense!!)

How wonderful that you were able to "detox" yourself!!! And that today is two days free of migraines!!! Woo hooo - dance of joy!!!!!!!!

Welcome!!

Cyn

Hello and welcome to our forum family, Oksana! Our goal is to provide everyone with the information and support that we all need to manage our Migraines and/or headaches. To that end, we consider this a “safe harbor,” where nobody tries to sell us anything, and we all use “family-friendly” language so parents are comfortable letting their children read the forum with them.

Please take a few minutes to review our policies and guidelines along with the other information in the START HERE folder. For information about Migraines, a good article to begin with is Learning About Migraines - Where to Start

Saintly, huh? You are too sweet! Surely, if you've been lurking, you know we have our moments! How very kind of you to look past them. Hee Hee! Seriously, I'm glad you delurked and officially joined our little family.

MOH is an ugly, ugly thing. I didn't learn about it from my doctors, either. I actually read about it on the forum, recognized myself, and then asked about it the next time I saw my internist, which wasn't long after. Getting out of it isn't fun. I know for me, comfort measures were my very best thing during rebound squashing. Ice and my softest pillow were constant companions. I'm very glad you have your cat.

It's really good that your physiologist seems to have an open mind, even if she was unaware of MOH before. It's even better to hear you're making some progress. It's not us you owe all the gratitude to. It's you. You did the hardest work. Big pats on the back and hugs to you, Oksana! I'm proud of you. I'm glad you've got some momentum going now, with the break in pain. I've no doubt you're going to take that and run. I can see that you're very determined. I'll be rooting and hoping that everything pays off in a big way for you.

Again, we're glad to meet you. Thanks for unlurking and joining us!

Oh my gosh, Dragondrool, your warm and sincere message of support, right on the heels of Cyn's, has made a horrible mess of my mascara.

I can't believe that I suffered for so many years, and went to so many health care providers, and not one mentioned MOH. We see all those ads on TV, urging us to relieve our migraines, and no warnings of the agony those pills can cause. Yet ads for other types of medications go on and on with all the possible side effects. What's up with that???

I really think I might get my life back. And I'll be able to finally figure out my pattern, especially what my true triggers are. Today I got a letter from the Pain Clinic with my next scheduled nerve block, which I was on a long wait list for (the joys of socialized medicine!) Now I may not even need it.

Thanks for the welcome into this very special family.

Warm hugs to all of you.

Hello and Welcome Oksana! I love your butterfly!

I'm so glad you decided to un-lurk, it's great to hear all about you and your success overcomming MOH. That's no small feat, so kudos to you! Although you've already dealt with MOH, I'll still share these articles with you because they are chock full of valuable information:

• Medication Overuse Headache: When the Remedy Backfires

• Stopping Medication Overuse Can Halt Transformed Migraine

Would you consider traveling to the states to see a Migraine Specialist? I'm terrible with geography, but I know we have some close enough to you that you can either drive or fly. I fly from Virginia to Texas to see my Specialist. He really has given me so much of my life back. I was in such a terrible state before he was recommended to me on this forum. With his help, I'm doing much better:

• What Can a Migraine Specialist Do for You?

• Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists

Triggers can be tricky to figure out. It took me forever to realize that changes in the barometric pressure triggered my Migraines. I also trigger from poor sleep, not eating and strong smells like bleach or certain perfumes. A great tool to have to figure out your triggers is a Migraine Diary. You can use it to track triggers, the effectiveness of medications, and any patterns to your Migraines and headaches. Here's some information on triggers you can take a look at too:

• Common Migraine Triggers

Okay, I've thrown enough articles at you for one posting

I look forward to seeing you around and remember, if you have any questions, just ask and we'll do our best to help you out.

Awww! I didn't mean to make you goober up your mascara. I'm just happy that you feel comfy here and are settling in well. I'll never forget that feeling when I stumbled upon the forum myself, and knew that I'd found "my kind". We are very much a family, and we're glad to add you to it.

quote:

Would you consider traveling to the states to see a Migraine Specialist? I'm terrible with geography, but I know we have some close enough to you that you can either drive or fly

I checked and I'm 7 hours drive from the nearest one, which is in Minneapolis. I would consider it if she's really great. I need a passport at the border these days!!

I saw my GP today and she's increased my Propanalol and we're holding steady at 100 mg. of Topamax. I've only been on it for 3 weeks and she said it will take 3 months to really know.

Meanwhile, I can always get that nerve block on Nov. 2 if I need to. The first one made things worse, and the second one gave me a couple months of relief. They were talking rhyzotomy at the Pain Clinic because the nerve block was successful. Do you have any info on that or should I do a forum search? It sounds darn scary.

Wishing you all a pain-free night and day....

Oksana,
I just wanted to stop in & give you a Carolina Lowcountry welcome: "Hey, Darlin!"

It's already 85 degrees here (and not yet 11 am), but the humidity is only about 50%, so we'll have a nice, warm Fall day.

So glad you have a GP who is willing to work with you! Mine works with me, too. You, my doctor, and I are all about the same age, and are all migraineurs, so we "get it."

Also so glad you were successful with your "cold turkey" on the pain killers. And, glad you have had some pain-free days!

Here's you keep going.

With respect,
Rebecca, The Island Mama