Migraine

I have a small purse, and it's always hard for me to figure out how to carry all the mig stuff in it that I need (I'm not ready to "upgrade" yet). Here's what it's got:

--ImitrexSTAT dose kit plus alcohol wipes, cotton balls, and bandaids in a plastic baggy
--Travel size bottles of Compazine, Immodium, and Dramamine (for motion sickness, not migraine, but apparently they're kind of related)
--My MotoRokr with migraine soothing music and volume-adjustable earbuds
--At least 6 Burt's Bees lipbalms (peppermint!) and other assorted lip glosses
--Tons of coinage in case I need to get dark chocolate or a bottle of water from a vending machine in a hurry

I have extra ImitrexSTAT dose kits at home, at work, and in my backpack (never get caught without one). Ibuprofen is stashed at home, in my car, and at work. Ice packs at home. My last resort though is sleeping, so I have a worn out spot on my desk from where my head has crashed so many times!

In my purse I carry
Frova
Relpax
Vicodin
Roll on vial of peppermint, eucalyptus, & lavender
oils
topamax
phenergan suppositories(these are really
supposed to be refrigerated!)

Valerie

Goodness! Compared to what a lot of you guys carry my purse is really light! I carry

a small bottle of Excedrin
2 Zomig Nasal Sprays
Zofran ODT
Zofran tablets
Immodium tablets

and that's it!

Tracie

Dragon, I'm curious to hear how the Lortab and Soma works for you. Do you take it in combination? I've taken Lortab for years and had pretty good results, but it is starting to become less effective. Plus I'm sick of taking it (constipation, sexual side effects, etc.), and every physician I've ever had has given me a hard time about it. I'm wondering if adding something like Soma might help it work better, but I am concerned that it might be pretty sedating. I'm thinking of talking to my neuro about switching to oxycodone (Percocet) with the idea that it is stronger and I would take it less often.
Love to hear what your experience has been.

Well, I have taken Lortab and Soma together on occasion, though not very often. It kind of depends on when the need for migraine rescue coincides with a fibro flare, mostly.

I try to not take the Lortab unless I'm really, really needing it and other things, such as comfort measures, aren't working. The big reason for this is that while Lortab is very effective for me as a pain med, I hate the nasty, buzzy feeling. Lortab also doesn't make me groggy or sleepy. In fact, if I take it later in the day, say past suppertime, I run the likely risk of it keeping me awake, actually. It's kind of a hyper-awake, jittery near insomnia effect.

Soma, on the other hand, is the only thing we've ever found that works for me as a sleep aid, so it does double duty in my arsenal. I can take it pretty much any time of day for muscle spasms and fibro pain, but I most often take it close to bedtime. That's another reason I don't take Soma and Lortab together very often. One's good near bedtime, the other, not so much.

I don't really notice a big difference in taking them together, as opposed to taking them separately. It isn't like they "boost" each other. Once in a while, though, if I've taken the Soma, and it's not working very well, and I'm very uncomfortable, I'll try the Lortab (not together, but overlapping). I suppose someone that finds both to be sedating might have an enhanced reaction when combining them, but I don't fit that profile (or many others, for that matter), so I'm probably not the best one to ask.

As for switching from Lortab to Percocet, that reminds me of the conversation I had with an oral surgeon after having a tooth pulled. The Lortab wasn't cutting it, since the extraction was deep. He said I needed stronger pain meds, and upped me to the oxycodone capsules. But he also said that even though they were stronger, they also didn't last as many hours as Lortab, and so I'd have to take them every four hours as opposed to six, to make up the difference in the half-life. So switching higher up doesn't necessarily mean that a person would be taking less.

Like I said, though, I might not be the best person to ask this. Besides migraine and fibro, I also have Graves' Disease, and have had a complete thyroidectomy. So...I metabolize things differently than I used to, and I also have some absorption issues because of it. My individual reactions or non-reactions to any given med are all over the place and very unpredictable, even over time, since it can change up. So...skip the grain of salt and go for the whole shaker on all this.

quote:

Originally posted by JayDocTC:
Dragon, I'm curious to hear how the Lortab and Soma works for you. Do you take it in combination? I've taken Lortab for years and had pretty good results, but it is starting to become less effective. Plus I'm sick of taking it (constipation, sexual side effects, etc.), and every physician I've ever had has given me a hard time about it. I'm wondering if adding something like Soma might help it work better, but I am concerned that it might be pretty sedating. I'm thinking of talking to my neuro about switching to oxycodone (Percocet) with the idea that it is stronger and I would take it less often.
Love to hear what your experience has been.

Thanks for the info. I certainly understand that different people may respond dramatically differently (is that grammatically correct?) to a given medication. And I'm sure you have challenges with your medications given your thyroid disease.

My thinking on the percocet is that I would take it fewer days a week versus the lortab. I was taking quite a bit of the lortab and my neuro had me tapering off of it very slowly, taking some every day and slowly reducing over a period of several weeks. Finally I got tired of taking it every day because of the constipation and other side effects - it gives me insomnia, which seems weird since it is a CNS depressant, but I'ver heard other people say the same thing - so I stopped taking it. My migraines have gotten much less frequent, but when they come they seem to be worse. Now, when I do take the lortab it doesn't work as well. I'm hoping that the slight chemical difference between hydrocodone and oxycodone will help. I think I'll probably steer clear of the soma; I have seen a lot of patients run into problems with soma and painkillers.
Anybody else keep oxycodone (Percocet) in their bag of tricks?

Hey there, Jay,

Actually, it doesn't make any difference whether it's Percocet, Lortat, or any of that type of med when it comes to avoiding Medication Overuse Headache, aka rebound. We need to limit their usage to no more than two or three days a week to avoid MOH. You should find Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires useful.

quote:

Originally posted by JayDocTC:
Thanks for the info. I certainly understand that different people may respond dramatically differently (is that grammatically correct?) to a given medication. And I'm sure you have challenges with your medications given your thyroid disease.

My thinking on the percocet is that I would take it fewer days a week versus the lortab. I was taking quite a bit of the lortab and my neuro had me tapering off of it very slowly, taking some every day and slowly reducing over a period of several weeks. Finally I got tired of taking it every day because of the constipation and other side effects - it gives me insomnia, which seems weird since it is a CNS depressant, but I'ver heard other people say the same thing - so I stopped taking it. My migraines have gotten much less frequent, but when they come they seem to be worse. Now, when I do take the lortab it doesn't work as well. I'm hoping that the slight chemical difference between hydrocodone and oxycodone will help. I think I'll probably steer clear of the soma; I have seen a lot of patients run into problems with soma and painkillers.
Anybody else keep oxycodone (Percocet) in their bag of tricks?

To add to the purse conversation....

- sunglasses
- reading glasses
- heating pack (I can't really use it if I don't have a microwave... but you'd be surprised how often I can find one!)
- naproxen
- relpax (for now...)
- darvocet (also for now, although I never take it, I think I find some sort of reassurance in the fact that it's *there*)
- a little wooden massage tool I use on trigger points along my neck
- Badger Headache Soother - I *love* this stuff. My mother in law got it for me after hearing about it from a fellow constant head pain sufferer... it's an all natural balm with pepermint, lavender, eucalyptus, mandarin & sandalwood. I rub it all over my neck, temples, forehead and hands and it definitely helps!

It makes me sad to see all the help you all have in your purses. I am so mad at my Neuro. I used to have maxalt, naprosen, fioricet, for pain, but now I fired her because she wont perscribe any resue meds. And I never abused them, in fact I would take one or two only in severe pain, and that amounted to about 2 pills every two montes or so. Sigh,,,,,,, Oh well.

Oh, gosh!

I keep lots of things in my backpack- largely 'cause I've gotten stuck w/o my daily meds due to weather twice- both times where I was with friends and we got gobs and gobs of snow and couldn't get back to my place that night. So...

-a few days' supply of all of my meds (daily)
-zofran
-gelstat migraine
-frova or amerge, depending on which Rx I can fill at that point in the month
-Ultram ER
-Diamox Sequels- gotta get ahead of the weather sometimes
-pill cutter
-Parafon Forte DSC
-Celebrex (for now)- Usually Mobic though...
-eyeglasses (sometimes I can't stand my contact lenses during a migraine)
-Immodium (and it's been a savior at times)
-breathmints

I think there's more... Can't think of what else is in there right now, though.

Hi Headache Gal,
Sounds like finding a new neurologist is a good move. Having rescue meds on hand is not at all unreasonable. It's absurd to leave a patient with a four-hour and four-thousand-dollar trip to the ER as the only option for an intractable headache. I'm sure we've all had more than our fair share of evenings spent in the ER even with all the tools in our kits...
Good luck in your doctor search.

Well as of today - since I remembered MJ saying Ginger Altoids, I am adding them to my list.

I got a bad one at work today. Nausea was so bad. I remembered someone put Ginger Altoids in the kitchen, because I guess no one likes them. Well, I remembered that ginger helps stomachs and since I can't take my Tigan at work...I hit up the ginger Altoid - it did the trick! Thanks MJ! I'm buying them in bulk!

OK - in my purse/bag (yes, I carry two):
- Frova
- Skelaxin
- Vitamin C chewables
- Tigan
- Vicodin
- Sunglasses
- yellow tinted glasses (perscription)
- My Migraine/Headache Diary
- My list of Migraine preventive options
- Teri's Book, Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches
- Lip stuff
- gum
- and coming soon! Ginger altoids!

Yeah, I think I got everything.....

I'm glad my insanely long list of tricks could help someone else!

You guys really like those eh? I've never tried them because I couldn't imagine them being any good... I think Altoid, I think mint... I think ginger... I think mint + ginger and I think bad... but are they tasty? My mother-in-law eats candied ginger like crazy. She also wears the little wrist thingies with the bumps that sit on your pressure points... She also has a set that you use with a little bit of some sort of lube that works like a mini TENS unit I guess--I've used this when I'm insanely nauseated and it actually works! I forgot all about this until now... anyone else try this sort of thing? I've been meaning to try find one, she said she bought hers at a Longs of all places! It had the controls right in the contraption, just like a big wrist watch.

Ginger Altoids don't actually have any mint in them - just ginger. And they are strong. If you don't like the taste of ginger, you probably won't like the taste of ginger Altoids.

As for ginger + mint, I actually really like it - I have herbal tea at work that is literally just peppermint and ginger. You wouldn't think the tastes go together but they do, and they really help to settle the stomach.