Migraine

I flew to Nashville this week to see my specialist, Dr. Jan Brandes. The appointment went well. Her scale said that I had lost ten pounds in the 7 weeks since I'd seen her. I must have been wearing heavy clothes when I saw her the first time! My scale says about 7, which is a pound a week, which is a good clip. But she was thrilled. She says that increased BMI is a risk factor for chronic migraine.

She studied my headache diary closer than I do! She has me write on a calendar: my level of pain; what, if anything I took; how long to relief; and how much relief. She looked for patterns and wrote down how many days I had with 7s and 6s.

I flew up Monday, from Mississippi to Dallas, to Nashville. To get to Nashville, I have to fly through Dallas, Atlanta, or Houston. Odd, isn't it, that there's not a more direct flight? Or something through Memphis? But either go west to go east, or go farther east and then go west?

Flew home yesterday. Both travel days, I made it through without a major attack! I had something starting both days but took my Skelaxin, naproxen and Imitrex cocktail early, and it didn't progress beyond a 4 or 5.

Dr. Brnades was pleased with my improvement. Most days are below a 5, and while I don't have many pain-free days, the Skelaxin (up to 7 days a week) or triple med blast (up to 3 days a week) often brings the pain down to a 1 or 2. That beats the fool out of 5 or 6 or 7 every day!

I'm to keep increasing both the Lyrica and the Cymbalta. Slow down a bit on the Cymbalta increase. She wanted me to start increasing the Lyrica every 5 days. I've been doing every 7, on Fridays, and I told her I'd like to continue that schedule. It's hard keeping up with the every-5-day schedule! She was OK with that.

I didn't sleep all that well at the hotel. Strange bed, no DH, worrying about oversleeping. I'm sure we've all been there. But I made sure I got my morning coffee on time and that I ate good food at my regular times.

It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night.

Overall, a great trip.

Gretchen in Mississippi

Great, Gretchen, congratulations. I'm so glad for your improvement. It's not all you hope for in the long run, but I know it makes a real difference in the short run.

Take care. Good luck with your continued migraine management.

Gretchen,

Thanks for updating on your trip!

And Way To Go on loosing those pounds! Yahoo! You must be so proud of yourself! Here is a totally calorie free fat free cake to celebrate!

I totally forgot you were gone to see Dr. Brandes. I was wondering where you were in the tea room and then I saw your post just now and I remembered! I guess migraine fog is getting the best of me!

So happy on the great visit! Yea!

Kelly

Gretchen, that just sounds really great. I am so glad for you.

How is the Lyrica? Any side effects? Obviously not weight gain! But swelling in hands and feet?

Hey Gretchen - Glad to hear the appointment went so well. And the flying! (It's crazy the airline system - I had to fly to Chicago to get to Richmond once, from Newark - no-one but a computer could think of that!) Glad to have you back and it all sounds very encouraging.

- Megs

Gretchen,
Sounds like you had a good trip and you lost more wieght It is great that your doctor looks so carefully for patterns in your headache diary. It seems she is really working with you and it's beginning to make a difference in your level of pain . That is great news and very encouraging. Glad you are back.
Dar

Hooray Gretchen! Sounds like it was a very productive visit.

You must have flown the same airline I did. From Richmond, to Tampa Bay, to Houston to finally Dallas. Yikes! But, I couldn't beat the price and plan on doing it the same way next time.

Congrats!!!

No side effects from the Lyrica. I'm watching for the increased appetite and weight gain, but so far, if there's a tendency, I'm fighting it. I'm glad, because I'm very susceptible to weight gain side effects.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Gretchen in Mississippi