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Migraine Community MyMigraineConnection Archive of Long or Older Conversations So what if you need advil for other aches and pains?|
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Novice |
All right, all right, I know! Back when I was diagnosed with chronic daily headaches a couple years ago, all I had at my disposal was advil and fioricet (which I had been using for very infrequent headaches up until these started pretty suddenly) and by the time I went to the doc I was taking upwards of 2-4 every 4-6 hours depending on how bad a day it was. If I could take a nap, I took the fioricet. (Sadly, at this point I can take a 1/2 phenergan + 1-2 fioricet along with the 300mg topomax and zyrtec I take every day and sometimes benadryl at night if the itchings too bad. Geez!)
Anyhow, he never mentioned rebound headaches, though when I went to him, I told him that I was going to kill my kidneys or get an ulcer from all the advil. That's when we started the topomax. So once I could function again (aside from work and kids) I got on the internet and did my own research and figured out the rebound part, but I have to admit, that until this week, I've still really only used advil and fioricet. Now I have my 10 (sorry pharmacist) Imitrex tablets to use. So, what do you do for cramps, neck pain, upper back pain, cramps again (when your period is every 2-3 weeks), elbow pain (so far the aspercreme is doing ok), hip pain (when I walk too much), shoulder (when I can't move after sleeping funny-the new mattress comes this week WAHOO!!!!) whatever! I have loved my advil and it works so well. I am really trying NOT to use it. I remember someone saying she only uses meds for HA over a 5, but man, that's when I can't function well. 3-4 is when I need something, 5-6 definitely fioricet, and 7-8 I'm in tears and miserable (maybe still at work, but in the bathroom). I have Thermacare heat things (I should own stock in that company!) for my neck but they only cover so much hurt, I also have other ones you heat in the microwave I use in the evening and a heating pad in the bed. Cremes -aspercreme, biofreeze which work somewhat for 30 minutes or so. I stretch, wiggle, hot shower, etc, but cramps need advil. They #### All 5 days of my period. I'd need a diaper thermacare to help them  And I see a massage therapist about every 2 weeks when I can with a sprinkle of acupuncture and chiro thrown in for good measure. My new plan is to head back to my doc with some info on the neck/headache connection. I had asked the previous primary about a muscle relaxer and he blew me off, but that was years ago way before the headaches were an issue. I've only been going to this one for 1 1/2 yrs and only seen him 3 times and he's already much more willing to try new things. I've read with interest and shivers the lido injection in the neck (how sweet for all the neck/shoulders/upperback to relax away for even 1 full week!) but how icky to get injected in your neck. Maybe it's like a spinal before a c-section - I didn't feel that at all. I guess I'm anticipating my period any day now (Tricky since I stopped my BCP cold turkey last week)and I'm really, really trying to be a good girl since coming here. So if the past few months have been any indication, I'm in for a 3 day headache (but I'm armed with Imitrex now!) followed by 5 days of cramps - oh joy~ |
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Sage |
I don't miss cramps a bit! I had a twinge that felt like the beginning of cramps the other day and had to remind myself that I went through menopause 3 or 4 years ago!
I think you're doing a good job keeping out of the Advil bottle. It really is hard to stay out of rebound when you're hurting. Ask about muscle relaxers. My neck and shoulders are big triggers for my migraines. I used to take Flexeril every day, and it helped. I had to go off it because of nasty dizzy spells. But currently, I'm instructed to take a Skelaxin when my head or neck gets to between 1 and 3. I can add anaprox (high dose naproxen) and Imitrex when the pain gets above 3, but only 3 days a week. I also have Botox, in my scalp, neck and shoulders. I have severe spasms in those muscles, which the Botox paralyzes. The injections aren't bad. It was weird the first time, getting a bunch of injections in strange places. But the needle is tiny, and the Botox doesn't sting going in. I didn't have an epidural (to my GREAT surprise -- I was planning on one but didn't need it), so I can't compare, but it's a lot less unpleasant than a flu shot. Gretchen in Mississippi |
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Grand Wizard |
I actually just talked to my PCP about this on Friday. I've always had a heavy period with bad cramps, but the last few months the cramps have been awful. I'm very sensitive to rebound headache, so I told my PCP I did not want to use painkillers, and what were my other options?
What I've decided to do (for the cramps and irregularity of my period) is to get the Mirena IUD. I don't want to go on the BCP for a variety of reasons, but mostly that I'm worried my headaches/migraines would get worse. Ditto for the Depo-Provera shot. So as long as my HA specialist okays it, I'm going to get the Mirena. As for other aches and pains - I just suffer through them. I'm still young (24) so most of my pain is head-related. I have daily moderate migraines, so if the pain is a 5 or less I don't normally treat. I don't have much option right now. I have two triptans I use (Imitrex and Frova), but they only work for me if I take them with ibuprofen, which means once I'm at my triptan limit for the week, I'm also at my ibuprofen limit. I do have some intermittent pain in my left shoulder, left over from when I sprained it in high school. I talked to my PCP about it on Friday (to make sure it wasn't anything cardiac, because of where the pain was) and she asked me to describe how bad the pain was on a 0-10 scale. I sort of laughed and said that my pain scale is rather skewed due to the severity of my migraines. *sigh* Sad but true. Not sure if any of this helped - it's very frustrating trying to figure out what meds I can or should take and how often. I think a lot of us here struggle with that. -MJ my blog: http://rhymeswithmigraine.blogspot.com/ Why do I capitalize Migraine? Hope can grow from the soil of illness! http://www.InvisibleIllness.com "What will you do, if it does not turn out how you expect?" "I do not know. Nor shall I worry about it until it happens. I still have an action left to take; until I have exhausted it, I shall not despair." - Robin Hobb, Assassin's Quest |
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Forum Moderator Supreme Guru  |
I almost never get cramps anymore at that time of the month. If I do, they're generally mild. Curling up with my microwave rice bag helps a lot. If I do get some really bad cramps out of the blue, a muscle relaxant helps a lot more. I see Gretchen suggested this, too. It's worth asking your doctor about.
 Dragondrool Forum Moderator ~~8=:>>>> |
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Sage |
Hi - I can't take any OTC pain meds because of severe allergies. My PCP recently had me get an amino acid called D-Phenylalanine. It induces your body to produce endorphins - which he said will help with pain, the body's own pain-killer, but it causes no rebound or dependency. You might ask you doctor about it - it's sold as "Endorphigen" by Lidtke Technologies and the bottle says "For the dietary management of PMS."
Haven't had any non-migraine pain yet to test it out on, but thought I'd mention it. - Megs |
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Community Manager Guru  |
Call the GYN??
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Forum Moderator Guru  |
Forgive me for sounding like a broken record in case I have provided these links before but they are worth mentioning:
medication overuse headache aka rebound and; preventative medications and lastly: patient recommended doctors. I just wanted to make sure you are as informed as possible. I have migraines several times a week and there are some awful days I have to go without any meds because of MOH. It stinks!! So, I literally feel your pain. I'm glad you have your Imitrex...what a blessing. I recently started seeing a specialist from our list and have seen improvement! All my best to you!  Laura Forum Moderator ***You're welcome to enter your birthday, etc in the Celebrate folder so we can party with you!! =) ***  |
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Novice |
Guess I should add I do have the GYN involved and she was VERY sympathetic to the HA issue - she suffers also! I just saw her at the beginning of the month but she usually recommends motrin or aleve for cramps, esp since it has always worked so well in the past. She did do some lab work to see if the whole hormone/thyroid/whatever could be of any connection to my messed up cycles (leading to more headaches). No luck with that route. Actually, I take BCP b/c when I find the right one, I at least have a regular cycle - obviously this one quit working!
 But we also decided to just give up BCP for now and at least see if they were contributing to HA at this time (though I had gone off the one that I thought started this whole CDH mess a couple years ago for several months before switching brands and it didn't seem to help then) I'm keeping in touch with her and we have more plans if life doesn't get better. MJ, I looked into the Mirena quite a bit a couple years ago during that nasty BCP experience (there's that googling thing  ) and really cruised a few women's boards and BC boards seeing what experiences other folks had with it. In the end I opted out. I have to pay cash up front (my insurance coverage is great but no IUDs) so the $500 experiment wasn't worth it if things didn't go right. I tend to get a lot of yeast infections, ironically since I was pregnant - maybe there is some HA/yeast connection but I'm not going there. They are a listed side effect of BCPs. Plus at that time, I still wasn't absolutely sure I wanted a "permanent" end (I think I was 39 and still giving hubby that one last chance......5 years is a pretty long time when you're 40ish!) In the end I just switched brands. I guess since I ruled it out then, she didn't even mention it this time. Now we're living like teenagers ;0 Oh my!Diane |
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Grand Wizard |
I am very fortunate that my health insurance covers IUDs - I have to find out the specifics for Mirena still. Also, I'm only 24 so it's likely I would keep it the full 5 years.
Thanks for the update. Hopefully you find something that works soon. -MJ my blog: http://rhymeswithmigraine.blogspot.com/ Why do I capitalize Migraine? Hope can grow from the soil of illness! http://www.InvisibleIllness.com "What will you do, if it does not turn out how you expect?" "I do not know. Nor shall I worry about it until it happens. I still have an action left to take; until I have exhausted it, I shall not despair." - Robin Hobb, Assassin's Quest |
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Migraine Community MyMigraineConnection Archive of Long or Older Conversations So what if you need advil for other aches and pains?
