Migraine

Good morning, and Happy Labor Day!

Well, I did make it to Med Express yesterday. It was a good experience. we got taken back fairly quickly, and the PA asked me if I had suffered prolonged migraines before. When I said yes, she asked me what worked, and I told her about prednisone. She told me she would write me a prescription for the prednisone and gave me the option of a toradol-phenergan IV before I left. When I looked to DH for advice, he said, "Take it, we've got to break this migraine". So I did. This was my first IV treatment ever for my migraines. I've been avoiding emergency trips up to now, but I couldn't ignore this one. When I looked at my headache calendar to see if I was in status, I saw that this migraine had lasted five days, not three. I need to pay more attention to this stuff.

I do feel better. The IV helped me rest, but didn't kick the migraine right away. It still almost makes me laugh when serious, serious drugs do nothing to touch this pain. It's just amazing to me. I came home around 3:00 and slept until 8:00. When I got up, I ate and took my first dose of prednisone. After I put DS to bed, I tried to do the same, but after about two hours of laying there, I figured it was time to give the sleep thing up. I've been up since about 1:00 am. The last time I was on prednisone it kept me awake too. A small price to pay, if I get a break from these migraines.

No plans today for the holiday. The trip to Med Express really spooked DH. He had a lot of anxiety about it. I think he's okay now, but he wants me to really take it easy. I don't plan on doing anything exciting, believe me.

I hope everyone has a good day. I'll be thinking of and praying for anyone who may be affected by the hurricane. Please stay safe.

Hi all!

Wow! I think I totally missed yesterday! LOL

I was not feeling well in the morning (I think it had something to do with the BBQ food the day before) so I got started late.

We went to our friends house for another BBQ yesterday, but I bought cold cuts and made a sandwich instead. I didn't want to do BBQ again since I was still not feeling that hot.

Today is clean the house and laundry day. I may even get outside to tend to the weeds!

I hope it's a slow day here because everyone is out having fun!!!

See ya later!

Hi all -

I just got up 20 minutes ago because I set the alarm. I've been staying up way too late - the others in the house are and I've just drifted into staying up with them. Not good for me. So I set the alarm this morning and will move the time up a little each day. I've been tryign to get Adam adjusted to an earlier time so he'll be ready for school on Thursday, but I get tired and lose track of time and Danny isn't much help on this. He totally loses track of time.

I felt a lot better yesterday, though post-drome. I went out to the block party for about an hour. That was nice - nice to see my neighbors. But vertigo was pretty noticeable and I came back and laid down again. This morning my head's a little achy! Not status - I've had several large breaks in the pain - but quite a cycle! I hope this clears today.

Mel I'm so glad you had a good urgent care experience - at least you know where to go next time!

Eileen sorry the barbeques disagreed with you. I stuck with the salads at our block party last night - just seemed easier on the system.

I'm hoping to have enough brain free of pain to get out grocery shopping today. Danny has an interview tomorrow () to prepare for, so between that & my head we're not going up to my folks. I will work on folding laundry & sorting papers in the desk areas. Both are things I can do on the bed if necessary.

I hope everyone enjoys their labor day. If you're in Gustav's path I hope you're safe.

- Megs

Good Morning--

Well I made it through another Sunday at work. I really kinda hate Sundays because I work next to a StatMed who doesn't close on Sunday when we do. So always, there is at least 1 person wanting an Rx filled right when we're closing, usually at least 2 or 3. Last night it was 2 who got there in the last minutes before closing. I'll usually fill them if it's only 1 or 2 if it's late like that even though weekend before last I had 3 complaints from people unsatistifed with my after hours degree of customer service (hello--have they heard of NO customer service after closing hours). I don't get paid 1 cent after closing, so it's extra irratating when they gripe. People just cannot see why I turn them away if I'm still working with patients but won't fill theirs when they walk up 10 minutes after closing. I try to be really nice, empathetic, explain where the closest 24 hour store is of any chain (it happens to be ours), but have to stand firm. I could work hours for free otherwise. Oops, should I move that to gripes?

I'm really not griping about the above--just get tired of people pressuring me, and being unwilling to understand why I can't help them. I hate not being able to, it really makes me feel bad, but if I don't enforce it, it just mushrooms!!!!!

I Think it's a good day for Harmoni to have a labor-less day, so am taking the day off. Seems like a good day to spend a few hours with my migraine book. I'm a bit stuck at the moment. Today, I'm determined to get unstuck, and words flowing again. Since it's the rough draft, many of the words are ones that will be dumped, but at the momemt any words are welcome.

Melissa--I'm so sorry you had to go to Urgent Care. If you don't improve quickly, don't be afraid to go back. Sometimes it takes 2 doses of toradol, etc to break a bad one, at least in my experience.

Eileen--If my weeds even saw me coming they'd just laugh their heads off. I do have a date with the area our vegie garden used to be. I need to kill Johnson grass like crazy this year if we want a garden next year (we're planning a big one) so will have to start spraying with Round UP, the ONLY way to get rid of Johnson Grass.

Megs--Glad your head is better. Hope it continues to improve. You asked about your almost namesake Nutmegan. Shes doing well, her early pregnancy continues to progress normally. Of course, she's on daily hormones to minimize the chances of her miscarrying. As soon as the summertime heat drops she'll be going back into training with BFF. I have to call the breeder and let her know we would like to rebreed to the same dead stallion next year if possible.

Hope everybody has a great holiday. We'll be just lazing and round and eating leftover barbeque from Saturday.

Tracie

I'm moving slowing and suffering head pain in my right sinus. It's been doing that a couple days now. It doesn't seem like it's a sinus infection (no green stuff) but it is gettng annoying. It may be a mild migraine, I'm not sure. It could also be the weather. We actually had thunderstorms in the area yesterday which is weird for us. I'm very sensitive to barometric changes.

I have nothing planned today. DH should be home sometime this afternoon from Dubai. There was no internet there so he'll be irritated and tired.

DS's band is showing up on commercials on FUSE tv. He saw the first one yesterday and screamed at me. Scared me to death. It's a new show called "Rock Bottom." It's about bands who have a member with a drug or alcohol problem. His bass player has been in rehab for almost a month. That's part of the show. Not sure what to think of this show but it's getting them exposure. I'll let everyone know when it airs.

Melissa, I'm glad you went in yesterday. Sometimes we just need the extra help.

Eileen, I"m sorry the BBQ got to you . I hope the rest of your day goes well.

Megs, I hope you feel well enough to get your "busy" work done. If not, take it easy.

Tracie, Don't fret about others. Many people cannot put themselves in others' shoes. You are only human and can do only so much. I hope you get inspired for writing. I haven't touched my book in almost a month. I open it but nothing flows. I'm sure it will again when I'm ready.

P.S. Nebraska won! The Blackshirts are back! Go Big Red!

Hello Everyone,

Well everyone is having an intersting weekend. I do hope peopel are staying out of harms way. I'm not tracking the hurricane well. But I'm not tracking much well. I know where the kids and the dog are and I feel like I'm doing really well.

I have to call the doctor tommorrow, I won't bore you with the less than exciting details. But I don't think Inderal is my friend, nor is the lower dose of topamax I'm still on.

Melissa if you had to go in, I'm happy for you that the urgent care was positive. It so often does not happen and you've had enough problem lately.

Tracie some people just don't get it with customer service. The close sign is up and they see it as a guideline not a rule.

Megs I'm your block party sounded like fun. I'm glad you were able to enjoy it for awhile. It's hard getting everyone back into "school time".

Hoops enjoy your DH's homecoming. How long will he be off before he flys off again?

I need to fold clothes today. That might be all I get done, but I really need to do that. I'm so tired. I've slept well the last couple of nights, but I think the inderal is leaving me very fatigued like the zonagran did. Not as bad, but not pretty. I'm rambling aren't I. Sorry.

I got to spend a bit of time both Saturday and Sunday working outside. Not a long time, but some time and it was nice. I got tired but the weather was not too hot as it had been earlier in the week.

Ok, I'm going to sign off for now. Take care everyone.

Cindy

Happy Labor Day! And prayers for those in hurricane territory.

I've been laid up most of the week with bursitis in my right shoulder, which made it hard to type! I did, however, find a computer game I could play with one hand LOL!

It's getting better now, so hopefully I won't have to do anything dramatic like get a cortisone shot, which could send my migs into orbit. The total for the month of August was 17 out of 31 days, which is slightly more than 50% but substantially down from the 25 to 27 out of 30 I was enduring earlier in the year. I am SO grateful.

But my shoulder better heal up fast. We are flying to Mich next week for my annual visit to see my mom. I will have a four day mig without a doubt, but it's too far to drive, even if driving didn't also give me migs, and at 82 she's too old to come to NY. She used to come often, we really enjoyed going to the museums especially. But airports are too exhausting for her now, and not seeing her at all is NOT an option, so guess what, a four day mig won't kill me (I promise LOL).

This week I have an appt with my mig specialist, a six-month followup. I don't expect any big news, but it's important that the records show he is still treating me. And I will be making an appt with another mig specialist soon as well.

Oh, I have a victory to report! My long-term disability claim was partially approved. Finally! After five years of fighting and lawyers and affidavits and appeals and so on, they have finally conceded that when I left work I was in fact disabled, but, get this, DUE TO DEPRESSION. So they have agreed to pay 13 weeks of short-term disability at full pay and two years of long-term disability at 2/3 pay. But since they are deeming it a mental health disability rather than a physical health disability, they are limiting the coverage to the standard two years, same as one of my relatives got for bipolar disorder.

So here's what I told the lawyers. Feel free to use it yourselves any old time for any old reason!

"I have not been clinically depressed for over five years. My diagnosis is dysthymia, which is a mild mood disorder, that has been in kept remission for over five years by taking Effexor as a preventive [totally true]. It doesn't trouble me any more than my husband's asthma troubles him as long as he takes his preventives. My disability is not due to depression, it is due to fibromyalgia and migraine disease."

Howzat??!! Yessssssssss!!!!!

morning all. today i go back to work after the long weekend. and i'm not looking forward to it. i have some briefings that are mandatory to attend and then i'm going straight into the flight doc for relief. my neuro visit is coming up on monday... thank god.

fri and sat weren't too bad. got out with the family and did some browsing. but since sunday the frequency and intensity have both gone up. i think my breaking point was when i was about to give my little boy a hug before he left for school. and it hit me like a lightning bolt. then he asked me "poppa, are you not ok?" it wasn't good.

i'm thinking about adding some supplements to my diet because of some research i've been doing. apparently a lot of migraine patients have low magnesium and b-12. it's something i'm looking into. any thoughts?

I just wanted to add a thought I had the other day (and posted on MJ's blog). We can't expect to run marathons if we have a broken leg, and we can't expect to do everything in life perfectly if we have migraine disease. We're sick! If we were healthy, of course we could do everything. But we're not, we're sick. And accepting that and making the necessary accommodations to it can make our lives much more manageable and much less guilt provoking.

Laura, I'm happy for you and sad for you. It's ridiculous that your disability is for depression but at least you got it. I know the frustrations. I finally got my disability but it will have to be reviewed yearly. Talk about stress! And stress exacerbates fibro pain. So I blame them for increasing my fibro pain, hence causing me to need disability. What a cycle.

I am STILL waiting for my short term income replacement disability to be approved. Even though I've been approved for permanent disability, short term disability can't decide. Tell me that makes sense. The whole system is dumb!

Take care.

Hi guys,

Not feeling well today. Popped in for just a sec before heading back to bed...

Noah, I wanted to tell you that many of us take supplements: CoEnzyme Q10, Magnesium, B12, and Butterbur (Petadolex) are some examples of those that migraine sufferers often use. You should definitely ask your doctor before adding any med--even a supplement--to your preventive regimen! Your doctor will be better informed about how much you should take, what time of day, etc.

You may want to search our site for magnesium, B12, etc. to follow past discussions we've had here about these. They come up often around here!

Be well everyone. Gustav go away!

jenny

Hi All,

Just wanted to pop in to say HI!!! Had a rough day today with a minor migraine that won't quit. I with you Jenny, back to bed for me. Sounds like a wild weekend for some, but will catch up tomorrow.


Dar