Category Archives: Migraine Headaches

Migraine Diary – September 2006


Posted by katiebird

[FamilyMan is a regular commenter at Eat4Today & contributes his Migraine Diaries on an irregular schedule -- katiebird]

I haven’t posted on the migraine diary for awhile. Mostly me being lazy I guess, but here are the latest things that have happened to me.

The Occipital Nerve Block (ONB) was done in May. Here’s the story from my point of view. It really wasn’t bad and the anticipation and worry about it was far worse than the procedure. I wrote this awhile after I got back home and my frame of mind was not the best. I’ve talked to a lot of people that this has worked for, and I was more than willing to give it another try. So I don’t want to turn anyone off from trying this. It didn’t work for me, but it may work for you.

It’s Just a Little Pin Prick

I made my appointment and had the ONB done. A nurse checked me in, an intern asked me questions and finally the doctor came back in with the intern.

I asked the doctor questions, he answered them and then I asked how long would this last. He said the effects would work for four to six week, if it worked. IF IT WORKED!!!!! IF IT &%$** WORKED? What the heck is going on? He told me for a lot of people it works and some it doesn’t. We’ll just have to see. (more)
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Migraines?


Posted by katiebird

For the past several years what I think are migraines have been kicking my butt.s Anywhere from mildly annoying to the eye jabbing bouts that FamilyMan described so well … but always accompanied by a quesy stomach, extreme fatigue, and sensitive eyes. The bouts last anywhere from four hours to two days and occur at least twice a month.

t At first I thought it was hormone related since both my mom and younger sister suffered from them during hormonally stressful times. But then I went a year without periods [hoping I was done with the horrible cramps and PMS ... only to start having them again two months ago ... SIGH], but the headaches continued the entire time and when I mentioned it to my doctor he said it was unusual for migraines to start at menopause and then ignored it.

Then I thought maybe the Sleep Apnea was the culprit and asked my doctor last year. He made me take a sleep study even though I knew it really WAS Sleep Apnea and I’ve been using a CPAP machine as much as can be tolerated, but the headaches continue … having a mild one right now.

Not wanting to take pills for the rest of my life that may cause more problems that what they are supposedly curing, I just take Excedrine Migrane and try to sleep through it whenever possible. The last time I had a bad bout I thought to stop in at Osco on my way home to check my blood pressure after reading on the Internet that there may be a connection between Sleep Apnea, migraines, and high blood pressure … and discovered it was, indeed extremely high for me.t Having always been kidded by nurses that I was dead because my blood pressure was so low and it was so hard for them to get a pulse, this terrified me. Once I felt better, it went way down, but is still high for me.

c I think this just qualifies as a rant since there really isn’t any point to this entry other than passing on my pain. Going to take a nap now, if I can, since I can’t eat lunch.


Migraine Diary – Occipital Nerve Block


Posted by katiebird

I just went to see my neurologist the other day and I ask all my questions and told him all the remedies you all have been so nice to recommend. He appeared interested in all the remedies and told me some things work for some people and some don’t. So we went on to what he’s treating me with.

He has recommended a new treatment that has me more than a little nervous. It called an Occipital Nerve Block. A pain specialist will identify the problem nerves at the back of the head. A small amount of anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medicine will be injected around one or both of the occipital nerves. You may feel a reproduction of your headache as the area is injected. Depending on the medicine used, you should feel relief in a few seconds to a few minutes. For a more severe problem, both sides may need to be injected.

It’s supposed to stop migraines from 3-4 day to 3-4 weeks. I’m not really excited about this procedure, but he’s beginning to run out of options and other than inserting something into my brain, I’m willing to try almost anything. Unfortunately this falls into the almost range. I told him to let me think about this, but if it works and leaves no lasting side effects, I might go ahead and try it.

I’ve always thought I didn’t want to try something invasive, but it get to a point where you are willing to try just about anything. I got a call last Friday that they had set me up for this on Tuesday. That’s pretty fast for me and I canceled it until next month. I want enough time to research it as much as possible. I know my Neurologist wouldn’t recommend it if it was harmful, but I’m still not so sure.

If it stops it I’ll be happy, but also a little sad. I won’t be able to use a migraine as an excuse for not doing the lawn anymore.


Migraines Sites and Remedies


Posted by katiebird

Migraines Sites and Remedies

This migraine diary is not a personal experience driven diary as my prior ones. This diary I hope will become an information center for migraines. Below will be a brief descriptions of sites with migraine information.This diary I hope will have a wide contribution by everyone. In other words, if you run across an article on migraines that you might feel helpful please go ahead and type a description, add the link, and you just added to the community knowledge. Also, if you have a remedy or way of treating your migraines that works for you, please feel free to share.I’ll keep adding links and remedies as I hope you will. Continue reading →


Migraine Journal


Posted by katiebird

I read here on depression and I thought I have been there too. I fight depression not from anger or snakes, but from fear. I’ve had migraines most of my adult life. I was able to live with them only happening every 2 –3 months. At that time they only lasted 24 hours and after a trip to the emergency room I would go home and sleep. I came to accept it as a way of life for me. Three years ago I had heart bypass surgery. (Which is another journey into the wonders of pain, I’ll take you some day) After the surgery, although I didn’t realize it at first, I had severely depression. The constant pain of just trying to breathe, much less move was maddening. I had pain medication, which would help, but just enough to where I could go to the bathroom, bathe, or eat. I would lay in bed and think “God why did you let me live”. I would have just preferred to had died and gotten it over with. I eventually got over the pain and depression, but after that my migraines became more intense and frequent.

I have daily headaches, which go from bothersome to bad, but they are not migraines. The daily headaches I can live with. Although, when the normal headache goes to bad – it is bad. I used to be able to take Tylenol, aspirin, or Advil, but not anymore. My doctor has told me that these could cause what is known as “Rebound Headaches”. So while trying to treat yourself with what is available, you are just making it worse. I was told you will have the headaches coming back sooner and with more intensity. So for the normal headaches, even bad ones, I don’t take anything. As I said above, I’ve come to accept this as a way of life.

Migraines are a different animal and are beyond description. Doctors now of days will ask you “On a pain scale of 1 to 10 what is your pain number”. During a full-blown migraine you want to scream 100, 1000, 1,000,000, but you can only say 10. 10 is such a paltry number to describe your agony. Continue reading →