Re: sharing and some whoo hoo's!

Oooh, oooh! I know! I know the answer to that one!

I'm a touch typist. I do not need to look at the monitor to write blog posts. I type with my eyes closed, and then pry one open for a half-second to get the cursor in the right spot to click to save the post.

I'm with Sheena. If I'm really having a full migraine, there is no possible way I'm even tapping on the keys, let alone checking my monitor. Nothing for it but a shot and lying down. OTOH, if I'm just in the "warning" stages

- then I can certainly function, albeit not happily.

Personally, I think a lot of people tend to classify their serious headaches as migraines, when they're actually not - although still painful.

Ellice

I think you're right. With a migraine there is no way - if I was sitting here with a migraine (and I do touch type, have to, I have an MS keyboard and as usual all the letters are gone long ago which makes aggro for my grandson when he uses it) my head would be turning and it would lead to vomiting.

Tension headaches can be debilitating but they are limited to pain not all the other side effects migraines have.

Which shot do you take? I use Migranal in nasal spray form but he has suggested a couple of times I might need to ramp up to shots.

I went back and forth between diagnosis of migraine and "no, that doctor is an idiot, they're sinus" until I met a doctor who herself had both, and suggested that the ones with the pain in my face were sinus and the ones with the throbbing in my skull were migraine. Which would certainly make sense because some days I could take a whole bottle of sinus pills and it would not make a dent in the pain (because they were treating the wrong symptom).

Whatever you want to call them, I do get severe, blinding headaches that require lying down in a dark room, but because I can type lying down with my eyes closed, that wouldn't prevent me from blogging about one if I were so inclined.

Yup, me too. Plus, I usually get a couple of floaters, and the nausea before the migraine really blooms.

True - it's the vascular thing versus other.

I've stayed with using sumatriptan, or "Imitrex" -. The drugs are different chemically, Migranal is an alpha-adrenergic blocker (working specifically on smooth muscles of peripheral & cranial blood vessels). Imitrex is a more selective agonist for seritonin uptake, and works on the cranial carotid arteries - again vasoconstriction. I've been using Imitrex since it came out - and use the shots. I tried the pills - forget it. I do keep the nasal spray handy, but for me generally I have to use the injections. They work very well for me - I essentially have about 15-20 min from injection to "I must go lie down" - then I sleep about 45 min, and voila - better. Unless I've waited too long, and the headache has bloomed into a full migraine - then I may need 2 shots. But, I'll talk to my doc about the Migranal. Don't know if that would be better. The injections work faster - if you don't have enough warning for the nasal spray to do it's thing - or it's just not quite getting the job done -the injection definitely gets more drug quicker working into your system.

Oh, well - it's better than when there was nothing (as I'm allergic to aspirin) but getting a narcotic shot.

Ellice

I don't doubt you get migraines. I sincerely find it amazing that anyone in the throes of such - regardless of their digital dexterity would be blogging at the same time. Unless of course they were so inclined to demonstrate the ability to function when seemingly in a non-functional state. Of course, I also can't imagine being down with a migraine and thinking that anything I had to blog about was so important that it couldn't wait. But that's just me.

ellice

I used to use Imitrex and it was very good, but as has always happened, the effect becomes less after a few years. I find Migranal good, as you say, has to be used quickly.

Did you know they are working hard on one which would be able to be used later in the migraine ? They were testing and I was asked to be part of the study but in the end my age group was over subscribed, I wasn't too sorry about that as you had to stop your regular meds, take theirs, and take it late in the migraine. I could foresee some awful times ahead.

Now as it happens I am on a test study for the Bird Flu Vaccine. So far so good, but another 17 months to go. I had Swine 'Flu back in the 70s and never want another major 'flu. I figured since it will kill the youngest and the oldest first, it was kind of like a duty :)

I don't recall ever blogging with a migraine myself, but I have had to send e-mail (Dear Client, I have a migraine, so am sending your file to my backup. Dear Backup, I have a migraine, please return file to Client before deadline tomorrow.) when I could barely pry an eye open to find the right spot to click Send.

I squint...and run away quickly! It does hurt... alicia

I can post- Imitrex do a lot of stuff with a migraine. It only takes

5-10 minutes to work. If Imitrex doesn't work then it's not a migraine. I medicate at the start of the headache, not when it's full blown. Doc says not to let it get full blown, it then takes more time to counter the affects. ;) alicia

Oh, heehee, I guess this whole thing is moot..I went back to see the hullabaloo... when I blogged this post, I said... "Yesterday, while I was battling a major (2 day) migraine, things were happening here in the blogosphere to create a few Whoo Hoo=92s!!" This was my post-imitrex-post-migraine blogpost... ;) glad y'all shared your medical updates though ;) alicia

The thing that tipped off my suffering-herself doctor that I had two kinds was the complaint that some days I could take a whole bottle of sinus pills before lunch and it still didn't put a dent in the pain.

My problem is, by the time I've figured out it's a migraine and not sinus, it's too far gone for me to get myself to the ER for a shot of anything. And they probably wouldn't want to add more drugs if I 'fessed up to having a ton of sinus meds already in my system.

fight off the residual pain. That is just NO FUN. No. Nope. NO.

Now, I take one dose of tylenol...if nothing happens within 20 min. I take Imitrex. It usually works right away. On really bad headache days, it will wear off, then I am on to the second dose. In between doses I can be upright and alright, until it sets in badly again.

I guess I'm lucky that I respond to the meds pretty well. (Of course Tylenol alone knocks me out for at least an hour...lol) smiles, alicia

*I've been 'plurking' and this past week I've seen over 8 of the 50 people I have on my list there have suffered migraines...on the same days....how weird is that?

Just a thought, but sinus can be greatly helped with chiropractic and/or acupuncture. If you have a school of Chinese Medicine in your area, or nearby, you can get these services rather inexpensively. Taking so much medication can trigger me off with my FMS and I can go into instant fog and flare, so be really careful with what you take. Another thing I've found helpful is taking Ultra Milk Thistle because it is an anti-inflammatory and helps my liver function, but also helps with flare ups.

v

Oh, yeah, I found that out when I trashed my back in 1983. I was going to the chiro for that and one day had a sinus headache, too. Pop pop, the sinuses started draining instantly. I was amazed, and Doc just laughed. "Toldya so." I'd been a skeptic, but that made a believer out of me.

Problem is, the last few really bad headaches have started evenings/weekends when I can't get an appointment with a chiro. "Sometimes", laying on the couch with my head hanging off the arm can pop the right vertebra via gravity. Not always, but enough that it's worth a try. Plan B, ThermaCare wrap around my neck and see if that loosens up the muscles enough to slide the problem spot back into place.

My mom gets migraines and she gets so bad she elimintes the contents of her stomach and has to be in a dark room with ice on her eyes for hours on end. I think I've had two or three "migraine" headaches in my life, mostly caused by the chemo and fever, but never as horrible as others.

Are these Olympians ever going to all get into this stadium? It's taking forever. The opener was spectacular, but I couldn't help but cry for Chinese oppression on the Tibetan people and of their own people.

v

Interesting. I have a lot of drug allergies - enough to be a serious issue with my treatments, so when changing or adding a drug there's always some real thinking. But, I'll look into it. I read briefly in my pharmacology books - I'll do some more checking. Thanks for the idea.

I heard that. The good thing for me is I usually have a few minutes of warning, and keep either an injector or nasal spray on me mostly all the time. The bad thing is I'm a bit stubborn - and also a very high pain threshold/tolerance person. So, I tend to not take analgesics unless I'm really sure that I need them. So - if I'm not really thinking "this is a migraine" I'll wait too long, and then have to do a shot, with a second one a.s.a.p. (usually about 40 min)

Lucky you. I don't do most flu shots, - the allergy issues. Makes it interesting during flu season as I'm on an ambulance crew - duh.

Ellice

That I can relate to - as I've had to postpone a class I'm teaching, or the like. But, if it's really bad - DH gets to make a call or type.

Ellice

Absolutely. That's why if you wait with Imitrex, you end up having to do a second dose - recommended about an hour later.

Ellice