I've had it! Please someone put me out of my misery! This weekend made it 6 solid months with the migraine. I even had to cancel a much anticipated S.E.X. outing with Ellice and Donna over it. I knew on Friday, with it thundering all through the right side of my head and my stomach refusing to allow food to sit quietly that there was no way I'd be up and ready at 8:30 when Ellice was gonna come get me.
So, 6 mos of pain, a C-scan, a MRI, several changes of medications, a change of neurologists, constant fatigue from being unable to sleep because of the pain, and I am still going to work 40 hrs a week, trying to keep up with my house, cooking, grocery shopping, the dogs the cats the kids. Not Xsting as much as I'd like, because the fine focus it requires (mentally as well as visually) is beyond my current abilities.
I think one of the only things keeping me going at the moment is the thought that maybe Dude and I can go back to The Mayan Riviera next summer--to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
As much as I dislike working with Aida, I'm considering buying some to do a small project on, just because I can probably focus on it!
What beats me, Caryn, is with my previous long experience of migraine (and both my daughters) there is just NO way any of us could even consider going to work, travelling, or doing ANYTHING but going to bed in a darkened room for several hours. It`s the same with any friends who suffer that way. Luckily I had my last migraine at the age of 46 - which was when I stopped taking the Pill.
Sleep was the only real escape, sometimes. Painkillers often didn`t work because they wouldn`t stay down. On occasion it was necessary to have a suppository or an injection. It makes me wonder if you`re actually having a migraine, or something else - Neuralgia, in some form, perhaps? Whatever it is, I hope they soon come up with something for it. When it`s a pain in the head you CAN`T sort of shove it to one side like you could a broken leg, can you?
Have you ever tried something called Midrin? Up until a few years ago, I had tried everything on the market, OTC & prescription. An older ER doc tried this for me & WOW! The only thing that ever worked. It's prescription, but it's been around for years & is available in generic & only costs a few dollars (less than $10). It's a mix of a mild muscle relaxant, acetominephen, and a blood pressure med. It's my miracle med! I would strongly recommend you ask your doc about it. I was diagnosed with migraines since I was a little kid & this is the ONLY thing that ever helped.
I know you changed neurologists, but have you looked into any studies at NIH? Also, any possibility of going on disability? If you're this bad, then I'd think your doc would back you up - and then you can just work a small amount.
My cousin (male) has cluster headaches - which can be more severe when they hit than migraines. He has changed docs a couple of times, and is currently relatively happy with going to one of the top guys in the world in Manhattan. But, he's a filmmaker, and has to some extent been able to arrange some work stuff. However, he's a basket case when the headaches are on - he's been on steroids that evidently help with balancing the meds - but I'm pretty sure he does the injectible Imitrex and something else.
I know how hard it is. I'm really happy that my worst period of them has gone away - and now it's just 2-6 weeks of flare-ups every so often.
That's something to think about.
If you don't want to work on the Aida, why don't you do something on Canvas
- I bet you could see 16 ct easier than linen, or even 18 ct. Want me to bring you something?
Sounds like you were having the headaches long before they came out with the drugs that generally work. I remember my first migraine - I was living in NC then, and young. Went to the doc for some regular kind of thing, and told the PA that suddenly my eyes weren't focussing. I could see - but it was like in the distance. Turns out I was having classic floating discs. That idiot let me drive home. By halfway there I was petrified - got upstairs, and suddenly thought my head was exploding. I was rolling around on the bed, put the lights out - couldn't stand any light - and called my mom, who was managing my DA's office - in Miami Beach. Dr. Aunt got on phone, said - you're having a migraine - and she called in some narcotic 'scrip to a pharmacy that would deliver. The whole thing scared the heck out of me - and I can still recall it. I was about 20 then. They came and went, not too much until I was about 35. Then - wow - the next 10 years - horrible. They've only just subsided.
Used to be, aside from Darvon or Percodan, Percocet, some people would get a Demerol or similar narcotic injection or suppository. But, when the Sumatriptans came out it was like a miracle - because they actually act upon the physical cause of the migraine. One of my friends who was in med school at the time the sumatriptan trials were ongoing, got into a trial - and I remmeber her saying it was like a miracle. Personally, I use the injectible type, and frequently have to use 2 injections. Rarely, but if I catch it quickly enough - the inhalation med will work. The pills don't because I need so many of them that it's much better to just take the shot. Even so, I have to go lie down. After a shot I have about 15 min before I must hit a bed, then about 45 min of nap, and I'm fine. Assuming that I took the med in the pre-full headache time. If not, could be 2 shots, 20 min apart, and about 2-3 hours before I'm ok again. Then I'm usually good for a couple of days - unless it's the week long constant headache that ebbs and flows.
I wonder , too what else could be complicating Caryn's life. Plus- being brave and with the flourescent lights must be making it worse, or at the least interfering with any treatment.
Surely you can live on Dude's paycheck for six months or so while you try to sort this out? I don't get migraines anymore, not does dh, and we really only noticed about a year or so after both kids had left home. Obvious conclusion??? Stress related.
Please, please, hand in your resignation and stay home for a while.
I love my kids, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade them for anything. Being able to stay home with them (mostly...when older two were young I worked, but only when Dude was home, and then from home) was great, I think it helped them be the good kids they are today. Never do we get calls from the school complaining about our kids, even after the fire last year they maintained good grades and behavior. However, there are still the worries that come with having teenaged girls, and not being home as much now does give me "mommy guilt."
Dude drives me nuts, but he always did, even before the migraine started.
The job, well, the job is the job. Answering phones all day, while also doing any other task they can think of is stressful. The good news is that I start training this week that will actually use my degree!!! Yes, there may be an end in sight to sitting at the reception desk! It's sometimes hard not to resent being too smart for my job. But because I did take time off from my business career to be a mom, I had to pay my dues before I could move up. It's the way life works, even if it's frustrating at times. BTW, while an electrician was in a couple weeks ago I got him to remove the two flourescent bulbs directly overhead, so I don't have them in my face anymore! Yea!!
Someone asked if I've tried Midrin....answer is yes, did it for years before Imitrex came out. Imitrex works better, it not completely, and I'm able to stay awake when I take it!
Neurologist is trying to get me approved for Botox, trick is getting insurance to agree to it apparently. The COO here does Botox for her migraines and it helps her a lot, hoping that I get approved and that it works for me!
Yeah, I was trying Cymbalta, upped the dosage and felt worse, so that's out the window. I've been on Trazodone for ages, anti-depressant/anti-anxiety thing....not sure how well it's working for either right now! lol
Tried something called Lyrica, which was expensive and didn't work, so it's back to neurontin--still not great, but better than the lyrica was and WAY cheaper. Desipramine (or something like that) is the newest attempt--supposed to help me sleep (doesn't) which in turn is supposed to help my body cope better with pain.
Honestly, it does feel like if I could just string together several good night's sleep I might break this thing. Neuro says that it is a combination of tension headache and migraine. Pain is in classic migraine region, photo-phobia, nausea, etc. But the muscle problems in the neck add the tension variable to it. Which is why he thinks Botox might be helpful.
Dude just teases me about no longer being able to raise one eyebrow a la Spock! lol
Depends on how bad the headache is, and how urgent the work is. I was sometimes called in from my sickbed because they couldn't wait till the next day. There's a nifty product called Migraine Ice, a cooling gel-filled pad that you stick on your forehead. One of those on your head, a ThermaCare heat pad across the back of your neck, and sunglasses to shade your eyes (or, better yet, just type with your eyes closed), and a boss who understands that if he doesn't keep the extra-strong coffee coming, I'm going home, and it IS possible to tough out a day at work, blinding headache or not.
Mine were misdiagnosed as sinus headaches for years, until I had a doctor who herself had both kinds, and suggested to me that on the days when the sinus pills weren't helping one iota, it was likely that it was a migraine instead. Previous doctors hadn't considered it possible that half were sinus and half were migraine, and lumped them all in one category.
I have very understanding bosses. They've allowed me to change the lighting in my area, they understand that some days I am not up to doing highly detailed work, and those days they let me answer phones and do other tasks that don't require my full brain function. Today, as the headache was at the dull throb stage, with only occasionally blinding waves of pain, I was able to work on 5 reports, work with the president of the company on his ongoing campaign to members of Congress, take care of the phones, deal with getting rush packages out, type meeting notes for the COO (her asst was out sick), and did a bunch of proof-reading.
It's one reason that they are willing to train me, rather than hire someone already trained from outside the company, and I'm excited to work within my chosen field. After years at home, being self-employed for much of the 12 yrs I didn't work outside the house, I knew I'd have to take things slowly. Nothing is being given to me, I've earned this, by going above and beyond, regardless of how I feel.
Even when I'm in the worst pain my bosses would rather have me there, because they know that they can trust and depend on me. They appreciate the fact that I'm not willing to give up and try to claim disability!
Just a thought for you since you have had all the tests and scans. My DH is a periodontist and we had a patient who had migraines every two to three weeks and they would last several weeks at a time. We tried to reschedule her treatments about six times in six months but, she kept calling to reschedule because of the migraines. She finally had about two weeks in a row free from the migraines and was able to come in. My DH was checking the occlusion on her teeth and found a crown that was causing problems with her bite. He did an adjustment to the crown (took off almost enough gold to make an inlay) and she went home. She called me about a month later and said she had not had any kind of headache since the occlusial adjustment. We checked with her six months later and she was headache/migraine free. None of her doctors had even thought about having a dentist look at her mouth. Sometimes you need to keep trying doctors until you find one who can get outside the box and look at things that no one else has thought to look at. It does not help you at all when everyone looks at the same things and finds the same things.
Just something to think about and maybe it will not be of any help to you at all but, you may want to talk with your dentist. Our patient had had the problem crown for about fifteen years so for her it was nothing that had been recent treatment.
If you can still work or even function, it`s not a proper full-on Migraine, I can assure you! You can`t work when you can`t see and you`re throwing up!
Oh - I`d forgotten that one! I used to work for a dentist for a short while, and similar "cures" were performed a couple of times. Certainly well worth checking.
"Caryn" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with
Here's a sampling of your posts over the past week - and to think you always love to lambaste Karen if she mentions her problems !
Today is just one of those days.
Woke up with the migraine just trying to bust my skull wide open. DD came down with a similar migraine, she got to stay home I went to work.
Get here, find a nastygram email from a boss waiting. Apparently, one day last week a check was accidently included in a UPS package to our chairman who was traveling for the holiday. I don't remember seeing it, and I didn't stuff the box that went to him. Seems it was a big check, and the accidental misrouting of it caused some problems. I didn't even work on Wednesday, so it might even have gone out when I wasn't here.
To stop snoring? Wives of snoring men everywhere wanna know if it was, did it work???
Caryn (who is tired of rolling her husband off his back during the night)
Us clutzes need to stick together!
I saw my ortho because my ankles have been sore on and off all fall...thought it might be related to the FMS, but wanted to double check.
Nope! It's lumps on the ligaments in my ankles, from all the spraining I've done to them over the years.
Caryn
Having the weirdest problem with my latest gel-fill-in.
Salon I've been going to for close to a year, puts on the polish and then tops it with the gel. Looks nice, no chipping, and until recently no problems.
Last couple times, one nail has bubbled a little after I left the salon. I figure one finger, I'll cope, however.....
On Wednesday I went for fills, and they looked fine when I left the salon. 2 hrs later 8 of the 10 had bubbles (or blisters) which then deflated leaving really ugly surfaces. Thursday I go back to get them fixed. 8 new coats of polish let to dry longer this time, and 8 new top coats of gel -- also baked longer under the UV lamp this time.
By bedtime the blistering was even worse on 7 of them.
I go back today, demanding my money back, because I just don't see the point in allowing them yet another try and losing yet another lunch hour in the process.
I paid $28, plus a $5 tip. They refused to give me more then $10 back, because that is what they charge to do just gel. Now, you know that I'm gonna have to pay for new gel, plus the cost of removing the crap they left behind, plus a new tip to the girl who gets them next.
Anyway....anybody else ever heard of this sort of nonsense before?
Caryn
I've had it! Please someone put me out of my misery! This weekend made it 6 solid months with the migraine. I even had to cancel a much anticipated S.E.X. outing with Ellice and Donna over it. I knew on Friday, with it thundering all through the right side of my head and my stomach refusing to allow food to sit quietly that there was no way I'd be up and ready at 8:30 when Ellice was gonna come get me.
So, 6 mos of pain, a C-scan, a MRI, several changes of medications, a change of neurologists, constant fatigue from being unable to sleep because of the pain, and I am still going to work 40 hrs a week, trying to keep up with my house, cooking, grocery shopping, the dogs the cats the kids. Not Xsting as much as I'd like, because the fine focus it requires (mentally as well as visually) is beyond my current abilities.
I think one of the only things keeping me going at the moment is the thought that maybe Dude and I can go back to The Mayan Riviera next summer--to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
As much as I dislike working with Aida, I'm considering buying some to do a small project on, just because I can probably focus on it!
Actually I finished my degree while doing the mom thing! LOL DD#1 was
3, DD#2 was 18 mos old, both attended my graduation.
My B.S. is in Advertising (so appropriate as ads are BS and all). Before going to college I worked for a couple years at an ad agency in NYC, and really enjoyed it. I'm not so much into copywriting, but media planning (choosing where ads run).
The agency I'm working for now does direct mail (aka junk mail), and I'll be training in "production" which is choosing mailing lists, working with printers and such to get the mail out on time, that sort of thing.
Once the new year starts I can look into it, just about out of money in our medical expenses budget. Dude does the payroll deduction thing, part of every check goes into an acct we then pay doctors, pharmacists (chemists for you Brits), and dentists from.
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