Bad M- advice and vent

Hi All,

It is 6 am here and for the second night in a row, the pain woke me up about five am.

The M is hovering around a 9 with meds- Tylenol 3, klonopin, and benedryl. They aren't really helping a lot at the moment. I have used up most of the things in my bag of tricks right now. I have had two courses of decadron in the last three weeks and both helped for a while. (I take a 24 hr course of decadron as it works better for me than prednisone.)

I think it is probably time for an IV of Depakan. I have been trying to hold this off for as long as possible. (The IVs weren't helping a great deal and when this happens, I usually have to take a break for a few months. I had the last one in July, so I think it would be safe to try one now. I usually need a break of about 3 months when this happens. I will call my neuro today and see if I can get the ball rolling on this. (I usually get them at the IV center here in town. Much less stressful than ER. I am hoping to get in early next week and in the meantime ask if I can do anything else to help it or tide me over till next week.

Fortunately, I only have two things I really need to do today. I have training (excercize/ strength training) this morning. I work with a trainer who understands both the migraine and fainting situations- so on days like this, we stick to really simple stuff and it does help some. I also have to run by my parents house to fill out some follow up paperwork for disability. (I would put this off, but I need to get it in and it shouldn't be too difficult to do.) If the headache gets worse, i can do it on saturday.

All I really want to do is curl up in a ball and rest, which I can do if needed. Maybe watch something brainless. I may also see if my parents will lend me Max for the day/night. He is our standard poodle and for some reason dogs just make me feel a little better.

I just hate it when it gets to this point and I don't know what to do. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks for letting me vent- no clue what I;d do without y'all

Pain free days,
sconesail

{{{{Hey, hang in there }}}}

I remember you wrote once triptans doesn't help you, but I am wondering since the part of the M is widening and narrowing of the blood vessels, intermittently,
maybe you should add to the combo something like that anyway, even if you don't see immediate results?

Either DHE or any of the triptans, but instead of taking it at the full dose right away,
try it in half doses, but use the whole allowed for 24 amount (in pieces) consistently every two- four hrs,
and see what happens.

The way I see it, on top of what you take, the DHE or the triptan - whatever you'd chose - would work independently at shrinking
your b.v back to normal, and hopefully it would do make a difference?
Other than that, I am at loss what else can be added to your already rather good mix.

The only thing I worry, is your fainting - if adding the blood vessels narrowing meds would be good for that, eek.

Hope it'll pass quickly...


Risa

Hang in there kiddo. I totally feel your pain! No good advice right now, I'm just hanging in by a thread myself.
Take care!

I admire you sticking to your PT program. I know that walking helps me, especially with the constipation, but getting myself to do it is another story, when I know it's going to aggravate my back. Vicious cycle....50 pounds over weight, which hurts the back. Walking helps take the weight off, but hurts the back so it's VERY hard to get motivated.

And look at you! Still going with an M and fainting. You're inspiring me.

Hi All,

Thanks so much for tthe advice and help.

I had the IV on Tusday and it brought it down to a bearable level.

I had an absolutely wonderful day yeasterday- went for a long walk as I had Max (Our standard poodle- lives at my parent's house- but I miss him and took him for a walk.)- It was a beautiful day. I stopped at one of our favorite cafes here and got a treat for max and one for me. He was much admired by the college football crowd. It was just nice.

Unfortunately, it seems that every good day I have, a bad one follows. I started to feel kind of bad last night. This morning woke with aphasia and a full blown M. Fortuately, I had some decadron left and am taking a short course of that as it will often help in this situation. It is just frustrating. Fortunately, I have a great roommate, good friends, mostly supportive famiily, and y'all.

The triptans never really worked that well for me. Well, imitrex injections did for about 5 weeks 10 years ago, but apparently taking them five days a week to get throough high school is not good and my neuro was afraid of heart damage. Also, the side effects were bad. I have tried most of them to little or no avail. I am also worried about the fainting.

Yes, I do try to stick to some form of excercise as it has been shown to help the fainting and it makes it easier to get an IV. I work out with a trainer who I have known for years and do strength training twice a week. I also try to walk to use the recumbant bike three times a week. Though it completely depends on the fainting situation.

I am just tired of dealing with all of this.

Pain free days,
sconesail