Best Migraine Medicine Available
I woke up this morning with a pre-migraine aura which sucked. After our morning walk, I laid down on the couch to feel sorry for myself. Who knew that Shibas are actually the best migraine medicine out there? I had no idea! Lucy snuggled up in between me and the back of the couch and staid there for three hours until I felt better. It was awesome. By chance I had my camera within reach:
So cute!
And one more:
She is such a sweetheart. I had no idea how much my life would be enriched before getting a dog. Its just amazing!
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I absolutely agree! As a victim of migraines my babies are amazing. I cant wait to see Lucy this weekend, she is the biggest sweetheart. Dave, you HAVE to get video of her waving for everybody! Lucy is the biggest daddy's girl.
I have to say I thought you had a novel drug and I got all excited!
How very sweet of her.
My cats are much better at this than Nemo is. Moxie always snuggles up when you don't feel well.
Rina: I used to take Excedrine Migraine but I've been told that caffeine is actually very bad for you during a migraine (even though it makes you feel better). It has been suggested that taking a double dose of aleve and/or tylenol is healthier for you.
Rachael: I'll work on the waving video. It shouldn't be too hard since she waves for rice cakes! As far as Migraine drugs go, I've been using Maxalt for almost 2 years now. One or two maxalt in combination with two or three aleve is as close to a wonder drug as I think I'll get. With that drug cocktail, I'm usually functional again within half a day or so. Without it I'm out for a day and a half or more.
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The only pets I ever had growing up were goldfish (although my sister did have guinea pigs). I've never experienced the compassion you receive from dogs (or cats). Its just amazing how in tune they are to our emotions!
that is super cute!
I smuggled some Tylenol w/ Codeine out of Antigua on our honey moon - that is the best migraine med. I have ever used!
Ohhh, migraines. Imitrex injections are what worked for me but since I had a stroke this past summer I have not had a single migraine. I was getting them a couple of times a month. Think there's a connection??? duhh... My cats always knew when I was feeling bad and they provided so much comfort
Wow, I had no idea so many people got migraines. Is it a dog owner thing? I found that my biggest triggers are coffee specifically (even decaf sets me off now) and coming down after a stressful period. If I can manage those two factors, I get them once every few months. Before I started managing my triggers, I was getting them 5-6 times a month.
Pam: Zomig is a triptan, like immitrex and maxalt. There are a bunch of them. They tend to work to help control the pain and some of the symptoms. When I went through a particularly bad period, I called my neurologist and he prescribed a steroid taper that helped a lot. You might want to try that. Of course steroids have their own negative side effects.
With my last job I was getting about 4-5 a week. My doc prescribed a seizure med topomax but I dont wanna take it if I dont "have" to.
Thanks Dave, im not home to my girls. Aleve subsided the pain some but I need sleep. Will you be bringing Sasha to the get together? When are we hooking up again?
Rachael, Topamax is a preventative not a pain reliever. It is not in the triptan family.
Ddowdermers is correct, Topamax is not a triptan and is used as a preventive. And to get the full benefit, you should take it religiously and you will see the best results only after a few weeks. (My full time job is as a medical writer were I write scientific publications for physician medical journals (ie, the literature that the doctor's use to learn about drugs). The main drug I write about is 1 of the 7 triptans).
Migraine is very common, with about a 3-fold higher prevalence in women than in men (18% vs 6% in the US population).
On a medical note, for you women (I get migraines too - and am female) you might want to track you menstrual cycle. About 50% of women get migraines very closely associated with menses and during the 2 days before and 2-3 days during menses, the risk of migraine is 2-3 times higher. If you can catch the migraine as soon as it begins (or before if you know the "window" in which it occurs) and treat it, chances are much better to aleviate the pain from progressing to greater severity.
Also, there are 7 triptans out there and each has its own pros/cons. Just because 1 didn't work for you doesn't mean the others won't work. Actually a high percentage of patients respond (ie, pain goes away) when switched to a new tritpan. Imitrix is generally thought to me less well tolerated (more side effects) than some of the newer generation triptans. Some triptans are better suited to slower onset migraines (where pain escalates slowly) that tend to last for a long time or recur during a 24- to 48-hour period; some are better suited to fast onset/painful migraine (but then you tend to have to take more triptan later since these are shorter acting drugs).
I hate my migraines and I don't even get them very often. The worst is when you get nausea and vomiting too. So I am very on top of them and if I feel one coming, I take the medicine as soon as possible. There is a lot of basic science around migraine and it is important to try and stop the pain as soon as possible otherwise it escalates to a point where the medicine becomes very ineffective. However, you also want to to not take medicine all the time without consulting your doctor because 1 issue is that by taking medicine all the time (even when you don't have migraine), you can get medication overuse migraine (or rebound headache). So, for me, if I am sure that a migraine is coming, I take my ibuprofen, but only if I am sure it is coming. It is a unique physiology that causes migraine and there if a fine balance between taking the medicine early to prevent further pain but not taking medicine too much to cause a rebound headache.
Well, that is all for the medical front now! Hope you all who have migraines are without them for quite a while now!
Dave, hope you feel better now (and Lucy was a good caregiver). :-)
I dont like being reliant on meds and that is why I am trying to go without Topamax. Relpax gave me icky side effects and I am trying imitrex right now. My boss (husband) is a MD of internal medicine and stated that he may want to put me on Topamax (obviously I am caring for his kids and wants to ensure im not dying) but he also stated that the side effects of it could be pretty grim also.
I never take the meds right away hoping that it will go away or not really be a migraine. I took the Aleve and it subsided but is now coming back. Maybe it was the Saw movie....
*woosh* I haven't comprehended a word that was said lmao.
I'm gonna try Brad's idea and take in more electrolytes. See if that helps with anything. I'm prone to being dehydrated anyway.
Rachael: Yes, I'll be bringing Sasha to the get together if either her or Lucy are still standing at that point. Sasha got dropped off at 8 pm last night. We took a 45 minute walk and the second we got back they started wrestling. This lasted until around 11:30 when I finally forced them to lay down. They napped for 15 minutes and were right back at it again. When we went to bed, the wrestling didn't stop. They kept me awake until 3:00.
Edgewood: I do feel much better, thanks!
2 weeks should be good. Chad is home this weekend, gone next and home the following.
Cant wait to hear about it. Just wait till you get Joey!
If you guys really want to see a change drink lots of green tea... I drink only water, tea and the occasional beer. It is extremely rare that I drink anything else.
I try to drink at least 3 glasses of tea (green, white, red [rooibos], black) a day as well as (at least) 1/3 gallon of water. I have found that green tea drastically improves my ability to concentrate (kinda important for a programmer). I also have better skin, better GI function, and more energy. You should try it!
Fish oil really helps with concentration too.
Now I just need something to improve my spelling. lol