Case Histories - January 1998 (4/9)

Hi Rhonda and the others.

Has anyone had any real success with Sanomigram (Pizotifen), Cafergot (cafffeine and ergotamine), Migraleve???

I heard of a case once where a individuals headaches were actually caused by overuse ergotamine.

Apparently painkillers will work better on a empty-ish stomach rather than a full one. Also one should take the drugs/pills whilst sitting/standing up rather than lying down - since that can sometimes cause the stomach irritant (sickness) and slow effectiveness of the pill. I have heard that one should remain sitting/standing for atleast a minute and half after taking the pills/drug.

Its taxing on the body when you cannot keep food/water down and keeping being sick all the time, this in itself can cause headaches. I have heard that possibly when one is in the vomit mode, then small sips of lucozade could be taken to give energy. Its possible that the stomach wont throw the lucozade up again.

Has ANYone ever visited the British Migraine Clinic in London? What are they like? What did they do? How was their service and attitude?

I am amazed that such a torturous head pain has not received the publicity and research funding it deserves. I think this is due to the lack of interest showed by Doctors. Why are they not interested?

Everyone agrees that only a migraine sufferer really knows what the pain is like. Migraine will prohibit many from studying, working, revising, sitting up all hours etc, thus I think lot of working Doctors have never suffered from migraine therefore are unaware of the torture it causes.

Hope to hear your responses.

All my best to you all.

--ABA dhimanj@ecid.cig.mot.com

Here I am, sitting at work at 9 am, with a migraine. I work at the "Help Desk" which is a desktop support team for the company I work for. Every sound is paralysing, every move feels like a jack hammer against the right side of my head. A lot of things are blurry, it's really hard to focus on anything. This is the 3rd story I've entered over all, and the first I've entered this year. I'm 19 and have been in agony since I was 2. Naproxen or Naprosyn has been my cure for about the last year or so, but this morning I find myself rummaging through my desk and my coat searching for one more pill. I feel like a junky. Here I am, almost in tears searching for my fix. My co-workers are trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing. One minute I'm frantically looking for drugs, the next I'm sitting here writing an email. This morning, I started my period, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. I'm afraid that my migraines are going to become more frequent once again now that I'm being put under a lot of stress. I'm hoping to move out of the house that I share with my drunk 26 year old brother, but I'm afraid that I can't do it on my own. There's one thing I believe is linked to today's migraine. Another is the position I'm in at work. It's a very stressful job, people constantly coming at you with all sorts of different questions and half the time I get so confused I just want to rip my hair out. I don't know what to do at this point. I have a semi-cold and everytime I cough a tear leaks from my eye as the rest of my body cringes. Paradise right now would be a pitch dark room, a cold, wet wash cloth on my forehead, and 2 or 3 blankets to keep me warm as I'm shivering. There have been a lot of things that I wish I could remove from my memory or my life such as smoking or getting in trouble when I was younger, but these damned migraines would be the one thing I would banish from this body and mind... Nikki

Email me anytime. nmoeller@telegroup.com

I am amazed at how many of us suffer from migraines. Looking at these posts along with related sites, it is truly something!!

I have suffered for over 25 years with migraines. The latest med's the doctor has me on for the pain is Stadol NS. Does anyone have any information on this? Also, I would be interested in hearing from others that have gone to an ER and has been treated like a junkie!! I understand there are people who abuse the system but when I go to the ER in dire pain, throwing up, unable to stand any light, almost unable to open my left eye, I just want the pain to stop, I don't want to be treated like dirt!

Thanks for letting me vent!! ---Chris Cuzchris1@aol.com

Dear Rhonda:

I am a 44 year old woman who has suffered with migraine headaches since the age of 13. Most of the medications normally prescribed for migraines I am allergic to!

The allergy list goes as follows: Codiene, Compazine, Phenergan, Toradol, Ergots, DHE, Imitrex, Vicodin. I have tried Inderal, Pamelor, Tegretol, Depakote, Fiorinal, Fioricet, Darvon, Darvocet, Tigan (for nausea). NONE of these seem to work. About 2 years ago one of my doctors put me on Stadol NS with oral Visteral. Well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and I end up in E.R. At the present time my HMO wants me to see "Pain Management"!! That is truely a joke. What the heck do they think I and my family have been doing all these years! By the way I am a mother of 4 children ages 27, 26, 25, and 15. I have been married for 20 years to the most wonderful man God has ever graced a woman with. He is totally understanding and does any and everything he can to make me comfortable and help to alleviate my pain. My children are equally as supportative. My 25 year old daughter and my 15 year old son are both migraine sufferers. So for they have not had to be put on any presciption medications for them. Yesterday and today I had a very bad migraine and went to the E.R. because my doctor was not in the office. I was informed the the "Pain Clinic" doctor had put in my record a drug restriction! Now ain't that a kick in the pants! He could have least have informed me of his intentions before he took it upon himself to do this. Well, I guess I have rambled long enough. Thanks for listening. If anyone would like to contact me they may do so at: Debbietye@aol.com

Hi, I have just discovered this page and would like to add my story. I had migraines ("sick headaches") when I was a child. My mother thought it was heat stroke. I never got to see a Doctor. No one in those days did. I did not have migraines during my teens years.

I started getting Migraines again at age 22, the year I got married. No one knew what they were. I was so sick to my stomach that the Dr.'s thought it was stomach trouble. Finally, a new GP recognized that stomach trouble didn't cause sever headaches. By then I was 27.

I promptly got pregnant. I had no headaches while pregnant. (lucky me). After my 1st child I had headaches again. Then I got pregnant again, no headaches during pregnancy again. I had headaches after, and with 2 children to take care of, I called the Dr. because he had told me about an aspirin in suppository form. What he prescribed was Cafergot suppositories. They worked wonderfully. I was 32 years old. I am now 64.

The trouble was I started getting migraines more often and used Cafergot more often. About 8 years, I was taking Cafergot 1 to 4 times a day. These were rebound headaches, when the medicine in my body got low. I complained to every Dr. I saw, I finally got a neurologist to get me off of them. It was hell for about 5 days, but it worked.

I now take Ultram. Two if the symptoms are severe, one if they are mild. It works. I also take Nadolol every night before bed. This is definitely what is keeping me from being sick, because when I run out I get migraines constantly.

Something I cannot eat any more is Chocolate. It will give me a migraine that no medicine will help. There are numerous foods that might be causing migraines. Ask a Doctor for the list.

I hope this will help someone. Don't wait to ask your doctor for meds, the first 5 years I was married was hell. I got a migraine EVERY Saturday, and sometimes Sunday too. My husband was very patient, God bless him.

Good Luck to you,

---Grace gen@css.ncifcrf.gov

Hi, this is Grace again. I forgot to mention that I have limited success with bio-feedback. I must be in a quiet place for this to be effective, which is not always available. You must go to a therapist or doctor to learn how to do this. Good luck, Grace

I have suffered from migraines since I was 12. (I am now 25). My migraines are not as bad as they used to be, but they still incapacitate me. I took Imitrex (pill form) for about one year, but then they stopped working for me. I now take Imitrex nasal spray and it works within 20 minutes! I have been getting a migraine once a month lately. I know it's coming on by a flashing white light. As soon as I see that, I use the nasal spray, lie down, and I am ok within 20 minutes. If I don't take any medicine, I get violently ill. .throwing up, etc. :(

I just wanted to submit this to you because this Imitrex nasal spray is fairly new and I've found it to work very quickly. You can even function as normal shortly after! good luck guys!

---Danielle NCXB97A@prodigy.com

I was searching the net for information about abdominal migraine, and came across your letter. I was diagnosed with abdominal migraine last year, after years of tests, etc. I can't find anyone else who knows anything about it. Have you found out more? Here are my symptoms. I get nauseated, gradually. Then I get abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Then cold.

My nose runs, and I get more nauseated. Then I vomit. I have to vomit probably three times, to completely empty my stomach. Then it's over. If I don't empty my stomach completely, the nausea comes back. If I try to stop the attack by taking a Xanax, it comes back after the pill wears off. The attack can wake me out of a sound sleep, or can happen in the middle of the day. When it happens, I vomit everything I have eaten in the past four to six hours. This is why I thought it was as if there was a spasm in the lower part of the stomach. I have a history of panic attacks, but this does not seem to be related. I also have a history of connective tissue disease with gastroesophageal reflux, but my doctors do not feel this contributes. Where do I go from here? The attacks have no "aura" or "prodrome" they just happen, luckily not very often. (the last one happened the night after I visited a new psychiatrist to try biofeedback---try to figure that one out!). Anyway, I know your letter was a little while ago, and I wonder if you ever found out anything else. I look forward to hearing from you. I am new to the net, and may not check my mail often, but I will try to remember. Thanks

---espe@trxinc.com