Headaches

[windchime]

Today a lot of muscle pain, but other than that ok.

[LisaT]

I hope the muscle pain gets better.

[Alysia]

Today a lot of muscle pain, but other than that ok.

I am sorry for your pains Cindy do you know why you have them ?

[pberggren1]

Lisa, get those headaches checked out ASAP. And one more word: CHIROPRACTOR!!!!!

And, don't take the ibuprofen stuff, it is a NSAID. Not good for us Weggies to take. Hard on the heart and stomach to say the least.

[godgirl]

Lisa -

Have you ever tried Excedrine Migraine? I have suffered headaches and migraines for years. I take sumatriptan for my bad migraines, but if I just have a bad headache, Excedrine Migraine does the trick. There is asprin, acetaminophen (Tylenol) and caffiene in it. Tylenol alone doesn't do anything for me, but in that mixture, it helps a lot. The only problem I have with it is that it makes me a bit jittery because of the extra caffiene. And from what my GP says, you can take it with ibuprofen because they are different "families" of drugs. Although, I'd probably check with your doc first.

And I second what Phil says - go see a chiropractor. They can really help.

Hope you feel better!

Jen

[LisaT]

Thanks, Jen. I will ask my doc about excedrin migraine. I think perhaps the Asa is a no-no with the flurbiprofen. I would like to stop the flurbi but I get (even more) body pain when I don't take it. Maybe I'll try quitting flurbi and upping my natural pain relief (CBD tincture from hemp or marijuana).

[godgirl]

Yeah, it really works for me.

Earlier this year I had an MRI to rule out brain involvement. They found scarring on my brain, and the neurologist suspects its due to migraines. She told me to try riboflavin (vitamin B2) in high doses to prevent them. I had taken Topomax for a while, but it made me tired all the time.

I've been doing 400mg riboflavin a day for a couple of months now. And I think it's helping my headaches/migraines. I track my migraines for my doc, and I've noticed a decline. So, for whatever that is worth...

Jen

[LisaT]

Thanks, Jen. I'll add B2 to my list... I'm glad your headaches are decreasing. I should track mine.

My doctor is ordering an MRI. I'm somewhat less concerned because she checked me for any obvious signs of neurological/brain involvement/ pressure in my head and didn't find any. I've also recently had my eye pressure checked, which I'd forgotten about. Also my answers to her detailed questions led her to believe the headaches are muscle tension. (Have I mentioned how grateful I am to have her? It is such a different experience from some other doctors to feel respected and heard and work as a team.) I'm paying more attention to when and how the headaches begin. Sure enough, when my kids started fighting yesterday and my tween daughter flew into a tween rage/tantrum more spectacular than any I'd witnessed before, I felt one coming on... All the more reason to sit my kids down and discuss behaviour, stress and its impact on everyone.

I didn't realize migraines could leave scarring. Yikes. Does it cause any problems?

[godgirl]

Lisa-
Sounds like stress headaches to me, too!

Tracking my headaches has been useful. I started doing it for work. I applied for and received Family Medical Leave (intermittent) for them and I wanted to track them for that. My GP now asks for the tracking sheets every 4-6 months now just to see how I'm doing.

What was helpful this year with it is that I noticed a significant increase in them around August of last year. I also had blurriness in my eyes and even went for an eye exam in September. I thought they might be sparking from eye strain. Unfortunately, the eye doc was a real arrogant jerk and treated me like I was wasting his time. Said everything was normal. Didn't even do a slit lamp exam.

Well, I struggled for 2 months with the headaches/migraines and blurriness. And in late November, my scleritis showed up. Went to a different eye doc (this one is great) and then this journey with Wegener's or Cogan's or whatever, started with me. I look back on my tracking sheet and now see an early flare.

As for scarring causing problems? My neurologist said it shouldn't. Try a chiropractor, too. They can really help. And massage as well.

Good luck and I hope they can get to the bottom of it soon. Migraines and headaches suck!

Jen

[Michael Bell]

there is a plant called feverfew which can be used as a tea or as an infusion, which I have used a few times for migrane. It grows as a weed in the UK and I have it in the wild part of my garden. I do not know how this will react with Weggies meds but i have suffered no ill effects and find it very fast acting.
Mike