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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> Please help me
        
(Message started by: Sweet_Landings on Apr 29^th, 2002, 7:54pm)

Title: Please help me
Post by Sweet_Landings on Apr 29^th, 2002, 7:54pm

I am so miserable right now, to the point where I am looking for any kind of relief. If I misspell or make grammatical errors and so on please overlook it for now.

I have had a very stressful afternoon, fighting with my middle child about his rebelious behavior and he has decided to move out and live with his father. Not that any of that matters to you all but my heart is breaking and my head is exploding.

I have already taken 1½ Hydrocodone (7.5-500) and nada, usually they will at least take some of the edge off. I have some Migranol spray but the last two times it hasn't worked. I really hate to waste the Migranol due to the expensive nature of the stuff. Imitrex has never worked for me at all. I was given some Axert the other day at the dr's. I have read the posts in the archives and read up about the drug on the web.

Ueli mentioned in a March 2001 post the fact that the kick-in time is 2 hours but wasn't certain about the half-life. Then in another archival post, can't remember who or when, the fact that other triptans like Imitrex Tablets have worked for CH'ers in 10 minutes.

Has anyone used Axert? Was it effective? If I try it and it doesn't work can I take more of the Hydroco or use the Migranol without harming myself? Would I OD myself if I took it with the Hydroco that I have already taken? I have already checked and it will not interact adversely with my other meds in a normal sitting. OR should I try the oxycontin that I have?

Any input would be so appreciated!

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Weldon on Apr 29^th, 2002, 9:12pm

Hey Sweet Landings I always take my meds with a Dr. Pepper and they work faster(about half the normal time) Fiorinal works in about 21 to 24 min.s unless I'm in the middle of the cycle and then its 6 hrs. of 9s and 10s
Raising the head of my bed 6 to 8 in.s takes care of the night ones. This takes about 4 to 7 days to work. Sure hope this helps you. Take care. Weldon

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Mastifflvr28 on Apr 30^th, 2002, 8:29am

Hi Sweets,
How are you doing today?
Sorry I can't answer any of your med questions, have never tried Axert and migranol and Hydrocodone make me puke and do nothing for my head.
Have you tried Oxygen at all?
Sorry that imitrex doesn't work for you, have you had the injections?
Some have had sucess with oxycontin but be VERY careful w/ it because of addicting affects, and I don't know if you can mix it with other drugs.
Well...not much help from me :)
Just wanted to check up on ya.
Mast

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Sweet_Landings on Apr 30^th, 2002, 9:17am

Well what a LONG night, ended up having a couple of kip7's and a kip8 pretty much back to back. About the time the beast decided to rest, somewhere around 2:30 this morning, my other beast started its crap. Finally it calmed and quieted around 4 but it woke me twice, gave up on sleep about 8:30.

I am tired and the right side of my head is sore. But maybe today won't be so rough. I never took the oxycontin last night, loaded up on the hydrocodone and used the migranol twice. I am really going to have to find something that works better. I am a big chicken when it comes to needles so I am not sure about injections. Just the thought makes me nauseated.

I am just very disgusted this morning. I think my body has become used to the level of Tegretol in it, as the TN is getting much worse.

The CH's have been hanging around kip level 4 or 5 for the last few weeks and only one or two a day with TN pain a constant all day long. I feel certain last night's wild ride was due to me becoming so upset. I will try to avoid that from here on out.

I WANT MY LIFE BACK!

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by NotH20 on Apr 30^th, 2002, 9:37am

Sweet Landings - first off let me say that we are all here for you and know what you are going through. I too am afraid of needles, but the Imitrex injection is my LIFE SAVER!!!! ;D It comes w/ an applicator so you are not actually giving yourself a shot as a doc/nurse would be doing - you only have to push one button. I'm not familiar with any of the meds that you listed, but I would suggest the O2 and a round of Prednisone. If nothing else - it will offer you some immediate temporary relief. You may also want to try Maxalt and Zomig for abortives.

Stress of any kind definitely does not help a cycle - remember that you can only change yourself and not others. Middle school aged children are difficult at best - but they are definitely old enough to know that Mom is going through a rough time and should slack off a little bit....but again, you cannot change someone else. Worry about yourself right now - everything else will eventually fall into place.

Good luck to you and please keep us all posted.

NotH20

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by kim on Apr 30^th, 2002, 11:30am

Dear Sweets, I hope today will be better for you. With the two problems going at once, it's hard for me to come up with something that will help one without annoying the other. In my experience, when you are taking lots of medications, it really can worsen the all-round situation. Catch 22, I know. I'm not sure if getting the oxygen will help the TN. Might want to give it a shot. Pain killers use over time can really become a hornets nest and exaccerbate the problem. In any event oxygen is natural and non-noncartic...I have used maxalt mlt (it's a dissolving pill you put on tngue, let melt and swallow). That with a strong cup of coffee has many times headed off a ch attack, but again i'm not familiar how it would interract with the TN. The up side is no needles. I wish you luck sweets, hang in! Smiles, Kim

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by jrt on Apr 30^th, 2002, 12:26pm

Hi there...I have never had success with a preventive, but have you tried oxygen as an abortive? I've used it for years and it either stops the pain cold or takes the edge off ...most of the time. Good luck

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by deadcrow on Apr 30^th, 2002, 1:25pm

Hang in there!! I just finished my 8 weeks of hell and am just now able to thank everyone on this site for getting me through it. I have been fighting this animal for over 30 years and have tried just about all the known stuff, or so I thought. Now, I don't know if this will work for you, but please give it a try. When you feel the beast is on his way make a pot of very strong coffee. Drink at least three cups as fast as your pallet and throat can tolerate the heat. Sipping does not work! This worked for me! The CH does progress but I could feel the beast drowning in the caffeine and unable to swim to my eye. It stopped him cold!! I had to do this three or four times a night which of course did prevent sleep but what's new about that. None of us are optimists about so called "cures" but if you haven't tried this one...nothing ventured nothing "lost".

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Greg_A on Apr 30^th, 2002, 2:23pm

Hi Sweet--

Sorry for your pain. I know you were having a rough time with the pain. I have had those HAs that just wouldnt go away.

I would agree with NotH2O. I was given Imitrex Injections by my doc about 4 months ago. When i first got em I was hessitant (sp) to try them bacause of my fear of needles. One day I got hit with back to back k9's and the imitrex was all i had to use. I loaded up the auto injector, held it to my arm, took a deep breath and pushed the button. I didnt really feel anything at all. Just a little tightness when the med was released. I took off on the pace to get some relief, then about 5 min later, i could just feel the pain leaving. I was impressed. Now i use the imitrex tip to ration out my supplies. So, dont worry about the needle part of it... I trust you will be very happy with the results of how fast it works. And you dont have to wait a 1/2 hour or more.

Another thing-- i wont go to deep into this since i guess i beat it to death before :) but..... O2 IS THE GOODS. Since i have been using that i havnt had to use any triptans (imitrex, zomig).

AND one last thing-- I had the doc change up my preventive schedule after i read a post from Ueli about verapamil. My doc said its worth a try--so he change my verap to regular release at 720mg, i'm also doing 450 lithium, and 1600 ibuprophen. Since the switch to regular release, it seems that my HA have somehwat dissappeared. I get a few that break through every now and then, but no where near the frequency and usually on the low kip scale. LIFE IS GOOD.

Never used any of the meds you listed, but i would deffinately ask about the verap and o2... you never know..... you may get your life back.

Good luck my fren and i hope your pain settles down.

Greg :)

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Tom on Apr 30^th, 2002, 7:50pm

Hi Sweet_Landings,

First of all, stop taking oxycodone(Oxycontin®) and/or hydrodrocodone (Vicodin®, Maxidone®), they are opiates and don't help either CH or TN, and they can cause dependence !

Concerning CH, it's not necessary to give you advices, find all you need on this web site (buttons on the left).

Concerning TN: There are a handful of old and new drugs for TN apart from carbamazepine:

- phenytoin (Dilantin®), usually less potent than carbamazepine
- gabapentin (Neurontin®)
- baclofen (Lioresal®)
- lamotrigine (Lomictal®)

Sometimes it's not easy to distinguish between TN (hits usually the lower two trigeminal branches) and:

- SUNCT (SUNCT stands for "Short-lasting, Unilateral, Neuralgiform headache attacks with Conjunctival injection and Tearing.", hits only the upper trigeminal branch, here only lamotrigine helps)
- ISH (= Idiopathic Stabbing Headaches, only indomethacin helps)

Find informations about the respective treatment and the differential diagnosis of the three syndromes at:

www.upstate.edu/neurology/haas/hpstab.htm

If you put "trigeminal neuralgia" into the Google you'll get a lot of other useful informations !

Wish you ATB ! Thomas

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by Mattso on May 1^st, 2002, 5:19pm

Hello Sweet landings,

Maybe the first time you try it you could have someone else push the button on the Imitrex auto injector for you? You'd never see an actual needle, and it's a nutty feeling to get complete relief within 5 minutes or so. Imitrex has been my lifesaver also.

If you get the O2, make sure to get the non rebreather mask, and if you're using liter flow of 10 or higher, I think that's when a hydrator is really great. The O2 company should supply the hydrator if you ask. I bet O2 could at least be really effective for your Kip 4 or 5's. And you can get a really long tube from tank to mask that'll allow to still do stuff around the house.

A note about prednisone: One side effect is that it can make some of us much more hot tempered than usual. In my case this manifests in an uncharacteristic tendency to to tell a family member off with little provocation, then resume life a few minutes later as if if nothing had happened :P.

Title: Re: Please help me
Post by gracie on May 2^nd, 2002, 12:28pm

Hi Sweets,

I used to take hydrocodone daily (10/650's) for endometriosis and adenomyosis and I can tell you from experience that they CAUSE headaches. I would always have to choose which pain to deal with but it was an easier choice since this was during my pre-CH days. I had some migraines then due to my hormone's intense fluctuations and I tried the hydrocodone for them a few times and it never even touched them. Weird but true. I've since had a hysterectomy so that is no longer a problem, thank God. Just be careful with those things.