Posted by Jayne_salters (209.214.113.160) on July 25, 1999 at 10:14:47:
In Reply to: Re: Is anyone from Nashville-Florida here posted by Caren on July 24, 1999 at 22:48:40:
Hi there Caren,
Wow, you have had the beast with you a long time. I am still a rookie. I have had mine for five years.
Mine started with with a bang. I had never even suffered with minor headaches before then. I was 26. I was in the shower and all of a sudden it felt like some one had whacked me across the left side of my head with a baseball bat. (yes I'm a leftie too).
I thought I had a burst blood vessel or something of that nature. I crawled out of the shower (suds still in my hair) and started praying.
Like you, doctors told me it was allergies, so for four or five episodes I just suffered through them.
One day though I noticed my left pupil was acting strange. I would stand in front of a mirror, close my eyes then open them and realized that my left pupil was not working the same as my right.I also noticed that my left eye lid was beginning to droop slightly.
I went to a new doctor and he was smiling and rolling around the room on his office chair, ( he was nearly licking his lips) telling me I was the most interesting case that had ever walked through his door. I said to him I wished I was the most boring. I started to cry and asked him If I was going to end up looking
like Marty Feldman, he laughed and said no. He sent me to a top Nuerologist in Miami, he diagnosed me with CH. I was at the end of my cycle at that time. Now I have found a great neuro in Nashville. He has put me on Sansert 3 2mg tablets a day, but I set my alarm in the middle of the night and take another one.It has stopped any attacks during the day thank god.
I could also sleep through the night (Yippee). Yet, every morning I would wake up with that creeping feeling that he was coming to visit. Sometimes I could get rid of it with Coffee and exedrine migraine (if I got to it quick enough), and sometimes he would be here for the two hour nightmare. That is when I decided to set my alarm to make sure I got the sansert every six hours. It is helping.
I woke up this morning though feeling his presence (not too bad though) I did some deep breathing and it went. My doctor also has me on Verepamil. Imitrex used to help but It doesn't seem to do the trick anymore. I find when I am in the grips of a full blown 10, that running a very hot bath and laying in it with a freezing ice pack on my head quietens it a little. I don't empty the water out of the bath until it's completely gone
as I know I'll be in and out of that bath for two hours. I used to get hot showers but the bath works much better.
After finding this web page I realize I am lucky in the fact that I am epesodic and not a chronic. Mine usually stick around for two months. I should be coming to the end of this one quite soon. I am very lucky also in the fact that my boss is very understanding ( to say he has never had a migraine) he is also probably the only one who has time to listen to me talk about it. He has even gone as far as to do his own research on the net for me.
I never used to get depressed but the last two #10's I had left me feeling very weepy and hopeless. I was also left feeling terrified of the next one. Some times I pray for an enurism ( spelling I know!) to end it all.
This web has helped me so much.
I am 32 years old and now happy to know that I am many and not alone. please keep writing to me Caren.
Happy to know you.
Jayne.
P.s are you in a cluster right now?