Cloudy Days

Yesterday was a hard day. While eating lunch at home with my kids, I got really dizzy and my vision began to blur. My kids were worried. I was worried, but this phenomena was not new to me. I knew that this was the precursor to a killer migraine. Luckily, my oldest was able to keep track of my younger kids so I could go lay in bed for awhile. I only had time to lay down for about two hours before I had to get up to take my son to his baseball game. At that time, thankfully, my vision had returned to normal, but the head pain was severe. I took some meds and just pushed through it. I'm always pushing through it. It's one thing for me to miss out on life, but I cannot let my kids miss out on theirs. I hope one day I can enjoy life with them out from under a cloud of pain...

Just Say No...to Dairy

My next experiment in the struggle for migraine prevention: dairy-free. I have tried many diets and have kept countless food diaries, but I have never really been able to pinpoint food triggers (with the exception of aspartame). A poster at the migraine forums I frequent shared a story about giving up dairy after being sick with food poisoning and inadvertently discovering that not consuming dairy products helped reduce the frequency of his migraines. So, I figured, I should give it a whirl. Why not?  What have I got to lose?  I don't enjoy milk anyway, though, cheese is going to be a hard one to give up. And I realize that I'll have to study food labels to weed out any hidden dairy or milk additives. But, I will do anything to get some relief, so here I go again...

Herbal Schmerbal

I am getting really discouraged. I've tried just about every pharmaceutical migraine preventative on the market with no results. And, now, I've been taking several herbal medications that are "known" to help with migraine prevention for awhile, and I am still getting migraines every day. I just don't know what else to try. I hate being sick all the time; I feel like I'm missing out on my life.

Botox and Heart Palps

The two months or so I have been experiencing heart palpitations several times a day, lasting up to 3-4 hours! Pretty scary! I saw my cardiologist about it, and he assured  me that as long as I wasn't experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain or other related symptoms that the palpitations were nothing to worry about. This eased my mind a bit, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about the cause of the palpitations. What had I been doing/eating/taking that I hadn't been three months ago?  I thought maybe it was the Butterbur but I quit taking it and the palpitations did not go away. I wondered if it had something to do with going off the Topamax. Then..

Today when I visited a migraine forum, I clicked on a link to a Botox support group page and discovered that tachycardia (rapid heart rate, palpitations) was a side effect of Botox injections that many people have experienced! Reading that floored me--my increased palpitations started shortly after my first round of Botox and I just received a second round on the 4th of April and the palpitations have been really bad all month!
Now, though, I feel a bit relieved that I think I found the reason for the tachycardia, I am royally pissed off! Why didn't my neurologist warn me that this was a possible (and fairly usual) side effect of the Botox?! If I had known this, I would never have gotten it done! So, now, what?!

Co Q10 for Migraine

I have added CoQ10 to my daily regimen. I had heard about it being used for migraine prevention, so I asked around on the migraine forums and received some positive and some neutral feedback about it. It is also good for the heart, so, I figure, if it doesn't help for the migraines, at least it has other benefits. And it's better than choking down Fish Oil pills. I have yet to find one "with no fishy aftertaste" as they all claim.

Check this article out about Co Q 10 and migraine prevention: http://www.helpforheadaches.com/articles/CoQ10-Migraine.htm.

Another One Bites the Dust!

I think I had written weeks ago about considering finding a new neurologist...I have to say that I am now not just considering it, I am definitely moving on from the one I have now! At last week's visit, he insisted I go back on  the Topamax, even though, I told him it didn't work and that the side effects were horrendous..um..HELL-O!  Furthermore, he is condescending and overall unsupportive! I would NOT recommend him to anyone!

Why is it so freaking hard to find a good neurologist?!

Butterbur and the Chiropractor

Butterbur is an herbal supplement that a lot of folks use to help prevent migraines. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not...migraine brain is a little dysfunctional lately...Anyway, I was thinking about giving it a whirl after reading several posts on my migraine forum  discussing the positive results a lot of people were having with it, and, then, I called my neuro and he actually recommended it. I have been taking 150mg of it for about two weeks now. So far, I am still getting the migraines everyday. I am not giving up on it yet, since "they" say that you have to give it a good three months before you know if it will work or not. So, we shall see...

I have been seeing the chiropractor again, 3 times a week for almost three weeks. I notice that when I have a migraine and he works on me, the migraine pain usually lessens afterwards. So, that is a plus. However, the days that I don't see him my neck and shoulders hurt like hell!--even more than they did before I started treatment with him! Also, several people on the forum shared some real horror stories about chiropractors, so I'm a freaking a bit! Again, I think I will give it a few months, and, if I'm still not seeing any real results, then, I will discontinue treatment and maybe try acupuncture.. I plan on seeing an herbalist soon, as well. I have had a few people recommend one to me, my chiro actually recommended I see an herbalist in conjunction with the chiropractic care. So, I will definitely be doing that, at some point in the near future.

I have been reading about some surgical options, as well. Pretty scary. But, I will discuss with my neuro at April's visit..