Thursday, December 27, 2007

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Be safe and have fun as you celebrate the new year. I hope 2008 is headache-free for me and everybody else out there suffering.

In January this year my neurologist told me he thought this would be a good year for me and I would find a way to fight my headaches. It's been a great year, but my headaches are as present as ever, and I have one right this second that I've been fighting all day. I hope 2008 will be better!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Fioricet = Butalbital

I was just doing some reading on migraines and my medications when I realized that Butalbital, my go-to drug when nothing else works for migraines or bad headaches, is also called Fioricet. I guess maybe Butalbital is a generic name. Click here if you want to read more about Fioricet.

Quick recap on my killer (aren't they all) migraine: Sunday I had a migraine and took Butalbital in time, and it worked. Then Monday I woke up with it again and it was much worse and I had to miss work. I took two Excedrin Migraines because I didn't want to overuse the Butalbital since it can cause rebound headaches (of course so can the Excedrin) and it worked pretty well. Unfortunately the migraine came back Tuesday while I was at work, so I took Butalbital again, and so far it hasn't come back.

One thing I didn't mention was that I stayed up late and slept in longer than usual over the weekend, which may have brought on the migraine. I still need to stay focused on keeping a regular eat/sleep schedule. Then maybe I can beat these things.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Migraine Times Two!!!

Yesterday morning I woke up with a migraine. I went mountain biking Saturday and fell trying to do the teeter/see-saw thing (which, for the record, I had done successfully before), and I heard my neck crack a little. Maybe that brought it on, or maybe it was because I hadn't had a headache since the Tuesday before so all those days of potential headaches added up. Anyway, yesterday I was able to catch it in time to take medicine (Butalbital - which my neuro prescribed - pretty much strong Tylenol and caffeine), and I went to church and was just fine. Too fine, in fact...I went to Costco and Wal-Mart and spent about $300 to stock up my kitchen, and since I live on the first (technically second) floor of a condo and took the stairs for about 10 trips to and from the car, I think I overdid myself.

Here's where the "migraine times two" comes in. I woke up with one today and had to miss work. It was so bad that I couldn't move to get out of the bed and take medicine and eat. Finally I had my husband come home on his lunch break and he helped me out of bed so I could get some food. He left, and once I started eating (Cream of Wheat and a Propel) and took two Excedrin Migraines, the nausea hit me in a big wave. I went to the bathroom and hunched over the toilet, but I never did throw up. Thank God I was able to go back to sleep. When I woke up around 4:00, the migraine was pretty much gone, and I finished eating.

After every migraine, it feels like I've been in a car crash. I am sore, can't stop shaking and feel like crap. I'd rather have my typical 15 headaches a month than migraines like that. I'm terrified I'll wake up with it tomorrow and have to miss work again, and I'll probably start getting rebound headaches if I have to take more medicine. Since I don't get migraines often and Aleve usually helps my headaches, I don't take the strong stuff like Imitrex - plus I've tried it and it doesn't work every time.

I need to get away from the computer.