Going off Lexapro

So, before I started taking Lexapro, which my neurologist prescribed for headache prevention, my eye had been twitching, either from my contacts or from stress at work (I think both). The twitching stopped after I was on Lexapro a while. Now that I'm going off it (I was on 10 mg; now I'm taking 5 mg every other night), my eye's started twitching again! It only does it when I get overwhelmed with stress, which is a lot. I don't think my life is really that stressful though - I think it's more that I stress over everything.

The Lexapro didn't help my headaches, but I guess it helped my anxiety, and now that I'm going off it, I'm struggling. I usually do a lot of volunteer work and try to stay busy, so unfortunately I'm going to have to cut back on some of that and give myself time to relax. I wish I had the money to do acupuncture, take yoga classes, be a stay at home wife (haha), and go to the beach every weekend.

Oh but then I'd stress about germs on the needles, pulling a muscle, my husband thinking I'm lazy, and traffic.

Yikes.

Sinus Buster

An employee of Sinus Buster saw my blog and sent me free samples of different formulas of the nasal spray, including the "Headache Formula" pictured here. It's similar to Sinol, but it has feverfew in it, which is also supposed to prevent headaches with regular usage. I've been using Sinus Buster twice a day for about two weeks. Unfortunately, it hasn't helped prevent any headaches yet, but I'm still going to keep trying it and maybe increase the dosage. It's much easier to use than Sinol - the sprayer works better (note for anyone who works at Sinol who may be reading this!).

Check out more info on Sinus Buster here.

My neurologist is letting me go off Lexapro, which I was originally excited about since I don't like being on antidepressants. I've been on it since late last year though. I split the pills in half a few nights and then stopped taking it for about two days. My neurologist had told me to wean myself off it, but he didn't get too detailed. I got SO depressed, so right away I took half a dose (5 mg) and have been taking that every other day and will keep doing that until I run out. It's scary that medicine can affect your emotions that much.

"Good gosh, are you writing a book?" Quote from my husband. It's Friday night, and it's been a rough week at work and my world of headaches (probably related to the work stress), so I'm going to listen to the hubby.

Elimination Diet

Related to the comment in the post below about food triggers, I am reading a book now that mentions how wheat is a common food allergy and can trigger headaches/migraines (there are several others of course). It also talks about how to do an elimination diet - do a "water fast" for a day, then gradually add in one food item at a time. Easier said than done in my opinion - most meals involve things that are mixed together. Are you supposed to eat strawberries all day, for example, and the next day add in carrots? Yikes. To respond to the person who left the comment, I would see a nutritionist. I'm also small (5'7''/116 lbs) and I can understand your concern. I've had to stop medications that made me lose too much weight as a side effect. I'm sorry that you are feeling depressed too. Please know that there is always hope. Start by seeing a nutritionist, and/or neurologist and/or psychiatrist/psychologist. I'll keep you in my prayers!

Are migraines more painful than childbirth?

A reader of my blog suggested that I read "The Pain Cure" by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. and Cameron Stauth. The copyright is from 1999, so it's not the newest book out there, but I decided to check it out. In one of my posts from a long time ago, I mentioned that I bet migraines are more painful than childbirth (or something along those lines). I've never had a kid but I've had plenty of migraines. Now I'd like to take a moment to say, I told you so.

Chapter 2 has a "Severity of Pain" chart that lists various ailments by numbers 1, being least painful, through 10, most painful:

1 - Moderate sunburn
2- Sprain
3- Mild arthritis, or moderate tension headache
4- Phantom limb pain, or broken bone
5- Back pain
6- Severe arthritis, or fibromyalgia
7- Invasive tumor pain
8- Giving birth
9- Infant colic

And drumroll please...10 - the most painful ailments - Migraine headache, or severe burn.

So you might be wondering, as I was, how can they tell that infant colic is more painful than those other things when infants can't even talk? I'm not a doctor, but I'm guessing someone did a study and tested brain waves to get these results. The source of this information or details involved are not listed on the chart or in that chapter, but I'm not finished with the book so maybe it discusses it more in depth later on.

But I've experienced 5 of these ailments, and I think this pain scale is pretty accurate.