Healing Service

I attended a "healing service" at my church (Methodist) Sunday evening. I was really looking forward to it and didn't know what to expect. It was definitely a positive experience. The sermon was on medical miracles Jesus performed (stopping a woman's bleeding for example). Then we had communion, and then anyone who wanted to could go to one of four people at the front of the church to get annointed with oil.

For me, all my emotions from struggling with headaches overwhelmed me, and I cried the whole time. It was embarrassing because I don't like crying in public, but many other people were crying as well. The service was inspiring, and yet I found it hard not to doubt God. I know that God still performs miracles, but could I really have headaches for eight or so years and then they just stop? The preacher made certain to mention that a change would happen in God's time, which I am willing to accept.

I've had a bad headache already since the service, but I'm not blaming God. Some things happen on Earth that we'll never be able to understand (some so bad that I am at times thankful that I "just" have headaches). At least I know that miracles are possible. And for now, my preachers are praying for me. Bring on the healing!

Physical Therapy

I started seeing a physical therapist for headaches and so far I've had two sessions. The place is connected to a neurology practice, so they have a lot of headache patients - in fact, one came in while I was there today. What's funny, or really sad, is that I called one PT place before finding this one and the receptionist, after asking the reason I needed to see a physical therapist, said I should see a neurologist for headaches. Ya think?

They've been doing some neat things so far for me:

-Trigger point massage
-Heat treatment
-A machine, sorry I can't remember the name, but it has two wires that clip on my earlobes and a current runs through the wires. It does something to the alpha waves in my brain. I couldn't feel anything but I think they're going to turn it higher next time.
-Another machine that I don't know the name of, sorry, but the therapist stuck four squares with wires on my upper back and it shot a current so strong it made my muscles jerk. It didn't hurt though; it felt like little jolts through my back
-Neck traction (a machine pulled at my neck at 15 second intervals while I was lying down) - this gave me a headache because it pulled right behind my earlobes where my headaches often start; however, the headache went away soon afterward.
-Stretches - I learned neck and shoulder stretches that I can do at home.

They also suggested I use a heating pad on my neck every day after work because I sit at a desk in front of a laptop all day, and my headaches usually start in the afternoon and get worse and worse from there. It feels great to go home and relax my neck for a few minutes.

So, I don't want to get my hopes up, BUT, I'm doing SOMETHING besides trying medication after medication, and that makes me feel good.

Speaking of which, I still have stomach issues - I don't know if it's from stopping Lyrica or starting Zoloft, but it's getting old. I'm going to keep taking it (and I'm also still on Bystolic), because I pretty much need it to get through my job right now. (I'm on it for headache prevention, if the headaches are from stress and the Zoloft helps the stress, it makes sense to keep taking it.)

In an ideal world, physical therapy would work and I'd get to drop the drugs.

Have a wonderful and headache-free weekend!

Lastest Neuro Visit

Why am I typing this Wednesday morning when I should be at work? Let me explain.

I saw my neurologist Monday, and we had a good talk. Note to anyone searching for a neuro or not happy with theirs - keep looking until you find one who cares about YOU and not just your condition, because your body/mind are connected and likely affect your condition. Also, mine doesn't scoff at alternative medicine. Don't get me wrong - he puts me on plenty of drugs, but that's part of his job. Here are the highlights:

- Physical Therapy - I asked him if I should try this since I get lots of tension headaches that seem to come from the neck, and he said that was a good idea and wrote me a referral. It looks like my insurance will cover 20 visits a year, so I'm going to make an appointment. I've had physical therapy twice for my hip, and it helped, so I'm going into this with a positive mindset.

- Acupuncture - My neuro said I should give it a try. He said it helps a lot of people with headaches and is very relaxing. I may try PT first though, since it's cheaper.

- Biofeedback - My dad has tried this for his fibromyalgia. He said you listen to tapes and go through visualization and positive thinking exercises. More on that here. I think my neuro said he can do this, so I'm going to ask him about it next time (I had thought he wrote a note for the office worker to take care of it but it was actually the PT referral).

- Life Coach - Not a typical treatment for headaches, but I told him how stressed I was with work, and he said I should see someone on career counseling. He also said I could set up an appointment with my preacher, so I think I'm going to do that. Once I "figure things out" I'm certain my stress levels will drop. And he did suggest prayer, which I've been doing, but prayer is a conversation with God (two-sided) and I have trouble with the listening part. What's interesting is at Bible study last night we talked about Christian meditation and how you should take time each day in silence and let God speak to you. I'm going to start doing this.

- Meds - Lyrica wasn't working, so I'm going off it. I'm still on Bystolic (5 mg each night), since my neuro is convinced that it's almost eliminated my migraines (not headaches). Could be true, and since I don't have noticeable side effects, I'm fine with staying on it. And now my latest medication to help my tension headaches is, drumroll please...Zoloft.

Which brings me back to why I'm home sick today. Warning: TMI up ahead in three, two...Zoloft gives me awful diarrhea. I take 25 mg each night and after a week I'll increase to 50 mg at night, then 75 mg if I want to (yeah right). I started it Mon. night and was sick Tues. morning. I went to work but only ate oatmeal and pretzels. Of course, because I didn't eat much, I got an awful headache. I took it again last night, and this morning I still had the headache and upset stomach, so I called in sick. I'm going to work from home this afternoon though because I took Butalbital (Fioricet) and feel better (except for the stomach).

Zoloft scares me because I know how hard it was to get off the Lexapro, but I need to keep trying things if I'm going to get better, and plus I could use the serotonin boost. I've had so much anxiety lately.

I have some appointments to schedule (and a war to win)!

Happy 4th

Sorry for the inactivity lately. Work's still pretty stressful, and I'm tring to relax as much as possible. Also, I don't have much to say because I haven't seen my neurologist in two months (usually I go once a month). He wanted to give the medicine time to work (ha! does it ever work?), but well at least I'm $40 richer (my specialist copay).

I see him again July 7, so expect more activity soon after that.

Hope everyone has a happy holiday...Go America.

Work stress and the 2-week headache

I've had a headache for the last two weeks, not including the weekend. And my job (which is a Monday-Friday job) has been a nightmare.

Coincidence? I think not.

That's all that needs to be said right now. I actually don't have too much of a headache right now (just some neck tension), so I'm going to go work out, something I haven't been able to do in, well, two weeks.

Acupuncture my butt

I had a free consultation at a local acupuncture clinic last week. Here's my experience:

The first person I met with, who is an herbalist and possibly their receptionist too, took me back in a private room and asked me some generic questions, and then asked me if I had questions. I asked her how often I would need to get acupuncture before seeing an improvement in my headaches, and she said it depends on the person, but since I've had headaches for 8 years it might take a while. Then I asked her the cost, which is my #1 concern:

$85 a session, plus a fee for the initial visit!!!

YIKES. And that is after taking the supposed 20% off that most insurance companies would offer. And she said that the acupuncturist would probably want to see me twice a week at first.

So then she went to see if the acupuncturist might have a minute to talk to me. And what do you know, he did. I felt special.

Now, I didn't want to be fed empty promises, but the acupuncturist could have at least explained why acupuncture might work and how it's helped others with chronic headaches/migraines. Instead, he simply stated how headaches were "his favorite" because he helps 90% of headache patients, mentioned one lady who quit her job and her headaches went away (what does this have to do with acupuncture...?) and then he PITCHED me, which is part of what I do for a living (in PR), and let's just say I can recognize bull crap when I see it. He flaunted his years of experience, awards, and the fact that all the neurologists in the area send their headache patients to him, and then asked me what other acupuncture clinics I had looked into, because he is head of some board and knows all about them and can tell me how good or bad they are and how much better he is.

One random thing he did was look at my tongue and tell me I was stressed because the tip was red. And he said I wouldn't need acupuncture very long since I'm young (which contradicts what the lady said).

He also told me that his office doesn't "accept" everyone who is interested, and that some people just don't want to get better and they wouldn't be able to help those people anyway so they turn them away. I can't imagine why anyone would not want to get better, but I'm not denying there are people like that out there. However, at the end, when he handed me his card and told me to call if I wanted to set up my first appointment, I played dumb and asked if he would contact me to let me know if I was accepted, and he said not to worry; that I was definitely a candidate for acupuncture.

Wow, I feel special yet again.

Why do places have to play games like that? I really want to try acupuncture some day when I can afford it, but thanks to this place, I am extremely turned off to the whole thing.

Has acupuncture helped anyone with headaches/migraines?

Imagery to Reduce Headaches

A good friend of mine cut out something on headaches from a magazine and gave it to me the other night. It's a short write-up on how "practicing guided imagery can reduce tension and headache frequency." It refers you to a free how-to video from the Mayo Clinic's Web site. Here's the link.

I've been wanting to try acupuncure, but I found out it's about $50 a session, plus initial consultation fees which vary. I'm wondering if the relaxation aspect of acupuncture is what works. So I think I'm going to try doing the video and yoga regularly to see if it helps my headaches. Unfortunately, the vido doesn't work with my mac, but I'm going to try it at work. I was able to read the transcript and it seems to be breathing exercises. The article (sorry, I don't know what publication it came from) says to "concentrate on the throbbing artery in your head and visualize it relaxing and the blood flowing more easily."

It sounds a little cooky, but as always, I'm willing to give it a try if it helps my headaches!

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!