War on Headaches readers, meet Ellie!

Hi, I'm Ellie and I'm a spoiled puppy!

Jonathan and I FINALLY found the perfect dog for us! We adopted Ellie 11/11/11, which is how we (Jonathan) came up with her name. She came from Saving Grace which is near where we live in N.C. They think her mom is a Sheltie/Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mix and they don't know what her dad is, but some people tell me they can see long-haired dachshund. She 3 1/2 months old and about 8 lbs. so she'll probably be a small dog (her mom is 16 lbs.) which is good because we're still living in our condo which isn't the largest.

The first weekend we had her, I got up about 3-4 times each night/morning to take her out, and she had diarrhea from giardia (parasite) so I had little sleep and lots of messes to clean up. Even so, I didn't have a headache the entire weekend. Unfortunately, after that they came back as normal and got bad for a while because I was under so much stress with final projects and exams. Now that the semester is over with, I've had fewer headaches although I did have one today that Aleve didn't help much, but walking Ellie in the crisp, fresh air did help!

Ellie has been SO much fun and definitely worth the extra work. I've been getting more exercise just from going up and down the stairs to take her out every few hours, which is good because I had been slacking ever since I had costochondritis.

Oh a quick update unrelated to my puppy...I was taking 5-HTP for about 3 months and didn't notice any improvement in my headaches/migraines, so I stopped it - gradually, of course. It did help my anxiety, but I don't feel like the anxiety is bad enough to require pills. I need to do more research, but a friend gave me an article from Prevention Magazine about melatonin helping migraines, so that's probably going to be the next thing I try. Have any of you tried melatonin for headaches/migraines?

More cute puppy pictures? Of course!

Cardboard Testimonials

Wow has it been busy lately! I'm looking forward to things winding down as the fall semester ends so I can finally take a breather. Luckily, it has been a GOOD busy (it usually is!).

First, a quick health update. I got a new gyno who was willing to do an ultrasound of my ovaries, and she found...nothing. I felt like a hypochondriac, but I really had extreme cramping. Not lately though, thankfully. The new gyno talked with me about my general health and when she found out about my migraines and other issues she started naming off all these ideas (acupuncture? chiropractor? etc.) and I'd tried most of them with no relief. Every time I see a new doctor it's like that. If I was a doctor, I'd be like that too; they're wired to fix people and I appreciated her concern and willingness to give advice. My migraines took a turn for the worse for a while, which I am convinced is from some cranberry pomegranate juice that had grape juice in it - I'm almost certain grape juice is a trigger for me so I'm going to start avoiding it. The last few days though, my head has been great. Is is the 5-HTP, or something else that I'll discuss in my next post? I think you all will enjoy my next post; I'll try to get it up as soon as I can. :)

So, wondering about the title of this post? Lots of churches have been doing what's called Cardboard Testimonials, and when my church decided to do them, I was asked to participate. Check out the video below; you'll know which one is mine. This is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was for a combined service so there were maybe 400 or more people in the congregation, and reading other peoples' testimonials before going on stage was so touching that I started to lose it, as most people in the church did. I don't like being up in front of people so I was hoping the intimidation would distract me and I wouldn't cry, but obviously that wasn't the case. But, I'm glad that I could share my story and represent all of you struggling with pain. And I meant what I wrote; God hasn't healed me, but he really does give me strength, every single day. Here's the video:

Treato

I hadn't heard of Treato.com until I received an email from them through this blog. I checked it out and it's pretty neat! If you want to find out what people are saying about certain medications or conditions (like migraines), do a search and the results are posts from forums all over the internet. You can even combine the two; I searched "5-HTP migraines" and found that I'm not the only person trying out 5-HTP for migraines, and I was able to read through what other people have been writing about in web forums.

Treato has more than 1,000,000 posts on headaches and 326,000 posts on migraines. I hope this will be a helpful resource for you. (Oh and the intro video's cute too!)

Happy Halloween!!! :)

Study proves exercise helps migraines

I'm sitting in class but I came across this article and had to share it. Very exciting! :)

Exercise Is Just As Good As Meds at Preventing Migraines

Update: Please read the comments to this post for some links to blog posts that go more in depth on this story. This study has a lot of shortcomings and should not be considered an official scientific study.

Fall Break

For fall break, my husband and I took a long weekend trip to the NC & VA mountains. We biked the Virginia Creeper Trail, which is 34 miles but the first 17 miles are mostly downhill. As luck would have it, I had a migraine the morning of our ride, but 2 Butalbitals helped and luckily my pain pretty much went away before the hard part of the trail. The trail was also fairly smooth so that helped. Near the end, my costochondritis started acting up, so I had to go slower. The entire ride took around five hours, and that included stops for pictures and lunch. Speaking of pictures...

Farm along the trail. The leaves were starting to change!

Thank God for Butalbital & sunglasses

Got up for sunrise (then slept until 11:30 a.m. - hey, it's vacation)

I was hoping I'd have a headache-free vacation, especially since midterms are starting up and things are going to get hectic again. But I can't complain, because the drugs worked and the break from the city was exactly what I needed!

No Botox (yet)

Injection image by TschiAe; modified by War on Headaches

Well, I assumed correctly. I called my insurance and they do cover Botox, only after I meet my deductible, and only 80% of the cost. I have a $1,000 deductible, so needless to say I will not be getting Botox injections anytime soon. I was really looking forward to trying it...at least as much as you can look forward to multiple shots in the head.

Now I'm only doing the following for my headaches:

• 5-HTP (no change yet)
• Mouth guard at night for TMJ (might as well not be on the list since it hasn't helped my head)
• Exercise
• Gatorade once a day - update: I'm down to the bottom of my Costco-size container of powder, so I don't think my electrolyte levels have an impact on my headaches
• Therapy about once a month 
• Drugs as needed: Aleve, Butalbital, Ketorolac
• Ice pack as needed

The list looks long, but basically I feel like I'm doing nothing, and I'm running out of ideas (that I can afford or attain legally). It's so frustrating. At the same time though, I'm still optimistic that things will get better, and I'm thankful that I've been able to drag myself to class, work and church even with the pain. Surely this headache thing will end some day, right?

Costochondritis

My body and I really don't get along. I've been really into running, as you probably know by now, and three weeks ago I ran 30 minutes without stopping to walk - which is the longest yet! I didn't even have time to be proud of myself because costochondritis took away my happy thoughts. Since I was a kid, I've always had random chest pains where it hurts to take deep breaths so I have to do shallow breathing until the "episode" goes away, but it didn't do it much and didn't concern me. Since I've started running, it's been doing it more and the episodes have been longer. After the 30-minute run, it was so bad that the chest pain would start for no reason and would linger for hours (it wouldn't hurt unless I took deep breaths or moved the wrong way). It would even wake me up at night if I ended up laying on my chest because the pain is on my left side and it would be so sharp I'd wake up and have to turn on my side or back.

By the way, I'm completely self-diagnosing myself. I haven't been to the doctor for it (although I did talk to my nurse Mom who is familiar with the condition because Dad had it once), but costocondritis (or "Costco" as my husband calls it) matches my symptoms. Nor do I want to go to the doctor for it because I see too many docs already. Instead, I took a long (and sad) break from running to give myself rest. I was fighting a cold and I think that made it worse too. Yesterday I went for a very short run and walked most of the time, and haven't had an episode yet, so I think I'm better. Who knows what will come up next to prevent me from running, but I'll fight whatever it is with all I've got!

As far as my headaches go, I had a neurology appointment last week and it was a little awkward because I'm not willing to try any new meds but I've tried just about everything else, so I feel like I put my neuro in a tough spot and we were both having trouble deciding what to do next. I did agree to try Botox and since the appointment I found out that my insurance does cover it BUT (there's always a but) the insurance company gets to pick where the Botox comes from so I'd have to bring in "approved" Botox for my neuro to administer. And of course, my neuro's office doesn't accept outside Botox. So next step is for me to find a doctor that will administer outside Botox, but first I'm going to call my insurance and make sure I don't have to meet my $1,000 deductible first, which I'm assuming is the case and if it is, I'll have to put Botox back on my "future things to try" list.

I also asked my neuro about 5-HTP for headaches/migraines and she hasn't had any patients try it but thinks it will be safe, so I've started 50 mg at night and will work up to 100 mg. No noticeable side effects, so that's always a plus!

Edited 9/26 - I forgot to mention that I did ask my neuro about the costochondritis even though that's not in her department, and she agreed that it sounds like what I have and told me to get it checked out if it lasts another week; luckily, it seems to be going away finally. I don't know for sure that running caused it, but I'm going to be more careful and do a lot more walk/runs for a while just to be safe.

Stopping Progesterone

My headaches have been relentless lately, showing no sign of improvement. I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm guessing it is related to stress because the fall semester has started. I enjoy my design classes, but the homework takes forever. I feel like that's all I do.

Last week I saw my gyno and told her I wanted to stop the progesterone cream. My reasons: acne, increased migraines and debilitating cramps. I can't remember if I blogged about it, but one night my menstrual cramps kept me up until 5:30 or so in the morning. Also, I missed church and class because of cramps. I've always had bad cramps, but never that bad! My gyno suggested I try yet another form of progesterone, sublingual drops, but I told her I needed a break from progesterone. Maybe I'll try the drops later, but right now I feel like I've messed with my hormones enough and my body is pissed at me.

Even though my headaches and migraines have been bad and I've used way too much medication lately, I have still been working out. Last Thursday I did yoga and running with a pounding head, and my head pain actually decreased while I was running. I'm trying to keep it up, but I'm also trying to not take as much medication and unfortunately the pain is starting to take over my life right now.

At least we survived Hurricane Irene. I hope you all did as well!

Pre-Irene sunset

Post-Irene sunset

Running Away My Headaches

I've always hated running. When I was on the tennis team in high school, my most dreaded part of practice was running. My sister was on the track and cross country teams, and while I admired her ability and her drive, I thought she was crazy. My friends who are runners seem to belong to some kind of cult or be on running highs because they're so into it and seem addicted. Who would want to torture themselves by constantly moving, having trouble breathing, experiencing pains and injuries, and being bored out of their minds?

Apparently, me.

I'm getting so SICK of my headaches and migraines that I'll do just about anything to get rid of them, even if it means torturing myself by running. I just recently started running, and amazingly I've discovered that once you start to build your endurance, running really isn't torture. My biggest mistake in the past was running too soon after eating and drinking, which gave me side stitches. Once I was able to avoid those, I realized that running was tolerable. Heck, maybe even fun. Why is this crazy girl calling running fun, you might ask?

• It gets me outdoors. Running on the beach with my sister back in May started this whole thing. Now I run mostly on the treadmill due to the heat, although I have gone on a few runs on the nearby Greenway which is nice and shaded. The last two weekends I ran in the mountains of NC and GA while visiting in-laws. When you're gliding slowly on your own two feet versus whizzing by on a car, you're able to really take in the beautiful scenery.
• I breathe better. Not every runner has to sprint and get out of breath while running. I take my time and take deep, controlled breaths, which does wonders for your health and mood.
• It's easy to do. Get up, put shoes on (or go barefoot if you wish), and go. 
• Muscle. Maybe I'll get killer muscles out of running. That's not why I'm doing it, but the thought inspires me to run even more.
• It clears my mind. I'll admit that I usually watch TV when I work out on the treadmill (our condo's gym has cable which we don't have in our unit, so I can get my HGTV and Food Network fix). But for outdoor runs, my mind doesn't race like it does when I'm sitting still, and I'm able to pay attention to my body and how I'm feeling. It's also a good time for me to pray without so many distractions.

Recently, something else has made me even more motivated to run. My high school friend, Brad (you can find him at A Beer with Brad), recommended that I read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. I just finished reading it, and it made me want to go out and run 100 miles - seriously! I didn't, of course, but maybe one day... The book tells stories about ultra races, amazing runners and why humans are meant to be runners. It also shares techniques and has a good argument for barefoot running to avoid injury. While I haven't gone barefoot yet, I have changed my running style and my body feels great! I highly recommend this book, even if you aren't into running and don't plan to be. It's still inspiring to read about what we can accomplish if we stay positive and don't hold back.

Picture from Amazon.com

I won't be running marathons any time soon, but I'm hoping that if I run as much as I can, my headaches and migraines might reduce. Of course, running and other strenuous exercises can trigger headaches/migraines, so if you're going to try this with me, be careful and do it gradually. I'm alternating walking and running for now, and I'm doing a lot of daily stretches that my physical therapist taught me. If your health allows, I invite you to give running a chance. Happy running! :)

Hello Again, Neuro

It had been a while since my last neuro appointment, so it was nice to go back last week. My migraines have been bad lately and since my Ketorolac expired and a previous neuro had prescribed it, I figured it was a good time to pay her a visit. And boy, do I mean pay...the specialist copay for my new insurance is $50. That adds up when you see a lot of specialists!

The appointment went pretty well. My neuro mainly listened to the headache/migraine update I gave her, plus some ideas I have. She's going to see if my new insurance will cover Botox (not getting my hopes up). Another idea I had was doing a spinal tap aka lumbar puncture because I've never had one and it's my hobby (more like second job) to rule things out. She was able to schedule it right away, but when I called my insurance I found out I'd have to meet my $1,000 deductible before they'd cover it (well, 80% of it). So far I've paid $0 toward my deductible. I left a message with the neuro billing person asking how much a spinal tap costs, but this lady is chronically unresponsive. My online research shows it's about $300-$400, so I canceled my appointment and moved spinal tap back on my "One Day When I'm Rich" list.

The other week after doing a big run (big for me being 20 minutes without stopping, and the other 10 minutes walking), I started having sciatic nerve pain, and I talked to my neuro about that. We agreed that I need to keep exercising since it may help my headaches, so she referred me to a physical therapist and now I'm doing that once a week. Luckily the pain hasn't been bad, but it's good to play it safe. And that copay is only $25.

Other than that my neuro appointment was fairly uneventful, but it was still good to check in with her. I still really like this one and hope to keep going there for a while.

By the way, my thyroid test (which was ordered by my gyno) came back normal. No surprise there.

I was talking with someone today and she recommended 5-HTP for my migraines. Have any of you heard of it or tried it? WebMD makes it sound scary, but if it works for migraines I'd give it a try!