Migraine Update {I'm Losing}

It's been awhile since I've posted about my migraines. Last week was nuts!! Every day I woke up with my head pounding.  Most days the pain was likely considered migraine level, but since I was not hanging over the toilet, I just kept dragging along. Not a lot was accomplished, but at the least I was able to keep up with the crazy thing called life!

I was on a med called Nortriptylene (actually used as an anti-depressant) for about six months or so. It helped a little in regard to the every day non-migraine type headaches, but when it came to the full blown migraine (hurts to breath, I want to shoot myself, hanging over the toilet dry-heaving), I still had to go into the Emergency Room for a "migraine cocktail".

In the last month or so, I have tapered off the Nortryp. I had no ill effects coming off of it, in fact considering it's supposed to work as an anti-depressant on other patients, I would say it almost made me depressed. Well, maybe depressed is a strong word. Subdued would be more accurate. I didn't notice it until I started working off of it. Suddenly I had energy and life again!

Probably the worst side effect I had when working off it was a few nights of insomnia. I have never had an issue with an inability to sleep and sleep well (except when I have a migraine and then I would rather not breathe, let alone get out of bed despite not sleeping because my head feels like it will blow off at any minute -- and truthfully hoping it might, so that I can actually sleep), so this was a very new and strange thing to lay in bed thinking about a whole lot of nothing. A couple of nights I got up and read in the great room or puttered in the kitchen. My stovetop has not been so clean since we got it brand new when we renovated!! I am glad to be back in my normal sleeping pattern again though. Sleep is awesome!!

So this week it's off to my Nurse Practitioner to discuss other migraine prevention med options. Although I only end up having very severe migraines every six weeks minimum, the fact that I have to go to the hospital to get a migraine cocktail, is enough to warrant having to go on preventative meds. Unfortunately, we haven't found one that works yet, and all these meds have some level of nasty side effects. It's a long and frustrating battle!

So yes, the battle continues.