I aws diagnosed with hashimoto's disease plus or minus 20 years ago, I'm now 47 and suffer constant migraines every day. I take sofadien pain tablets everyday--doctors cannot help me with this problem .
Please can you assist me in a solution.
Yours sincerely
Wynand Van Den Berg
Wynand,
One thing to consider is that the pain tablets you're taking may actually be making things worse. If we take Migraine abortive meds such as triptans or any kind of pain med more than two days a week, a big part of your problem may well be medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this. If you're in an MOH situation, nothing you take is going work, neither prescription nor "natural" medications nor over-the-counter. If that's the case, you need to work with your doctor to stop the medications causing the problem.
When we have three or more Migraines or headaches a month, we need to be talking with our doctors about prevention. There are now over 100 medications and supplements that can be used for Migraine and headache prevention. The frustration of trying to find what works for us can make it seem as if we've tried it all, but with so many possible preventives, it's literally impossible to have tried them all. See Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up! for more information.
If your doctor isn't able to help you, it may well be time to consult a Migraine and headache specialist. It's important to note that neurologists aren't necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.
I hope this helps!
Teri
I don't know what Hashimoto's Disease is, but like the expert said, if you take migraine abortives every day, you can actually get rebound headaches. It's a vicious cycle.
For my chronic headaches (mine were brought about by a traumatic brain injury) I found that the best relief came from narcotic analgesics, combined with low dose muscle relaxers. i.e. Hydrocodone/APAP 5/500mg and Baclofen 10mg.
I would recommend talking to your doctor about exploring other options that don't include the use of Migraine Abortives every day.
I hope this helps.
My chronic headaches were relieved by the Hydrocodone/APAP pretty well. The pain is constant, and I mean CONSTANT. I've had a headache since March of 2009.
I tried everything under the sun to treat them, and finally got to Vicodin, which has helped a great deal. My neurologist was curious as to whether the pain persisted because of MOH, so I stopped taking the Vicodin for about two months. We came to the conclusion that the hydrocodone wasn't causing rebound problems at all. It's just chronic pain.
Now, I take MS Contin 30mg two times a day, using the hydrocodone/APAP for breakthrough pain, and it's working pretty well. I still am in some pain, but it's not as bad as it was before.
I can't take Tramadol because I'm taking an SNRI, a benzodiazepine, and muscle relaxers. Introducing Tramadol into that mix could be a threat for seizures.
I talked to my doctor(s) quite a bit about MOH, as well as the risk of dependence and various other factors that you deal with when taking narcotic medications, and we've all agreed that right now, this type of treatment is best for me until we can figure out how to interrupt the pain cycle.
Hopefully, this won't be a life long struggle for me, but if it is, I'm not going to let Pain Incarnate have an easy time taking me out.
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Hi, GroundPounder!
How many days a week are you using the hydrocodone/APAP medication? It can cause medication overuse headache / rebound too. In fact, either the hydrocodone or the acetaminophen alone can cause MOH, so the combination can be even more problematic.
Of course, I don't think MOH is one-size-fits-all. Our bodies are different; medications are different. When I had shoulder surgery, it was important for me to have something to take daily for weeks for the post-op pain. My doctor suggested that I try tramadol because he's had patients who could take it without getting into an MOH situation. Luckily, I was able to take it daily for about three weeks, and didn't have MOH at the end of that time.
Teri