waking up daily with a migraine

By andrew tedlow Saturday, December 29, 2007

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I almost always wake up with a migraine, which makes getting through the rest of my day -- I work full time -- quite challenging, to say the least. Currently I take Depakene (Valproic Acid) daily I have Midrin and Migranal to deal immediately with an outbreak , but I'm worried about overmedicating. Specifically, I have trouble keeping to the twice a week limit for Midrin, which works really well for me.

On my physician assistant's advice, I completely stopped taking over the counter pain meds about two months ago, but I've slipped two times -- Christmas day and today -- and taken one Excedrin on each occasion.

Does anyone have any advice? I've had migraines for something like 10 yrs, and I feel like I've been on every medication known to man. Work is a big stressor, and I don't always eat as regularly as I should. I also don't exercise frequently enough. I am trying to incorporate yoga and meditation into my life as much as possible -- I believe that both these activities could make a difference in the long run.

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nutcracker1

12/30/07 8:03am

I'm sorry for what you are going through.

If you are having daily migraines, you really need to seek out a migraine specialist. Click on the blue words to see the list maintained on this site.

I know it feels as though you've been on every possible medication, but that is not really the case. See this list of preventive medications. You can print the list and take it with you to the doctor. Getting an effective preventive regimen is key to getting your life back.

I share your concern about medication overuse headaches. If you have wound up in MOH, you will have to stop the medication involved in order to emerge from it. No preventives will work while you remain in MOH, so avoiding MOH is very important. Have you been open with your doctor about how frequently you are using your medication? You will need your doctor's help to determine if you are in MOH, and to get out of it if you are actually in MOH.

I hope you will join us on the discussion forum for additional information and support. Click on Migraine Forums under the orange Manage bar to get there. Registration for the forums is separate from the registration for this page, but you can use the same info to register. We would love to have you. Other people who have had chronic daily headaches would be happy to share their experiences with you. We have success stories over there, too, which would be an encouragement to you.

Good luck with all of this. We will be here to support you as best we can.

Nancy Harris Bonk, Health Guide

12/30/07 9:20pm

Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!

Daily pain is exhausting and frustrating. I'm sorry to hear you are dealing with it. An important thing to remember is not to use certain OTC and prescription medications more 2-3 days a week because we can create another problem called Medication Overuse Headache(MOH.) If we are experiencing MOH, all the preventives on earth won't work. Click on the blue print for more information on MOH. Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires

Have you ever kept a Migraine diary? This is a wonderful tool you and your doctor can use. You can track and identify Migraine triggers, see what medications are working, and what patterns your Migraines may have.

Speaking of triggers, you mentioned you try to keep a healthy lifestyle, that's great. Sometimes we aren't even aware that certain things can trigger a Migraine attack. For example, I didn't know that interrupted sleep patterns could trigger a Migraine attack. Click HERE for more information on Migraine triggers.

Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.

We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.

Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, MyMigraineConnection.com

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them to the forum or send me a message through my profile.

Welcome again,

Nancy Bonk
MyMigraineConnection.com Expert

PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!

andrew tedlow

12/30/07 9:43pm

Hi Nancy. Thanks for all of that helpful info. I'm not sure I believe in headache diaries. I mean, what is the point of them? I've kept them before and in at least one case, the doctor who suggested the idea never asked me about what I wrote. Is the mere fact that I'm tracking my headaches on a daily basis supposed to yield positive results of some kind?

-Andrew

GWP

12/31/07 3:36pm

Migraine diaries are a pain. I've done them off and on for the 18 years I've been on preventives. More off than on in the last few years. I saw a new specialist earlier this month, and she wants a very simple calendar diary. I have a Word table that I use on the computer, and I'm going to transfer that information to the calendar. I keep track of more information than the specialist wants on the calendar, but I'm going to continue to use my personal form.

I'm also doing Diet Center to continue to get off the weight I gained on Depakote, Nardil, and Zyprexa. 28 pounds and 2 dress sizes since the first of the year! I keep a food diary and write down my meds the previous day on that. The Diet Center counselors say that my acute meds can make me retain water. I really haven't tried to follow up on that by seeing how loose my rings are, but it's a good excuse for a disappointing weigh-in.

I can only use my Imitrex and Anaprox (high dose ibuprophen) 3 times a week, and the diary is where I keep up with that. I tend to underestimate if I don't write it down.

I have a space for my mood on my headache chart. It helps me keep track of my Major Depression and how well my mood meds are working. That will be important, because I'm changing from Effexor to Cymbalta at the suggestion of the specialist. My psychiatrist approves, and I'll make that switch Friday, starting with a low dose of Cymbalta and increasing once a week. I'll continue on my Wellbutrin, so I'll have that continuity.

Ask your doc if there's a format s/he prefers. If not, tailor the diary to your liking. Or use your personal diary and transfer to your doctor's format when it's convenient.

Mosey over to the forum. Lots of folks over there keep diaries, and they'll have additional ideas.

Gretchen in Mississippi

Obassia

12/31/07 1:04pm

This has been a very bad year for me with migraines. I was diagnosed at about four years old with an abdominal migraine after I supposedly passed out. They run in my family and my father had them terribly. I am working and going to school for my doctorate which has been very interesting since I haven't had such a horrible year since I was on HRT (I went off that and was much better). The weather has definitely been a contributing factor to my migraines this year and although I was told to limit the amount of Excedrin because of rebound headaches, I have found that I have resorted to Excedrin in combination with the Imitrex that I take. I heard from my neurologist that Imitrex will be made with some kind of added ibubrofin because migraineurs have reported that the combination is more effective. I guess that the ibuprofin reduces some of the inflamation. One of the things that I have noticed with my migraines is the use of my laptop...on my lap. I get terrible neckpain. If I use the computer, I MUST be at a desk in a good chair sitting upright. I have found that this is very important. I am finding that I need to limit my use of the computer because it does seem to bring on more migraines.

I have been waking up with a migraine every day this year. I am a meditator (TM) and have been for about 30 years. That is very important also keeping a very strict schedule...sleeping and eating. I must go to bed by 9:30 or 10:00 pm and get up by 6:00 am. Following one's own biological rythyms is important. Also, I have found that drinking water constantly seems to help me. I was not a big water drinker until I had a bout with kidney stones and so now I try to drink 7 glasses of water a day. I notice a difference when I don't hydrate. I have been on Corgard for about 20 years which is a beta blocker. I also tried Sinusbuster for migraines and cluster migraines and that helped a bit. But the bottom line is that this has been a very, very bad year for me.

Tina

6/ 2/08 9:53pm

I just vistited the Neurologist today, and she reccommened Botox injections in my forehead and neck. I was very willing to get them, but my health insurance would not cover it. I also have had them for about 10 years and I wake up with them. I was taking Tompamax and now I take Gabpapentin. Good luck. Hope this helps. Tina

waking up daily with a migraine

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