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Thursday, December, 03, 2009
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Winter Holiday GuideEnjoying the Holidays Despite Migraines and Headaches --> Info for you...

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Hi - sorry to hear about your morning migraines!  I just hate those.   I get them two ways: The first is that I sometimes wake up in the morning with an already advanced (strong) migraine, and I feel irritated/sore/tender in the jaw or temples or shoulders area.  I think this type, for me anyway, is related to occasional teeth clenching or shoulder hunching (sleeping curled up) during times when I'm under great stress.  The second type of morning migraine I get is a persistent (everyday for as long as a week), irritating, low level, just pain in the head, and it can then progress throughout the day.  It is so sad to wake up on day four or five and feel that pain in your head, again, that was just waiting for you to wake up.   Sometimes, before I even get out of bed, I just want to hang my head and cry because I went to bed with so much hope that I would wake up without it.    What my doctor eventually did is prescribe me one clonazepam and one flexeril to take before bedtime, every night (both are available cheaply as generics).  Turns out my mother has been on the same regimen for a very long time, and hasn't had a bad migraine for years (I'm 35, mom is late 50's).  I haven't been quite so lucky, but I've definitely had an improvement with regard to the morning migraines, but only if I'm religious about never forgetting to take them before bed.  That's the morning migraines.  Now, the menstrual & weather-related migraines are a different story altogether... I, like you, like relpax for effectiveness in (eventually) stopping a migraine in its tracks, as long as you catch it early enough - I also like axert, maxalt, zomig, imitrex, & frova (I think these are all in the same family of drugs).  Unfortunately, they're very expensive and so I don't regularly have them on hand.   Okay, sorry to be so long-winded today, but I just remembered a trick I sometimes use during those week-long morning migraine times.  I would set my alarm clock an hour or two earlier, sit up, and if the migraine was there still, I would attack it with whatever I had in my arsenal, even combining medications that can acceptably be combined (making sure one has caffeine), take also a 1/2 dose of decongestant, drink a huge glass of water, breathe deeply and roll my neck and shoulders around, and go back to bed for an hour or two.  I really think the sleep works together with certain medications, and this can really do the trick.  I've woken up an hour or two later without even the trace of a headache, and been so happy I do a little dance.  This trick has sometimes even saved me from potentially having had to call in sick to work.   Also, if you keep a migraine journal and find these may be related to your hormone cycles, I have a friend in her mid- forties who responded very well to wearing the patch for one week out of every month.  In any event, hope anything here helps.  As always, you'll want to talk to your doctor if the morning migraines persist.  If s/he isn't a migraine expert, you might ask her/him to do some research for you and set an appointment to talk it about it later.    Best wishes, and hope you're migraine-free soon, if not already! 
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