Anybody suffer from Migraines

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  • arcticfox04
    arcticfox04 Posts: 1,011 Member
    Cluster Headaches all the time. Rather have a Migraine over them any day of the week.
  • Rmazula
    Rmazula Posts: 58 Member
    @avir8: I am not sure if you are on botox for migraines, but I wanted to clear up where the botox is injected (at least for me - and I have been told by my doctor, that they follow a specific way they do it) First, it is medical grade botox and can only be done by a certified doctor. It can only be done every 3 months per FDA. They put the botox at your pain spots in specific and other areas. So different areas on your forehead, top of head, base of skull, shoulders. In order to get botox, you have to get approved by your insurance, which can take some time. I have severe migraine and they rejected me the first time around, so my doctor had to re-submit.

    There are generally about 30 shots. I am a wimp so I usually have my husband there to hold my hand. With every cycle of injections your body will slowly get used to it and the migraines should go down, hopefully to a point where you won't need the botox anymore. My botox is currently wearing off at 10-11 weeks, so I have a couple weeks that are really difficult. I still get migraines, but compared to getting them 1-2 weeks, all in a row; 14 or so migraines a month, it is a lot better. For the most part, it has cut the number of my migraines a month in half, some months I have more, some months I have less, some months none. It does not work for everyone though.

    I have found no other preventative medication to work for me. I have really bad vision and balance problems, more so than the pain. Sometimes I would rather have the pain. I am so debilitated with this, something I am sure everyone can relate to.

    Anyways, regarding losing weight. Yes, it sucks and is very frustrating. When I get my migraines, drinking Sprite helps and eating carbs helps, so you can see where that leads me. I am unable to do cardio, weights. I have to just sit, lay down, because my balance is horrible, just walking is hard. Sometimes it causes me to starve myself, sometimes it causes me to eat too much and generally I just grab whatever is there. I usually have to eat softer foods, it is hard for me to eat much of substance, so I snack. I have found it is definitely a challenge when they are severe :(

    Is there anything anyone does when they are severe that helps them?
  • zbmb30
    zbmb30 Posts: 177 Member
    I have migraines. I started getting them when I was a junior in college and they progressed to me having them pretty frequently. After my boyfriend's mom got on to me and said that she would take me to a neurologist herself if I didn't go, I finally scheduled an appointment. She said everything seemed fine with me, and my MRI came back normal. She told me to cut out the diet sodas. She said I shouldn't really have anything other than water. She gave me a list of foods I can have and can't have. I try to follow it (limit sugar intake, no frozen meals, etc.). I have water pretty much all day. I'll wake up and drink a bottle of water when I am getting ready for work, then 2 cups of coffee after breakfast at work, and then the rest of the day is water. I will allow myself some diet soda on the weekends (just for the taste). I still get migraines, but not nearly as often. I keep only fruit in my office for snacks, so when I start to get a headache I won't be tempted with any other foods. I also don't keep cash on me on purpose, so I won't hit the vending machines.

    My family doctor prescribed me medicines to take when I get migraines. He prescribed one that begins with a S, but it doesn't work very well for me. He also prescribed me Relpax, which is expensive. My insurance (I got off my parents this year) actually allows me 8 pills a month for $15. They usually help with the migraines when nothing else will. I do get sleepy on those though. My neurologist tried me on some preventitive medicine, but I was having bad side effects on it, so I quit taking it.

    I also noticed last week that I will sometimes get migraines after working out. I am doing a running program through my work, and we ran maybe 15-20 minutes last week and as soon as I stopped and walked to cool down and stretch, my head was throbbing. It got worse through the night, so I woke up and took a Relpax and it was gone by the time I had to wake up and get ready for work.

    I hope this helps you. I know migraines are a pain (no pun intended). Feel free to add me as a friend!

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