I am SO sorry for your pain. I suffer from migraines and occasionally I will get what is called a dibilitating migraine. It starts like a regular migraine, but renders me unable to walk and talk. I can hear the littlest sound and it's magnified in my head. The only cure for me is a Morphine shot with something else added in. I basically go to sleep for 9-10 hours and wake up so weak I can barely stand.
I was getting 15 migraines a month and got put on Topamax. 400mg. is the recommded dosage to work up to for migraine sufferers. Recently I couldn't keep anything down and was hospitalized. This went on 9 days. By that time all my medications were out of my system. I noticed that during that time despite everything else I had few headaches. That made me wonder if one of my other medications was causing my headaches.
It's been 3 weeks now, and I get the daily hatband symptoms and aching head, but have noticed that when I eat cheese within an hour I have the light aura, the pain behind the eyes, the tinnitis (ear ringing) and it usually lasts a day. Relpax is a help but it is almost $30.00 a tablet. I figured for $30.00 I was worth it to get rid of it, but you can't get more than 6.
I am sure some of the medications are just now leaving my system, but I cut out caffeine, Paxil, and a host of other medications due to my condition. So far I feel about like I did before the Topamax, EXCEPT.....my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) tendencies went totally away. I don't have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but I have many of the symptoms they suffer. While on the Topamax, I had none. I may end up back on it, but for now, I'm doing eliminations. Perfume, cigarettes, cheese, sunny sunny days on end (Something to do with the barometric pressure in the atmosphere) cause me discomfort and migraines.
My sister suffered from cluster headaches and I watched her bang her head on the floor, scream and cry. At one point she tried to commit suicide because she said death would be better than what her head put her through. She got older and grew out of them, but still has an occasional migraine. She takes Imitrex when it happens.
I would say keep a diary each day include the weather, what you had to eat, any stress (have more paper ready for that right?) and note the time your headaches start, when they stop. Take that to a neurologist (with referral) and let them help you.
Again- I am so sorry for your pain. Hope something I wrote helps. Oh and I have nasal polyps. Sounds gross I know. But one doctor suggested that the polyps may have something to do with it. The neurologist said...maybe but not likely. They can find that out with an X-ray.
Good luck
Hugs
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