Thursday, February 25, 2010

New Plan of Action

I can't believe I am doing this but here I go.  I had just about finished this post and then lost it!  Anyway, I've posted about the fact that I have not been feeling well as of late and been dealing with a lot of migraine headaches.  I have been in a downward spiral since December, suffering terribly!  I've had a headache practically every day and a migraine averaging at least once a week.  After this past weekend, I knew it was time to do something about it.  I called the doctors office on Monday morning and much to my surprise they had a cancellation on Tuesday and I was able to get in right away.  (Usually it is a wait of at least several weeks.)  My neurologist really took his time with me, studied my history and reviewed everything with me, then did an exam and we have a new plan of action.  I had been taking Midrin when I got a migraine, but I am not taking that any longer as we didn't feel it was working.  We both felt it was imperitive to stop this cycle that I am in, so to that end he prescribed Prednisone.  Now, I hate taking Prednisone.  It leaves a terrible taste in my mouth and I gain weight when I am on it, but it does work and at this point that is all that matters.  He also had me stop taking any type of analgesic, fearing it might lead to rebound headaches, nad he started me on a preventative called Topamax.  For those times when I get a migraine, he has prescribed Maxalt. So this is what my day looks like:
Isn't that terrible!  Some I take in the morning, some in the evening and some are for a finite amount of time.  Good thing we have a prescription plan!   Additionally, he has put me on a migraine 'trigger diet'.  Although I am pre-disposed to migraines, they can be triggered by foods and I am to stay away from those foods. The list includes: caffeine, chocolate of any kind, alcohol, MSG, Soy Sauce, cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, broad beans, pizza, hot dogs, ham, pre-packaged foods, flavor enhancers, meat tenderizers, and the list goes on.  I figure it can't hurt!  I have to go back to see him in a month. 
Have any of you suffered with migraines?  What do you do?

3 comments:

  1. Yikes. I do not suffer from migraines. I guess I can count my lucky stars for that. I'm sorry that you've been having such a rough time lately.

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  2. I had migraines in college but we found out they were a reaction to a med I was on! They are debilitating, hoping this new plan works for you!!

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  3. I do suffer from migraines. But I get the aura. I have no perifial vision, and I feel not myself. Like some one spiked my drink. Kind of like I feel out of body. Its really weird. I know before I get one because part of my vision goes. I just go to bed.
    This diet sounds interesting. Keep us posted to see how it works

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