A New Start?

It's been so long since I last wrote anything here, you might have guessed the migraines are less of an issue than they used to be.  I still get them but much less frequently and less intense.  Maybe its the amitryptyline which I continue to take mainly to get a good nights sleep.  Maybe its approaching 70; they're supposed to diminish with age aren't they?

From now on I'm going to use this blog to get the trials of modern life, which could well give anyone a migraine, out of my system.  If they really do trigger one I'll be sure to record it.  Maybe the blog needs a new name: I'll see how it goes.

Today a minor irritation with a happy ending to get things off the ground.  Renewing Home Insurance over the phone can be a trial but Saga have a fairly humane approach and at the end of the process they offered their (new?) Home Response as additional cover.  It sounded interesting and I nearly went for it, but at the price (£60/year quoted) I hesitantly declined.  Half an hour later having read more about it I thought I ought to have it so phoned back to enquire further.  This time, I was quoted a special offer price of £30/year and of course signed up willingly.  Was the original agent obliged to quote £60 and then noted on my file that this was too much?  Curious.

First for a while

We'd planned to go out for the day last Wednesday, but a migraine arising in the night and lasting 24 hours put a stop to that. It was the worst since going back onto amitriptyline, but these are not as bad as those earlier in the year. I'm convinced the drug is making life easier, at least for now. I have to admit I had been eating rather a lot of fruit in the preceding days.

Today I awoke with a headache which paracetamol eased. Fingers crossed.

If I get several more I guess we'll be upping the dose again for another few months respite. I'm told 70 mgms is normal so my 10 mg can be doubled if need be.

and another one

I almost forgot to record it, but last Saturday, 11th July I woke up with another bad one. Naproxen and paracetamol together, which gave some relief once, failed this time. So I sat it out, literally, and by Sunday morning it had faced to manageable proportions.

Amitriptyline Update

Last Sunday was my first bad migraine since going onto Amitriptyline in early June. This is progress and I can probably cope with one a month if that's how it stays.

My husband points out that in the week before Sunday, feeling confident and craving fruit, I started eating apples and strawberries again and after a couple of days without ill effects overdosed (as he puts it) on nectarines.

I'm off fruit again for now but maybe an apple a day would be a more sensible approach!

Back on amitriptyline

After a clear week on Propranolol, I suffered a series of what I first thought were classic migraines (4 in two days) but these had very little headache associated. I went back to the doctor and he took me off Propranolol (visual disturbance and headache are amongst the listed side effects!) and re-sold me on amitriptyline which is now well accepted as a successful migraine prophylactic.

Being about to go on holiday and in need of sleeping better this was quite welcome. So, I'm back on 10mg amitripyline at night, sleeping well, but have had two common migraines since starting the course on May 26th. These seem to be reduce in intensity by a combination of Naproxen and Paracetamol.

Apparently it will take a few weeks before any improvement can be expected. The downside so far; dopy mornings feeling unsafe to drive, but this I'm told will wear off.

Decision time

I decided I could not start taking the Topiramate yet. If the Propranolol I took a few years ago stopped working because my use of Solpadiene simultaneously reduced its potency (as the consultant had told me) then I should try Propanolol again now that I'm off the codeine. My GP was happy to agree with me and so I started a course of propranolol on May 15th. So far so good...

An undeserved hangover

We went to a smashing 65th Birthday Party in the village on Saturday night complete with large bonfire and  fireworks.  Plenty of food and wine, although as always I was the only teetotaller in the room.  This is never a problem for me; I don't need alcohol to get merry, but I often suffer the following morning with a hangover worse than my husband's.  Sunday morning was no exception and a full-blown common migraine erupted in the early hours.  We had family coming for Sunday lunch, so lying down in a darkened room was not an option: it had to be fought.  Naproxen proved useless again and really upset my stomach.  Could it have been triggered by  party-food or elation? Neither explanation would be acceptable, but maybe the few spoonfuls of chili on an otherwise bland plateful was a mistake.

It lasted through Sunday night and all-day Monday (spent in a darkened room) despite another go with a Naproxen and Omniprazole taken together early in the day.  It's shadow was still there on Tuesday morning but by lunchtime I was back to normal.