Praise the Lord for Prozac....

I have had such a great streak since I started my 10 days (this time 12) of Prozac before my cycle on Dec. 12th. I had my typical migraine the night before my period started (23rd) but I also had a head cold and my period was late so I didn't realize what was going on. Instead of giving myself a shot like I should of I took a frova and it did nothing. So a few hours later I took another frova and it didn't help much either. I was able to go to sleep that night with the headache but woke up in the middle of the night with it. I considered taking percocet, but since it's not technically on my list I tried something else first. I took some bendaryl and an ativan, got an ice pack and went back to sleep. I woke up without the headache and eventually started my cycle on the 24th. *typical explanation for a drug resistant headache!

The 24th and 25th were fine and then the morning of the 26th I woke up with another one. It wasn't very strong at all but since I know what to do with my period headaches I went ahead and gave myself a shot. I tried to angle the needle in this time and my leg didn't hurt at all this time (except from the initial shot) so that was great. Of course I took the compazine 20 min. before and it really helped quite quickly. I was able to have a normal day. However, I did notice that all day I felt very agitated and restless, unable to sit still. Anxious I guess. I don't know if this was from the DHE, period or what but it was pretty annoying and I tried to distract myself as much as possible and went to bed early to avoid feeling that annoying feeling.
In 15 days I only had 4 headaches I had to treat, including 2 menstrual ones, so that is a great improvement. It will be interestng to see how I do now w/out prozac until Jan. 10th. That's 15 days. It's possible that prozac in general could help a lot so I need to pay attention to that. Also, since the 20th I've increased my Trileptal another 100mg. to 300mg. so that could be a factor but I was noticing improvement before that (because of the prozac).

nothing hardcore but nothing to sniff at either

my oh my, it has been quite a few days since i have posted here.

baby steps, baby steps....and while far from being PERFECT i have made a slight improvement. it seems that since i've been on trileptal, my pain level has stayed relatively on the mild side. although i've noticed that even without pain, my neurological symptoms still impair me.....so don't get too excited here. but decreased pain is nothing to sniff about!

also, on the 12th i started my 10 days of prozac for the month. i decided to take 20 mg. instead of 10 (the choice was to be determined by me). i have had fairly frequent mild headaches that have dissapated w/ ice, one that took frova and one last night that went away with 2 aleve. and, as i said, all with pretty mild pain.

so definitely a babystep of progress. we'll see what changes my doctors want to make to make this permanent (the prozac is only 10 days a month) and improve upon it. i see one of my doctors tomorrow.

no shaeking, verry breakable

Yah, do you ever feel like that? The - don't shake me I'm breakable kind?

Yup, I was quite a grouch when I woke up this morning but besides it being time to start my 10 days of prozac before my menstrual cycle, I took quite a bit of drugs yesterday for the migraine. Think they must have had to wear off and the prozac had to kick in because I didn't feel good until around noon. Don't get me wrong, I was functional, just crabby. Trust me, it's been worse though, just an observation.

So the whole day, start to finish, has been great. Even made a nice dinner for the family and went shopping tonight for secret elf presents for some people we know. We are secretly taking them presents for the 12 days of christmas and since tomorrow is the first day, meyers d and i went shopping for all the loot we're going to sneak them. gosh it was fun. someone did it to us this year so we know how much this family of 10 is going to enjoy it...

earlier today I was wrapping presents while the kids were in school and noticed this writing on the two presents max-ay is giving tse. funny thing is, max-ay is the one whose been shaking his presents and trying to peek while they're being wrapped - stinker!

kids, what a goof ball!

Trying not to jump to conclusions

Here's a cutimous picture from the photo shoot w/ my great niece miss petuniah peach. We had such a great time. My husband's family is so large that it's impossible to have intimate, personal time w/ 30+ people in a room. Friday, I got Miss Petunia Peach all to myself (so to speak). It was wonderful, because I got to see her little personality, get plenty of time holding her, and just find out what she's like.

She's a cool kid. And I think, will be very smart. She could stare at you for hours w/out blinking, it's amazing. And she's so serious. I mean, she smiles, but she just studies people, studies the world. Very quiet and calm too. I love her! And we had such great fun taking pictures of her.

I didn't really eat lunch before I left home and by the time I ate dinner I was quite hungry. I think I waited too long to eat. And all things considered, I got by pretty well w/ that even though I had a slight headache when I got home. Driving home in the dark with the flashing bright lights in my eyes probably didn't help either.

I didn't take anything before I went to bed and was able to sleep just fine.

Saturday morning I still had the headache when I woke up. It wasn't too bad and I tried to ignore it. But by 11 a.m. I realized that if I wanted to do more than ice my head on the couch all day that I would need to take something. Also, I was feeling in such a funk I realized that it was probably time to start the prozac that i'm supposed to take the 10 days before my period. It's hard to say when it will start since I'm just coming off the birth control pills, but I'm right in the ballpark. Feeling that way, well, it's just a sign.

So I took the frovatriptan, endured feeling quite moody for a few hours and was still able to go to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family. I think I would have had to stay home if it weren't for the frovatriptan, and the Ativan too. I took the Ativan because the irritability problems that I get w/ my cycle started to flare up and it was either go to bed and pull the covers over my head or take a chill pill. I decided that since I was fighting a migraine I didn't need the added irritability. I think I made a good decision because the headache went away, I was able to enjoy my family, and I got a good night's rest.

I even woke up this a.m. with no headache and had a 100% day. However, by this morning, I was getting really discouraged at the botox, as it wasn't seeming to be helping me. I kept telling myself that after two weeks I'd have more days under my belt as proof to whether it was going to be working or not. Just because the first few days were less than perfect didn't mean that the next few wouldn't be better.

At least today, anyway, has been great. I've also noticed that the botox has really affected all the muscles in my forehead and on the sides of my head too. It feels tight. Do you know what it feels like to put that clear packaging tape on your face? That's what it feels like, like if I try to raise my eyebrows I feel tightness, firmness.

I suppose this is how you lose the wrinkles. I sure hope it will significantly impact my headaches. I'm sure I could endure another disappointment but I really really want this to be a go for me. Maybe it won't be THE answer, but just so it could help a significant amount would be so nice.

I'm trying to be patient and not jump to conclusions about it. It's going to be what it's going to be....all I can do is enjoy the good day I had today.

You Wanna Piece of Me???

Wow, what a great couple of days. On my Wednesday appointment my doctor and I decided to decrease the lamictal to half of the dose I was taking and see if the headache frequency would stabilize to it's old pattern in order that I could possibly stay on it. It really has been the best medicine I've ever taken to help with my moods. Changing medicines is always hard because you never know what kind of side effects you are going to experience. I may have to drop it all together, and even if I don't, I may still have to add something else. But for now, we have a plan.

Also, now that my menstrual cycles are going back to their old pattern I have to deal with the extreme mood changes I experience during that time. In the past, I had taken an extremely low dose of Prozac and that helped immensely. So, we are going to try that again. You take it the ten days leading up to your cycle.

Wednesday I had no headache at all and was even able to go out to dinner in Portland w/ the hubs and to a "Five for Fighting" concert @ the Aladdin Theatre. The whole thing was so awesome. We ate dinner @ Montego Bay which serves Jamaican food. Never had that before, so that was pretty exotic. I had lamb and the hubs had jerk chicken. (fortunately it didn't turn him into a jerk!)

The Aladdin Theatre is fabulous. I'm guessing it was built in the 1920's and is in the art deco style. We have a theatre like that in the town where I live that's a little bigger than the Aladdin. I loved the small cozy feel that this one had though. We got there a little after the warm up band had started. If we had went any later we wouldn't have been able to find a seat. As it was, we sat in the very back of the balcony, but still could still see just fine. I took my earplugs but didn't need to wear them.

It was so great to get out for a "date" and be able to fully enjoy myself. I actually felt like a real human!

This morning I woke up with a slight headache, but put an ice pack on my head and tried to go back to sleep for an hour. It helped a little bit. When I got up I could still feel the pressure so I put peppermint oil on my right temple where I could feel it. Within about two hours, and a little bit into my morning walk in the crisp Fall air, I went back to feeling 100%. Hallelujah!

I was very tired this afternoon. Either from going to bed @ midnight or from decreasing the Lamictal. I am wondering if I feel tired from the Propanolol (beta blocker) as it lowers blood pressure. But I would much rather deal with this side effect than be in pain. Also, that's another one of the many reasons that it's important for me to stay on Lamictal or something like it because it will help balance out even the slightest of depressive symptoms.

It may seem crazy that I would write about all this. But my philosophy is that sometimes life sucks. And that is putting it mildly. It doesn't always make since why some people would go through such difficult and challenging struggles. All I know is that I have been schooled in a class I would never register for, but here I am. It makes sense, therefore, that I make it worthwhile. To try to make something good out of something bad. It's my hope that somebody whose struggling with migraines, headaches, chronic pain, mental health issues or just life in general, will read this and know that they are not alone. And perhaps, maybe something that they read (could it be you?) could be helpful to them on this crazy path called life.