hi
sorry if this turns into a rant, but i am at a complete loss as to what to do next. i feel like my plan has been shot to hell and now i am not sure what my next step is.
i have to stop taking the topamax that i have been on for a week now with as yet undetermined success, because it is making me so dopey that i cannot go to work while on it. my speech is slurred and my thinking really foggy. i cannot afford to be off work any longer.
i am still on the 240mg verap, which i have been taking since Feb, but it's not working to prevent them, which is why i started on the topamax in the first place. i'll stay on it, but REALLY hope someone has an idea as to what i can take to prevent them. i think lithium causes just as much drowsiness doesn't it?
maybe i should just bite the bullett and take prednisone, but I HATE IT!!!!!!!!! it works so well for preventing them, but it makes me crazy. i have a history of depression and ADD, so i hate to mess around with my mental health.
i am also taking zomig daily when i get them, but it's now taking about an hour to work.
i have to go back to work this weekend, and can't step away from my job for an hour at a time, waiting for the zomig to kick in. do you think taking nasal DHE would be better?
does imitrex work any better than zomig?
any idea about botox vs occipital nerve blocks?

sorry for the million questions, i am feeling a little desperate right now and have an appointment with the MD in the am and want to have info beforehand
thanks in advance for the advice.

So many of your questions I can't help you with, but I can share my experience with lithium. I'm in law enforcement and carry a gun, so I'm very limited in my medication options. While on cycle I take 1200 mg a day of lithium. The only side effects I get are a small amount of lethargy, nothing a single cup of coffee can't overcome, and I pee a lot the first 2 weeks, it is a salt after all. It will block 80-90% of my head aches, oxygen handles most of the rest.

If you haven't tried lithium yet, it's nothing like topomax and certainly worth the try. If you do not have oxygen yet, DEMAND  it. Read the link on the left, it must be used correctly or it's useless.

Hang in there, we will help you any way we can.

Guiseppi

thanks for your words of encouragement. i will ask my doc about the possible use of lithium and O2 tomorrow.
i have been reading all the posts here since posting my own and will also talk to him about melatonin and imitrex injections, instead of zomig pills.

thanks again

Hi Kika,

Imitrex injections work in about five minutes for me.  I can go back to work with no side effects after using one.  A BIG draw back is that I really think that the more I use, the more frequent and severe the HAs become.  It could be my imagination but I don't think so.   I hear that 02 is the best bet.  I have never tried it.   Verapamil didn't help me till I got to 360mg.  I have heard of others taking as much as 900mg.  The lethargy gets better as your body gets use to it.   Hope you find relief soon.  Hang in there....... It WILL end.

Hugs,

Jeannie

talk to your doc about upping the verap.  I take 1200mg

i have always thought O2 should be the first thing you try for when you have a headache.  I bought a regulator and Clustermasx and rent the tank.  It works well.  Maxalt MLT or imitrex had limited success as abortives for me too but it is hard to get a decent supply of either.

I was on verap but was changed over to lithium.  Since my cycle finally ended, I stopped the lithium and am currently drug free.

As a last resort I would take Zyprexa to abort.  

Anyway, your verap could be upped with success, O2 could be added as an abortive and then there are tons of other ideas.  Keep reading the forum for other ideas, I am just adding my own experience.

Best of Luck

hi

MD decided to change the verap to 180 mg IR twice daily, instead of 240 mg SR daily. also changed the zomig to nasal spray ( 5 mg) from tablet ( 2.5mg) and, he ordered O2. i am pretty freaked out having this stuff in my house for reasons i can't explain. :-/
took the zomig this am, but didn't work any better than the tablet form, which is weird, seeing as it's 2x the dose.he also wrote an Rx for imtrex injectables if the nasal spray doesn't work.
MD was not in favour of using lithium at this point.
if my pattern remains the same, i'll have a chance to try out the O2 tomrrow am.

cross your fingers........................

Crossing my fingers and saying some prayers the 02 works as well for you as it has for me. Remember, start it at the first sign of an attack. Minutes count a lot. Use a non re breather mask, at a high flow rate, at least 15 LPM. It's critical your little lungs get only oxygen, no outside air, no rebreathing what you exhaled. Keeping you in our thoughts.

Guiseppi

Fingers are crossed. :)

PF wishes,
Sanna

And adding my support to everyone else's. Oxygen is a lifesaver if you do it right, exactly as Guiseppi recommends. Don't be afraid to really suck that stuff down and keep at it until the pain goes away!

Keep us posted.

David

My daughter was on a very high dose of verpamil,  1280. It was increased slowly, adding 80 mg a week to her base dose of 640. She also had an EKG done weekly to check her heart. Many people use high doses of this but the EKG is really important when you use this level. It was too much for her. She had dizzy spells, problems with her EKG's and still didn't stop the CH. Her abortive now is only o2 and ocassionally red bull. She also takes 1000mg of taurine every morning. You can get it in a health food store.

Charlotte

i am almost afriad to post this ( am a little superstitious), but i THINK the O2 worked miraculously this am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i had it on at the MD's prescribed rate of 7L/min ( which i kow is low flow) and within 6 minutes, the pain was gone. only think is, about 5 mins prior to using it, i took a squirt of zomig nasal, but i did the same thing at work yesterday ( no O2 available) and the symptoms took longer to resolve.
can it really be this effective???????

Quote:

he ordered O2

:D
Soon you'll have one tank at work one in the car and one by the chair. :D
This stuff works wonderfully. Check out a higher flow rate. Better much better. Use this to stretch out the triptans. Using less triptans can decrease headache frequency.
Good news indeed.
thebb

Hi kika,
I am with thebb on this one, I have recently discovered I can abort most hits with O2 and ice packs within 15mins.  I also noticed a decrease in frequency when avoiding aborting meds.  I save my trex for the heavy hits.  I can usually tell in about 5 minutes if the pain is not starting to back off it is time for something more.  I hope you can find simililar results and more PF time.  

Best of luck
Thomas