Pregablin

Pregablin

I had my doctors appointment on Monday which I usually have every 2-3 weeks. As I explained in previous posts, I was told to increase my intake of the eletriptan tablets to see if it helps, which it didn't. Taking more of the eletriptan made my legs like jelly, felt even more light-headed and managed to get my words even more muddled up than usual. All of this would of been ok if it had some sort of effect on my migraines but as it sadly didn't so I have decreased the amount of eletriptan I take back to 2-3 times a week. 

When I went to see the specialist at the hospital a month ago, he went through all the medication that I had previously been on and noted that there was three which infact I haven't tried. These are Pregabalin, Zonisamide and Lacosamide. I was prescribed the pregablin and I'm going to start taking that tonight at 50mg for the first two days, then 100mg and then finally on to 150mg. I've also been so stiff and sore with my back and neck and I was told that pregablin will help with the neck pain which is good! I've been struggling to walk about today and just feel totally drained, think I could sleep for days! I'm going to try and book another sports massage as that did help last time with the neck pain. 

I'm also still waiting for my letter through from a doctor in Glasgow that does botox privately and after watching the One Show last night where they explained about chronic migraine and botox, I'm actually looking forward to getting it! The link is below if you missed it, its about 15 minutes into it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jg33s/The_One_Show_29_05_2012/

Laura x

Sunshine ...

Sunshine .... 

Well the past few days have been gorgeous! But for me, it's not been that good. Between the heat, the brightness and stuffy air it's not been fun!! Over the past couple of days I've only managed about seven hours sleep in total but trying not to sleep during the day as I don't want to over-sleep ... So many things to think about when trying to prevent migraines. Hopefully I'll have a much better sleep tonight.


I've been feeling even more off balance and not myself lately as I was told by a specialist that I could take more of my eletriptan than I have been. Before, I was only taking about 3-4 tablets a week, but lately I've been taking between 8-12 tablets along with my Sumatriptan injections. They've been dulling the pain but wow the side effects have increased! My speech has been effected by taking them and my legs have just been like jelly along with other things. I've got my usual doctor that I see every 2-3 weeks on Monday so I'm hopefully going to reduce the tablets back to where I was before as it's not making my migraines any better. 

I did manage to get out tonight for a couple of hours and had a little walk along the beach and an ice cream! 

Laura x

Hello again!

Hello again!

Hope you all had a lovely migraine free weekend! Just a little note to recommend a couple of websites that I find very helpful. 

Migraine Trust - http://www.migrainetrust.org/

I have found the Migraine Trust very beneficial with lots of information on their website. They also offer a 'Travelling Diary' which is used to write down your migraine experiences and is shared on their facebook and twitter account. I found it very helpful writing about my migraines (which is why I chose to do this) and it is nice to read other sufferers experiences too. I have posted the link below to the entry I did last August. 

 http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/migrainetrust/6095963357/sizes/l/

Migraine Talk - http://migrainetalkblog.wordpress.com/author/migrainetalktee/

Tracey, who runs Migraine Talk is very knowledgeable about migraines and has alot to offer. The Migraine Talk website also has a forum for sufferers and has the latest news and tests in migraine research. You can also follow Tracey on Twitter - her account is @MigraineTalk

Hope you find these links as useful as I do :) 

Laura x

About my migraines ...

About my migraines ...

As I've already mentioned, I get migraines 4-5 times a week. They vary in length, some lasting a few hours, others lasting over a day. I've been on pretty much all migraine medication, none of which has dramatically reduced them. Some medication has helped take away the nausea but not got rid of the actual pain. I'm currently on Eletriptan and Sumatriptan Injections for the pain, however I'm not on any preventative medication as I normally don't agree with them! Its difficult to judge when to take the tablets as often you can only take a certain amount in a day/week so you have to consider if it is going to be a bad migraine. 

There are alot of side effects to the medication, but as long as it dulls the pain a little bit, it's not too bad. My side effects include always feeling like I'm in slow motion, I quite often get back ache due to lying down, light headed and dizzy feeling, tender stomach from being sick, getting my words mixed up and struggle to get them out properly (its very frustrating - I know in my head I want to say the word 'blue' but somehow the word 'red' will come out etc). The best way that I would describe myself when I'm on my medication is 'drunk' and I struggle to remember conversations that I've had when I'm on them.

If you've ever had a migraine before, I'm sure you will know how painful and frustrating it must be. I have tried heaps of other treatments including accupuncture, homeopathic remedies, hypnotherapy, sports massages and reflexology. I am open to try anything to get rid of them, I'm hopeful I will find something one day!! 

Laura x 

What is the difference between Migraine and Chronic Migraine?

What is the difference between Migraine and Chronic Migraine?

Before I start detailing about my migraines, I thought I would just explain a little bit about migraines. Firstly, migraines are much much much more than 'just a headache'! Migraine is a headache with throbbing pain in the head, neck and face, sensitivity to light, noise, movement and often nausea. There are various things that can trigger migraines but with myself, no trigger has been found.

Chronic migraine is described as 'having more than 15 headache days per month, 8 of which are migraines.' I easily come under this category as I suffer 4-5 migraines a week and the other days I am left with what I like to call my 'migraine hangover'. 

The World Health Organisation categorised chronic migraine as being on the same level as dementia and being worse than being blind. It is an extremely disabling illness which turns your life upside down. There are of course lots of medication and other preventative action you can take. I will go into these on a later date (don't want to fry your brain with all this info!). 


Additonal information can be found under 'Favourite Links'.

 

Welcome to my blog! :)

Welcome to my blog! :) 

Where to start?! Well, my name is Laura and I'm 22 years old. I've been suffering from chronic migraine for just over four years now and decided to start my own blog detailing about it. I find that writing about my migraines help much more than talking about them. This blog will outline about chronic migraine, daily struggles of living with it and how I am trying to overcome my migraines with help of people closest to me. 

I hope this blog will interest those non and migraine sufferers

Happy reading! 

Laura x