Migraine Management

[bertine]

I am cutting back on caffiene. It is hard because I am not sure how I stay awake without it. Last night I went to bed at 11 and dragged myself out of bed at 8. However, if I can wean myself off of it I am hoping that some of the migraines I get on the weekend when I don't drink caffiene won't happen.


Also, I just got my weekly lecture from a coworker on the dangers of diet soda pop. Sigh.

Comments

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

You'll be fine once the caffeine is out of your system and your body/metabolism adjusts.

Plus after no caffeine for like 3-6 months, the tiniest amount will jolt the hell out of you.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

Good, I can't believe how much I am dragging and I didn't go cold turkey, just cut back to one pop a day.

I won't go 3-6 months without it because one of the best medications for migraines is caffiene. However, my hope is just to use it when I need it not because it is there.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

I'd actually go cold turkey - it'll help you adjust MUCH faster.

Yeah, the caffeine in migraine meds is a problem. I mean if I take an excedrin NOW I'll be awake for like 3 days, because I hardly ever ever ever have caffeine.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

The problem with cold turkey is that it could bring on a migraine. I really don't need that.

However, does the excedrin work? The Advil + Caffiene is such a good thing with migraines. BTW, I don't take excedrin because I would rather have sugar with my caffiene or I get really jittery.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but knowing you NOT going cold turkey could also trigger a migraine. You're special like that!

Excedrin KINDA works for me - nothing actually makes the pain go away, I can still feel it, it's just masked. Honestly I tend to crawl into bed, build a cocoon and go into a coma for a few hours. If I ever get a migraine when that's not a viable option, then I'd consider excedrin (; I can't do sugar because, you know, it's sugar.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

How often do you get them? Have you looked into getting imitrex or some other triptan? They aren't a pain killer, they stop the migraine and I am finding if you take right when you are getting one then 50% of the time you barely even notice you have one. Most of the rest of the time it helps enough that Advil + caffeine works.

My goal is to get down to 5 or 6 migraines a month instead of the 10-15 I get now.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

It's actually pretty rare, so I don't feel like I need any special treatment/procedure for them. They're also a lot LESS bad than yours seem to be, I honestly feel a bit silly talking about my 'migraines' since compared to yours, well, it's like comparing yourself to a person who trains Bengal tigers because you just got a kitten.

[bertine.livejournal.com]

I still think you should talk to your doctor about them, even if you only get them a couple times a year it is pretty to stop them than tough them them out.

Also, I am pretty sure the person that trains Bengal tigers could teach you a few things about a kitten and I bet they like kittens too.

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

I did actually talk to my doc about it once. He said there's really no way to prevent them from happening in the first place, or rather REALLY hard to find the reason, and since it's not really a big huge deal for me we may as well just ignore it. (:

[bertine.livejournal.com]

There are ways to prevent them but if you don't get them often than they aren't worth trying. I am just surprised that he didn't talk to you about an abortive.

Anyways, I am trying to figure out what the causes of mine are since I am so tired of having them. I don't think it is the caffeine but why not try it?

[sterlingphoenix.livejournal.com]

One thing I like about that doctor is he does NOT like prescribing drugs. (:

Living caffeine-free is cool. If nothing else, because then when you DO need it it really works a lot better (;