Sunday, 11 September 2011

One week on.

Well I've been on my new medication for a week, and i have to say so far so good. The first 3 days were uncomfortable with night sweats, and waking feeling really uncomfortable but that seemed to pass after not too long.
I can't say if i have had any more side effects, if i have they have not been too noticeable, and since being on them so far i have only had one very mild migraine this morning in the early hours, and i managed to catch it in time with a nasal spray and a cool and sooth sheet, so that i could get back to sleep and wake up a few hours later, with only the side effects of the nasal spray, my arm muscles hurting and feeling kind of tired.
Not bad for a first week, given that i am on the lowest dose, that means we have room to maneuver with increasing the dose if needed.
I also started college on Wednesday of last week, nothing really exciting as yet, we went through all the induction stuff, you know how it goes, here are the toilets, this is what to do in the event of the fire alarm going off, this is where the library is and the cafe. So hopefully this week things will get going, think i may be regretting saying that once i am into the course, its going to be a long and hard two years, but well worth it. My plan is to work with people with mental health issues, but i also have an idea to work with people who have migraines, helping them to cope.
I have asked tutors if there are such things as migraine counsellors, and its not something that they have come across, so that may turn out to be quite a challenging route, but i think working with kids and adults who have to live with sever migraines would be hard but really rewarding, and lets face it i have a good understanding of the frustration, fear and anger that this condition can cause!
For now i will focus on my course and get through the next two years before thinking too much about that.

Sunday, 4 September 2011

Bad start to the day.

Not the start I had planned for my Sunday morning, instead of meeting a good friend for a coffee and catch up I started the day with a migraine that seemed to settle in the pit of my stomach rather than my head, so I ended up feeling really sick. Most of that feeling has passed, but I am still running a temperature and not feeling at all well.
I think some of the cause is down to me changing my medication, gradually coming off one ready to start the new one, I am just left with a really heavy feeling in my head, and by that I mean emotionally and very very tired.
I am however blessed with having some of the most amazing friends who offer love and support, and don't seem to mind that I sometimes can't keep dates with them, and often have to let people down with short notice, I am so glad to have the people in my life that I do!
Here's to all the good people in my life, you are so wonderful, thanks for being around.
Love you all!

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Waiting to start my new meds!

If i could remember all the preventative medications i had taken as a child to try and cope with the sever migraines that i had the list would be LONG!!! So on reflection its might be a good idea that i can't remember them all cause it may well scare me.
Now as an adult, my migraines are back as i have already said on this blog, the first of the new round of preventative drugs that i have tried were beta blockers, they worked for a while, a couple of months if i am honest and then they just stopped working, so my doctor put me onto another medication called Pizotifen, again this worked for some time longer than the beta blockers, all said and done i lasted around 5 or 6 months but then once again the effect that they first had just seemed to fade.
So right now i am gradually coming off the Pizotifen, all in all it should take around a week, then i start on the next medication which is Gabapentin, its a strong drug and the starting dose for me is 100mg a day, with a review with my doctor after a couple of weeks to see how things are going.
I'm not really sure what to expect apart form feeling tired which seems to be first side effect that is stated, i have to say after reading around the first 5 side effects i stopped. If i carried on reading i am not sure i would start taking them.
Lets just see what happens, i should be starting them in a few days, so cross everything that they work!