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This Week's Questions: |
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Help!
Our 13 year old
daughter had a large, 4 cm, AN tumor removed 5 months ago, translab
approach. After enduring a 17 hour, 19 minute surgery, the tumor was
successfully pulled off the hearing nerve, facial nerve and the brain
stem. We commend her team of surgeons for the excellent work!
Initially she had facial weakness and weak eye lid control but these
two functions have returned to normal, also, she does not have any
problems with balance. However, she did lose hearing in the left ear.
Our call for help
is finding a way for her to deal with the daily/nightly major
headaches. She has been on an assortment of medicine, has tried to
sleep up-right in a recliner, and uses either cold packs or heat packs
to the head but we just haven't found anything to help her get through
this healing process in as little pain as possible. We recognize that
the headaches are due to bone dust swimming around in her head and the
trauma to the brain, but it is so painful to all of us to see her
suffer; screaming out in pain, clawing and thrashing about, etc. Her
Dr calls them Migraines, but with all the research we have
accomplished and the various spots where the pain is I wonder. Any
help would be so graciously appreciated.
Thank you |
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Some birth control
devices have warnings about increased risk of stroke for women who get
Migraines, but I can’t find any actual statistics. Can you provide me
with some statistics as well as an explanation? How high are the
risks and which birth control methods are safest for migraine
sufferers? Does it matter how severe or frequent the migraines are? |
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My name is Lynn,
and I have had chronic migraines for the last 30 years (I'm 47). They
have interfered with my life to the extent that I was forced to leave
a very enjoyable law practice in 1994; to my dismay, this did not
relieve the headaches in any way, and for a time, they got steadily
worse. Over the years I have tried every treatment method from drugs
to biofeedback to acupuncture. Recently (for the last two years), I
have been treated with Methergine and with Neurontin (4x daily), which
seems to have reduced the headaches to a level which at least allows
me to get out of bed most days for most of the day. I also take
Effexor XR for the depression associated with the migraines. My
neurologist is Herbert Markley, who practices in Worcester, MA (I live
in Maine), and I think he's great. I am also participating in a
chronic pain management program here in Maine.
My questions are
these:
(1) how can I get
off drugs? I am very concerned about long-term side effects, and I'm
sick of being dependent on these chemicals.
(2) since I'm on
Methergine, I cannot take Imitrex, which I had taken previously, with
more or less success. Apart from going up to the local hospital for
Demerol, what can I take to control the pain? I have a history of
taking too much Fioricet, and went off it completely for a while, when
I started with the Imitrex under Dr. Markley's care; however, I can't
find anything else which will control the pain enough either to allow
me to sleep till the migraine passes, or to get out of bed and
participate at least to some extent in life. OTC meds, like
Excedrin, aspirin, ibuprofen, tylenol, Excedrin Migraine, etc., are of
absolutely no benefit. Is there anything else in the pharmacology,
either OTC or by prescription (which, obviously, I'd run by my
physician for his input) which could help me?
(3) Finally, Dr.
Markley wants me to try the new Botox therapy; my insurance carrier
(Aetna Blue Cross Blue Shield) seems to be dragging its feet, as it
has been since November that we've been trying to get insurance
approval. What do you think of the therapy, and what, if anything. do
you suggest I do about getting the insurance company to get off the
dime and give some answer - even a "No" answer would be preferable to
silence, as then I could appeal, and follow the rest of the procedure
to its conclusion.
Thank you for your
prompt reply.
Lynn Spann
Bowditch
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I hate relying on
caffeine to get me out of trouble. I avoid it in my diet, I have
started taking dietary fiber once a day, hoping that it might help
me. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables, chicken, rice, cereals, and
I avoid a lot of pastas, and breads, I do consume dairy products, I
involve exercise with everything that I do, I walk a total of 45
minutes a day, and I do it fast, I take 5 flights of stairs everyday
as much as possible at a jogging rate, and my job is rather physical,
I try to stretch as much as possible, especially my neck. Usually my
pain starts very deep in my left shoulder-blade (I'm right handed) and
then it works it's way up my neck wrapping around my muscles there and
then to the back of my head, crawls up to the top and surrounds my
eyebrows and temples, at this point my head is numb with a buzzing
sensation, (I've had deep sharp stabbing pains on a regular basis in
my left shoulder blade as far back as i can remember -very young) |
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Is there a
distinction between a "headache" and "heavy-headedness"? I am a young
man who has chronic head problems - it is difficult for me to explain
to a doctor how I feel - my symptoms are: slight dizziness, a feeling
of heaviness, and tightness in my temples and frontal area.... Would
this be classified as a headache, and if so, what types of treatment
could be of help?
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