Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but there hasn't really been much to post about. My migs have been getting steadily worse and there are no other cures on offer.
It seems that the news has at last caught up with my previous post stating that headache drugs are a rip off! Nurofen are currently in the spotlight as they have been caught in Australia offering the same drug in different packets at different prices (again, see my previous post stating just that). But as I found, Nurofen are certainly not the worst offenders. That prize went to Migraleve Yellow tablets (32p per tablet v's 3p for exactly the same unbranded tablet). The rest of the industry should be worried as fingers need to be pointed in all direction.
The general advice (as per Radio 4 this morning) is that you are safe to take generic medication over branded alternatives. They are put through the same tests, the same safety and will act in the same way. If in doubt, ask your pharmacist.
What my previous post did help with is finding a new tablet. My new favourite drug is Anadin Extra. The pound shop near me sells them for £1 for 8 which is pretty good so I stock up whenever I go. They don't seem to mind me buying multiple packets at once.
Showing posts with label headache. Show all posts
Showing posts with label headache. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Physiotherapy and migraines
I now knew that I had migraines, which was a big plus, as I could now find some real help. This lead me to discover the world of triptans which meant that most headaches lasted only an hour or so rather than up to 3 days. But that wasn't enough for me. I wanted more! I was on a quest to discover a cure for my migraines. There had got to be someone, somewhere, with a cure for migraines. Feverish searching on-line and would you believe it? A new migraine research programme was being carried out just down the road from where I worked. Perfect.
The research was based on physiotherapy to the upper neck. The top of the neck is where your spine starts. The disks in your spine, from the top down are called C1, C2, C3 etc (see diagram). This research was based on applying specific pressure to one of the discs. This pressure would induce the migraine and then remove it. The idea was that it would reprogramme your body into not having migraines anymore.
I walked up the stairs behind an opticians to get to my appointment. A nice lady introduced me to the concepts of the test and took down all of the details of my migraines. Then we got down to business. I lay face down on the bed looking at the floor through a nearly made to measure hole wondering why they couldn't put a picture on the floor for me to look at. The physio started to size up my neck with her thumb and forefinger. She pushed down with her thumb on my C1 and asked whether that hurt. Nope, nothing. A slight change in the direction of her thumb prompted the same lack of pain.
She then moved down to my C2 and as the pressure was applied, I felt some kind of pressure spread across my head. "Is that your migraine" she asked eagerly. It wasn't. The pain was too dull and at the back of my head not the front right where I normally get them. Her thumb moved slightly and the pain moved with it. It was as if she was controlling the pain with a game controller (I was going to say joystick, but does that age me at all?). This feeling was equally as unusual, but still not my migraine. She took her thumb off to consider my neck in all of it's complexities and decided to change her angle of attack to the other side of the bed.
YOW, that's the one!!! That's my migraine. "Good" she said and continued to apply the pressure. "Tell me when the pain stops". The pain didn't stop, but time did. Not only had I a really bad migraine, but I had someone pushing with all of her might on the back of my neck. The pain surged up from my neck, through my head, bounced around my eye socket, down my cheek and back down to my neck. I got the pain induced giggles. I couldn't help it, giggling away as she put me through this suffering. The pain started to lesson after about 3 minutes and then a minute later it stopped and she removed her thumb and waved her hand around to get the blood to flow back into it. Even though I lay there completely drained, I felt sorry for that thumb. You try pushing down on somthing for 4 or 5 minutes and see how long it takes before your thumb starts to hurt.
As I lay there, face down and exhausted, the thought went through my head that I had another five weeks of this to go. "That was just a preliminary check", the physio said. "The pain might get worse next week, but it should then get harder and harder for me to find your migraine as the weeks progress until I can't find it anymore. That means that the treatment has been a success and you shouldn't get migraines anymore."
I will tell you how it went and whether I coped in my next post. Let me know if you have had a similar treatment, how it worked for you and whether you coped with it!
The research was based on physiotherapy to the upper neck. The top of the neck is where your spine starts. The disks in your spine, from the top down are called C1, C2, C3 etc (see diagram). This research was based on applying specific pressure to one of the discs. This pressure would induce the migraine and then remove it. The idea was that it would reprogramme your body into not having migraines anymore.I walked up the stairs behind an opticians to get to my appointment. A nice lady introduced me to the concepts of the test and took down all of the details of my migraines. Then we got down to business. I lay face down on the bed looking at the floor through a nearly made to measure hole wondering why they couldn't put a picture on the floor for me to look at. The physio started to size up my neck with her thumb and forefinger. She pushed down with her thumb on my C1 and asked whether that hurt. Nope, nothing. A slight change in the direction of her thumb prompted the same lack of pain.
She then moved down to my C2 and as the pressure was applied, I felt some kind of pressure spread across my head. "Is that your migraine" she asked eagerly. It wasn't. The pain was too dull and at the back of my head not the front right where I normally get them. Her thumb moved slightly and the pain moved with it. It was as if she was controlling the pain with a game controller (I was going to say joystick, but does that age me at all?). This feeling was equally as unusual, but still not my migraine. She took her thumb off to consider my neck in all of it's complexities and decided to change her angle of attack to the other side of the bed.
YOW, that's the one!!! That's my migraine. "Good" she said and continued to apply the pressure. "Tell me when the pain stops". The pain didn't stop, but time did. Not only had I a really bad migraine, but I had someone pushing with all of her might on the back of my neck. The pain surged up from my neck, through my head, bounced around my eye socket, down my cheek and back down to my neck. I got the pain induced giggles. I couldn't help it, giggling away as she put me through this suffering. The pain started to lesson after about 3 minutes and then a minute later it stopped and she removed her thumb and waved her hand around to get the blood to flow back into it. Even though I lay there completely drained, I felt sorry for that thumb. You try pushing down on somthing for 4 or 5 minutes and see how long it takes before your thumb starts to hurt.
As I lay there, face down and exhausted, the thought went through my head that I had another five weeks of this to go. "That was just a preliminary check", the physio said. "The pain might get worse next week, but it should then get harder and harder for me to find your migraine as the weeks progress until I can't find it anymore. That means that the treatment has been a success and you shouldn't get migraines anymore."
I will tell you how it went and whether I coped in my next post. Let me know if you have had a similar treatment, how it worked for you and whether you coped with it!
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Allergy Tests and Diaries
Alternative health expert number one was allergy testing. Not via the doctors as they don't like providing them. You are what you eat so I was sure that the pain must be caused by something I was eating. Remember, I still didn't know that they were migraines, just bad headaches.
I was ushered to a low couch in a room behind a chemists and told to undress my left foot. A strange start, but what the hey! I was given a metal bar to hold whilst the specialist, and I use the term sparingly here, held my foot on her lap. The metal bar was connected to a strange contraption containing test tubes of clear liquid. A wire connected this to a metal pen which completed the contraption. Each vial of liquid was in turn placed into the main hole. For each one, she moved the metal pen down the inside of my big toe as if she were drawing a line from top to bottom. Each stroke made the machine emit a whining sound which would progressively get higher. Apparently, the degree of change in sound was dependent on the resistance between my hand, the vial of liquid and my toe. The higher the whine, the less resistance which was good (I think). If the whine petered out before reaching it’s zenith it meant that there was something in my body that blocked the signal. That would be what I was allergic to. Or it could just mean that she didn't move the pen quite as far, thus giving the impression of an allergy (I know, I must stop being a cynic, but I just can't help myself).
It didn’t go that well and I did feel a little bit sorry for her. The first item of resistance was pork. That was a bad start as I am Jewish and therefore have never eaten pork. I could see the quizzical look on her face as one eyebrow lifted slightly. however she bravely moved on to the next vial. Lots of high whines ensued until the next low whine which was caffeine. Another problem as I don’t drink coffee, or tea, or coke, or anything with caffeine in .
“Are you sure?” she asked, hoping that I might have forgotten about a recent caffeine binge.
"Nope, not a drop". I answered and added "Sorry," as I felt guilty that I hadn't been drinking coffee by the bucket load. She needed to finish on a high with a safe win whine and got it with grass seeds. I do have hey fever, but then so do a lot of people.
As the test came to an end she seemed to forget the questionable results and advised that I go on a wheat free diet for one month and keep a food diary. I left the little room and entered the chemist on the way out and happened to overhear an older couple chatting about which wheat free items would be best for them. I wonder how many people with many varied ailments were advised to go on this same diet. I tried the diet and it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed, but it made no difference to the headaches.
The diary was a help though. It identified that I have an intolerance to dairy which I never knew about before. I just thought that I was a naturally flatulent person! Cutting out cheese also seemed to help reduce the frequency of the headaches. So maybe the treatment was worth the money after all!
It didn’t go that well and I did feel a little bit sorry for her. The first item of resistance was pork. That was a bad start as I am Jewish and therefore have never eaten pork. I could see the quizzical look on her face as one eyebrow lifted slightly. however she bravely moved on to the next vial. Lots of high whines ensued until the next low whine which was caffeine. Another problem as I don’t drink coffee, or tea, or coke, or anything with caffeine in .
“Are you sure?” she asked, hoping that I might have forgotten about a recent caffeine binge.
"Nope, not a drop". I answered and added "Sorry," as I felt guilty that I hadn't been drinking coffee by the bucket load. She needed to finish on a high with a safe win whine and got it with grass seeds. I do have hey fever, but then so do a lot of people.
As the test came to an end she seemed to forget the questionable results and advised that I go on a wheat free diet for one month and keep a food diary. I left the little room and entered the chemist on the way out and happened to overhear an older couple chatting about which wheat free items would be best for them. I wonder how many people with many varied ailments were advised to go on this same diet. I tried the diet and it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed, but it made no difference to the headaches.
The diary was a help though. It identified that I have an intolerance to dairy which I never knew about before. I just thought that I was a naturally flatulent person! Cutting out cheese also seemed to help reduce the frequency of the headaches. So maybe the treatment was worth the money after all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)