Holy Migraine Absence, Batman!

That's right! I didn't have any migraines during this past week. Actually, let's pool all the days of this month together and I can say that I've had one, ONE, one migraine this month.

I have had a frequency of what I call spot headaches. I'm not sure if this is common enough to be called something. They come at me quickly and sharply in one place in my head. Most commonly it is on the side of my head, above my ear on the left side, or at the front of my head, just above my forehead on my right side. They last anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes. But I don't think they are any longer than that. During my period I had one to five of those a day. But again, no migraines!!

The "spot" headaches stop me (like a painful braxton contraction) in my place but only last a short time, so they don't interfere in my life. Of course...I would love to not have those either, but at this point I am still in awe of not having a migraine for so long, or at least having it be spaced out so far apart.

I'm about to shoot off an email to my neurologist to tell him the good news. It's nice to be able to send that kind of email. And perhaps he'll have a good suggestion for the "spot" headaches...

Oh. I also should note that I haven't taken the Co-Q10 for a month. I ran out, and also I had taken the butterbur for over a month and started seeing (assuming it was connected) results and so thought I would just see what happened if I didn't buy another bottle of those. I'm still taking the Vitamin B.

Period and Alieve

I wrote my neurologist an email a few days ago to get any advice to gear up for my mentstrual cycle that brings on a week or more of constant migraines. I mentioned to him that my migranal spray is only okay for two times a week and that I wasn't interested in the prednisone for my period, but would like suggestions on what I can do to help buffer.

He suggested the following two ideas:
He said a lot of women see benefits using alieve (naproxen) one to two times a day for the time around their periods. The other was to change the way I do my prednisone taper to a quicker and shorter six day treatment of 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and then 10.

I am opting for the alieve. I have done it for a few days and haven't been suffering much at all. I know that I'm having a migraine but they aren't anything to complain about. No need for spray except last week one day, before my period started.

Hoping for an uneventful (it will be a first in a LONG time) cycle...

Are things looking up? I sure hope so.

two weeks, but still...

It had been two weeks since a migraine, on Wednesday, when I started a swing of migraines.

I had a brief head pain on Saturday...where all of a sudden there's a sharp pain on the side of my head, but then it goes away.

Then on Tuesday I was very tired and I took a nap in the afternoon. I had a dull headache.

Wednesday I was super lethargic (nothing like a superlative thrown in to sound like a teenager...but really, I was very sleepy) and I took another afternoon nap. That night I had a headache a little stronger than the day before. I took alieve for that one. I know, you headache sufferers are exclaiming: alieve?! over the counter isn't going to work!! But it did. I think because it wasn't a migraine. I know, congrats to me to be able to use something lower grade, huh?!

Yesterday while running errands marked a bad one. I didn't have any aura (thank goodness, I would hate to have vertigo and vomiting in public--how humiliating) but the pain started all of a sudden and got progressively worse quickly. I debated with myself whether or not to take my migraine spray. I only get to take it up to two times a week. This was just an errand day. I still had The Nutcracker with my mom and daughters the next day (today) and my six year old's birthday party on Saturday to contend with.

The pain got worse and I figured I'll take this now, and then take it one day at a time, as I usually do. The spray took the edge off and I didn't take anything else.

I don't look at this as a set back. If anything it is a wonderful milestone. Almost two weeks without a migraine! That is phenomenal for me.

Funny how if this were two years ago and I had a migraine, the headache would be my focus. Now, it is the time without the headache that I'm thinking about. I am trying not to sound like some kind of martyr. I really am so happy that there's been a long gap between headaches. It feels like I might get onto a predictable schedule with my headaches soon. A year and a half after my onset of migraines. I never knew it was going to be so long. I also had no idea that I had this much strength, optimism, and perseverance. I have learned that I can do things that are hard. Faith in the Lord helps me through this and I am grateful for Him who knows me and gives me strength.

Butterbur? Yoga? Time?

It's been a week and a half since I've had a migraine. Monumental for me, lately. So what is the change?

Could it be that my body has readjusted since getting off the birth control pill that (was suppose to have) stopped my periods? My body took two months to adjust to being very slowly taken off Lexapro (the first drug my first neurologist put me on to control the serotonin levels that can cause migraines). Migraines all the time during June and July was the price I paid for stopping the drug. Perhaps this influx of migraines these past two months will ebb now...maybe I'll just be dealing with migraines during my period? (Which was the reason I went on the BCP in the first place: to stop my periods from even happening, which would stop my migraines. It worked for one month, then my own hormones refused to be controlled...willful hormones...)

Could it be butterbur? I've been on it one month now, which is how long my neurologist said it would take to reduce them by 50%.

Could it be yoga? I've only been doing it for one month now and only once a week at that, but the instant benefits on my shoulders and my mind are noteworthy.

Could it be the Co-Q 10 and Vitamin B-2? I think these two are less likely. I've been taking these for months with no notice of decrease on my migraines. I will continue to take them, and then as my neurologist suggested, I will take one away at a time to see if they are needed.

I think it is a combination of my body's adjustment, the butterbur and the yoga. Crossing my fingers for another good week.