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Avatar universal

I can't beat this...

Awhile ago I came here for some support on coming off opiates. I felt strong and lasted 14 days.
The problem I have is I am migraine sufferer and daily headaches too. I wanted so badly to see if I was suffering with rebound headaches as I didn't believe it was possible to have so many, all the time. A few migraines I have had, I seriously would rather be dead. They ruin me. My kids don't have me as a mum while I am like this.

When I posted lasted time I thought I could do it, then after 2 weeks I got such a bad headache I took 2 panadeine extra 500mg panadol/15mg codeine each and this worked. I was zonked though. (during the 2 weeks I was using panadol and Voltaren 100mg suppositories when necessary for the headaches I couldn't stand - but no codeine)
Then I woke up with a headache the next morning and thought I can get rid of it, and here we go again pretty much.

This time though I am taking more and still not ridding the headaches completely, sometimes though. Yesterday I had such a bad migraine I just want it all to stop. I am sick of this cycle, I am sick of needing these tablets And I sick of not liking life.

I have 2 beautiful loving, wonderful kids, and a pretty good hubby. There is no excuse to keep on this track.
I don't like taking tablets, but want to be pain free. I am a busy mum. I am also taking Inderal 80mg a day and Lovan (Anti-depressant) 20mg daily. I don't want to take these either and they are all a result of these headaches/migraines. The doctor can't increase my dose of Inderal as my Blood Pressure last time I saw him was 80/60 and he said I will start fainting, even though I need a higher dose to try and rid myself of these migraines.

I am mixing ibuprofen/codeine 200mg/12.8mg and panadol/codeine 500mg/15mg together now in doseses instead of alternating doeses of each. Although now I am also taking panadeine forte aswell 500mg panadol and 30mg codeine if it is real bad. Most days I take 15-20 tablets. Last time I was here, the doses were considered low to some members, which in all honesty I found very hurtful as I was in need of help and looking for it while also trying to offer some to others. Now the doses are increased and I feel I can't stop it.

Can anyone offer me some ways to be headache free without the need for these tablets? I have been waiting 6 months already for a neurologist appt, and I can't get in until December. I don't want to wait this long, I want to be better now.

The first 3 days of not having anything at all were rough. Terrible symptoms, diarrohea, severe agitation, jitters, anxiety, headache, runny nose, aching joints, sore neck, cold feet, restlessness, sleeplessness, you guys know what I am talking about I'm sure, but the headaches I can't stand. All the symptoms, bar the headaches did ease up and go away. Although I am always anxious & highly strung. I really, truly do not want to live with these headaches anymore. I hate it.

Any help is appreciated from you guys. I just don't know how to stop these tabs permanently and be headache free.

14 Responses
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4964315 tn?1361652124
I'm sure that you are already aware the  you are dependent on opiates hence the reason for your withdrawal symptoms I too take opiates (Endone and Oxy) also panadine Fort But i give my body a break as I refuse to be dependent on these substance i also take zolft for depression and xanax for anxity but even with the xanax it is ment to be taken 1 morning and 1 night i refuse to i only take 1 when i feel that a panic attack is coming on i suffer from terrible back pain and migraines but i force myself to try and work though the pain and offen find swimming a wonderful help and as it's somthing i enjoy my endorphins kick in n it helps take the pain away I'm not saying anyting to upset you here but doing somthing for you that YOU enjoy once and a wile may relieve alot of your symptoms or you can just give in to your Ilness n continue to suffer hey its worth a try aint it? your words your sick of your life and  sometimes want to end it depression is one of thr worse things you caan have as it can not b seen you just have to lern ways that You can manage it (easer said than done ) i know ive been suffering from depression ova 25 yrs now and just to add 1 more thing the opiates Can n will make the pain WORSE!!!!!! believe me on that 1 best of  luck sweetie xx
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am 36 years old & have had migraines since I was 7. I've been on/off daily medications for my entire life & I understand your being tired of taking pills. However, I have decided that I hate the migraine pain even moreso, so I take something daily for my headaches. . . .or I used to. It's common for migraine sufferers to have daily headaches. My Neurologist explained to me that our threshold is already way above the average persons & every "daily headache" we have, is a migraine. We have those daily headaches until they build up to the point of what we are calling a migraine. I have been on Inderal/Propanolol or Verapamil/Calan throughout my life. Oftentimes, you can be on daily therapy until your body gets straightened out & is used to NOT having a migraine, & then you can try to go off the daily medication. For me, I would be on daily meds for 4+ years & then off, & then back on again & get my body "retrained" & then I could go back off again. It actually works VERY well.

Regarding the opiates, someone else already said it but yeah, you were more than likely having rebound migraines. I've been through that too & my Neurologist's cure was to increase the dosage & # of times/day for me to take Hydrocodone, which is just one of the reasons I ended up an addict.

I've tried just about every medication there is to take at the time of onset of the migraine & have FINALLY found one that works better than anything. It doesn't always get rid of my migraine but it helps better than anything I've found. My Neurologist put me on Midrin AND Dexamethasone (steroid) to take upon onset of the migraine. So far, it's worked better than anything. Most of the time I can at least function after having taken it, rather than be in bed for 2 days.

I wish you the best & hope some of this helps!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi Shelli, What a sweetie you are :) I feel you know this pain!! It is unbearable and in all honesty I think part of the reason I get these daily headaches is I am so frightened of getting a migraine that I work myself into a tizz if I can't shake the headache. Sometimes when I go out to the shops, I take painkillers 'incase' I end up with a bad headache to try and stop it before it happens.

The ones you wake up with and they are behind my left eye, I can't see out of it, I look like someone has hit me as it puffs up and waters lots. Those are the killers. You cry and it makes it worse, You vomit and you feel better for all of 20 seconds. The piercing/ throbbing pain is excrutiating. I know when these happen I wish for my leg to be cut off so I could feel pain elsewhere. It's awful. The hospital gave me Toradol and this actually worked you know but it was via injection. They also gave me alot of maxalon cause I couldn't stay awake. Not that you want to with that pain.

The doctor can't prescribe me injections, nor do I want them. And tablet form which he can, is usless with the vomitting. I have tried to create a cycle of how to treat the headaches and migraine but this is what is getting to me so much. It is taking priority of my life. I can't stand it. I don't want it and I am angry about the power this has over my living. It will be analgesics, 2 hrs later, analgesics, maxalon (if nausea is present) then imigran nasal sprayy, then 2 hrs later voltaren suppository, then analgesics, it's insane. This isn't a daily occurance but I have analgesics daily, and this cycle about once a week sometimes more often. It's horrible going to chemist to buy this stuff and I'm sure they think I have a problem with it, because I DO.

I had bad migraines when I first started the monthly cycle at 13, and then had them monthly (only 1 a month) on the day before or the day of the cycle starting. Then I fell pregnat at 25 with my daughter and my son at 29 and this whole time not one migraine, not one headache. I stopped breastfeeding my son when he was 3.5yrs old and then it all began. Mind you while pregnant and for a long time while breastfeeding I didn't menstruate, so maybe like you it could be hormonal? I am 36 yrs old now.

The dr hasn't done any blood work, says an MRI won't show anything. All I have had is a CT and this showed blockages in my nose and obstruction as I have severe rhinisitis and sinisitus but no brain anomalies to speak of.  The DR says these are tension headaches.

Wow, that's alot of dribble to read...but for some odd reason I feel lifted after writing that, so thanks HEAPS!!

With the Imigran, it is a Triptan. It too causes rebound if you use it more than 3 times a week. It has worked before but it is a restricted authority only med here in Aust, and my Dr is allowed to prescribe 5 repeats. Each one provides only 2 nasal sprays which lasts one episode only. You can only have this script once a month. It is sufficient but I am s**t scared of using too much of this and having rebound migraines. Imagine a migraine daily.. unthinkable!!  I would start digging the hole for myself right now if that ever happened!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hey, Shelli again, I just looked up some info for you.  I hope this helps.  As I don't know how names of drugs are marketed in Australia vs USA, please call that doc and ask for a class of drugs for your migraines that are in the TRIPTAN family.  They are a class of drugs that are selective serotonin receptor agonists and work by narrowing the blood vessels.  It is that sudden expansion of the blood vessels that cause that searing pain and nausea.  Imitex, Relpax, Axert, etc. here in the USA are triptans.  Let us know how it goes.  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Just a migraine med footnote - the type that you have to take right when a migraine is starting tarting to come on are old fashioned as hell.  There are way better meds on the market now.  I began to get migraines in my 20's - a fair ways back :) - and I as prescribed those old fashioned meds then.  I went years without them, and then they returned.  Don't know why, hormones maybe?  At any rate, I was so relieved to know that a lot of headway had been made in the treatment of migraines.  Imitrex and Axert et al start to work right away, regardless of what stage your migraine is in.  It may take a couple of doses, and a couple of hours, but they will go away.

Best of luck - please call that doc and get some decent medicine!  This is no way to live!   By the way, migraine meds are non-addictive.  Just take as needed.

Shelli
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi - I am a migraine sufferer - and indeed they do you make you want to be dead don't they?  Some folks have mentioned Imitrex, which is a very good med.  I take Axert, which is in the same class of meds as Imitrex.  I don't know how the Aussie health system works, but here, we have urgent care clinics; sort of a bridge between a standard Dr's visit and ER.  Can you get to one and ask for a "Vaso-constrictor?"  That is the key word, and is what Imitrex, Axert, etc. are.  You have been treating your migraines with painkillers (codeine), but my experience has been that painkillers do not stop the migraine pain.  Migraine meds stop the CAUSE of the migraine - they are vascular - and there-in lies the relief.  Or phone your doc (who does not seem to get it) and ask him to please prescribe a vaso-constrictor like Imitrex or Axert for you.  In fact do not ask, order him to do it.  He does work for you, after all.  I hope this helps.  People who have never had a migraine can't imagine the pain of them.  They are no ordinary bad headache.  

Love, Shelli
Helpful - 0
271792 tn?1334979657
I personally have never had migraines and for that I am thankful. Hopefully someone will come along that can help you with answers. In the meantime, there is a headache & migraine forum here at MH and you may find answers there as well. I provided the link for you below:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Migraines--Headaches/show/123

Again, I hope you get to feeling better soon.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Oh, and I am in Australia
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Avatar universal
Hi Guys, Just earlier I wrote a long reply to you all and acidentally didn't post it. I want to thank you for your replies and support. I feel real helpless today, and I think it is from the migraine yesterday as I am down, down, down right now and so snappy with everyone.

It's hard to talk to hubby as he suffers with depression and I hate to feel this way as I don't want to bring him down, I always try to bring him up, if that makes sense.

I did talk to the Dr about the medication I was taking and he said it may have been rebound headaches so that is why I stopped them and went through the withdrawals. I told him how I was going and that I was still getting the headaches, so he said just don't use them daily, try and only use them 3-4 times a week. This is so annoying to me as headaches don't work like that. And migraines come in clusters too. He means well, but I don't think he really knows just how bad these headaches are and how hard they are to get rid of. They are wrecking my life. I don't want him sending me to any psychologists, because if I told him how much these affect me I think he would.

Also is imitrex anything like imigran? I use Imigran nasal spray, but you have to know for sure that it is a migraine as often these headaches turn into migraines and I don't use the imigran unless I am sure and often this is too late. Does anyone know if the tablets are better? I tried Zomig tablets but they caused a racing heart beat and I vomit with migraines so couldn't keep them down.

I will look into Botox, although I do know this is an expensive treatment but worth some research thank you :)

Do the migraine sufferers get headaches aswell regularly? What do you take for them?

Thanks so much guys. xx
Helpful - 0
271792 tn?1334979657
I don't know where you are from---Canada? UK? Australia? Wherever it is, I am not familiar with the medications that are available. I think your best bet is to sit down with your doctor and explain everything that is going on. If you haven't told him/her already, tell them that you stopped taking the pain medication and explain what happened. I know you don't want to take pills everyday but with your condition you just may have to do that. That doesn't mean you have to take something narcotic. There may be alternatives and you won't know until you speak with the doctor.

I hope it woks out for you and you find something. Let us know how you are doing.
Helpful - 0
1384201 tn?1279816323
Seriously...don't judge me when I say this...but BOTOX. Trust me...and look into it!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
talk to your doctor about an alternative migraine pain meds. non opiate.. imitrex ( I personally isn't like the side effects) or midrin. there are alot out there it doesn't always have to be more vicodin or opiate pain killers. there is alot more research done on migraines now alot more meds are out there for us. check into that. God bless
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,

I take Imitrex for migraines when needed and they seem to work well.  Once I stopped taking opiate pain meds, my migraines essentially went away; having two or three per year as opposed to per month.

Ask your physician about Imitrex and good luck in your recovery.

Guy
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have migraines too, and it does not seem like you are using the drugs to "get high", which is a good thing, but it seems you may be experiencing some codein withdrawals.  Seems like you should just do your best to keep the drug use, and your migraine pain, under control, until you speak to the neurologist.  Your medical condition makes it a little more challenging, but codeine is not intended for migraines either.
Helpful - 0
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