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Aaaaaaah...
Had a migraine yesterday and went home an hour early so as to avoid rush hour traffic with a migraine (my reactions are slower and my temper is frayed, both bad combinations for stressful situations). I didn't take any Relpax last night for GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT REASON* decided at 1 AM that I was obviously not going to be able to go into work today, and turned the alarm off. Woke up at 1:30 AM, still in pain, didn't take the Relpax BECAUSE I AM AN IDIOT until 1. It wasn't working by 2:30, so resorted to the Vicoden I've got for just such a case, and now the pain is gone and I think I may actually be going to a happy place, unlike most opiates which have no effect on me. (Codeine? HAH. Zero effect. And the last time I had a filling replaced? The anesthetic never kicked in, and they gave me as much as they could safely give me. ARGH.)
I really need someone to tell me to take the damn stuff, but I'm always nervous of the side effects. Relpax is a vasoconstrictor - migraine pain occurs because blood vessels in the head are dilated, regular headache pain occurs because they're constricted - and I do occasionally get the heaviness in my chest with it that some sources say GO TO THE DOCTOR RIGHT NOW and others say is a normal side effect. GAH.
Since I have so far not gone to the doctor and not dropped dead, and the Relpax packaging is on the "normal side effect" side, I am not too worried about it, although I know that if I get that feeling without having taken Relpax, there's a damn good chance I'm having a heart attack and should get help.** But that's beside the point. I think the Relpax doesn't kick in in these cases because I went too long before taking it, and any painkiller is less effective if you wait too long to take it.
Er, I think there was something else I was going to mumble about, but hell if I remember what it was.
I think maybe I need a good "stoned" icon...
* migraines make me stupid, too, but I always resist taking any sort of drug for too long, for inexplicable reasons.
** which is actually comforting to know: women tend not to get help as early for heart attacks because they often have different symptoms than for men. I'd never have associated that feeling with restriction in blood flow if I hadn't taken Relpax and learned about it.
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My breakthrough knee med is generic vicodin. I'm on some now, in fact. I wish to heck there wasn't such a correlation between pain-killing properties and stonedness.
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The last time I complained about codeine having no effect on me, someone around here said that some people are opiate nonresponders - they just don't get any effect from opiates, and either knew or was related to someone who found out they were a nonresponder under ... difficult circumstances, shall we say, involving a motorcycle accident, a badly broken leg and a morphine drip. I don't think that's quite me, since vicoprofen worked for me when I broke my toe. The hydrocodone I'm on right now (I keep calling it Vicoden because my doc said that when she prescribed it, but it's generic) hasn't ever worked for me before, so I was quite surprised after resorting to it now.
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Opiates do affect me (mostly in the not-nice way, lol). I've found, since I take hydrocodone fairly often, that sometimes it will do a lot and sometimes not so much. For me, it has a lot to do with when I take it, but also what I've eaten or haven't. Other times I have no idea why it works or doesn't.
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I finally, finally learned to take the drugs on time...
and started running out of drugs before I ran out of month.
GAH.
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When I get my headaches, they can be just as bad as migranes, but they're sinus-pressure headaches instead. Still, they hurt just as bad. Pressure builds up in my sphenoid sinuses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphenoid_sinus)hich are just behind my eyes, so the pain comes from the top-center of my head. I have to take Morphine SR 15mg twice a day to keep the pain at bay (otherwise, I'd experience it all the time) and if that doesn't work, I get to take Norco (10mg of Hydrocodine, 325mg of Tylenol), which is stronger than Vicodin. It's called my "breakthrough" pain med.
On top of that, I usually have to take an oral tranquilizer, and Benedryl, which all lead to definite head trips. I was nervous at first about taking all that medication, because like you, I was afraid of the side-effects. But after experiencing the excruciating pain because I didn't take my meds (and thus ended up in the hospital on several occaisions), I figured the pros outweigh the cons.
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Wow, lots of meds! :D Yeah, being pain-free is quite often muuuuch better than the side effects. XD
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If standard pain relievers like that aren't beneficial enough for you, you should talk with your doctor about other types of pain relievers or options. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least one NSAID that can be injected into any muscle on your body (usually your ass. :\), and it provides relief within 20 minutes. I think it was called Torredal. There are other pain relief medications out there too. I remember dispensing a few packets of Imitrex, which people seemed to find helpful. Imitrex even provides a quick dosing shot that you can inject yourself with that will give relief fairly instantly.
My other suggestion would be to talk with your doctor about Naproxen. You can get the lower doses over the counter (Aleve, Excedrine in Naproxen Sodium form), but there's higher doses and strengths available upon prescription.
I know that's all a lot to remember, but asking as many questions to your doctor really helps. I've found that out myself. If I didn't ask so many questions, I was left clueless about my own health troubles, which could also be dangerous to my health!
Anyway, enough tl;dr from me. I hope you feel better and find something that'll provide relief on a constant basis. :)
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