Pam, who referred to herself as a “Connecticut Yankee currently living in Israel” is another guest who lives with migraine pain. As with most migraineurs, her story is eerily familiar, yet different too.

Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?

30 years ago, I was 20, home during the summer having finished junior college before going to university. I woke up late afternoon from a nap with what felt like a railroad spike through my left temple and left eye. I found my way to the door and was calling for my mother (instinct is strong isn’t it?) who was outside hanging up clothes. I woke up my dad in the next room who had also been taking a nap.

I knew it was a migraine. I was well-read and my maternal grandmother had them, so my mom told me.

Did you seek help right away? If so, what type of help and, if not, why not?

Took aspirin or acetaminophen, I can’t remember which, had an ice pack on my left temple and lay in the bed with the curtains drawn and the lights off. The pain passed in 2-3 hours. We went to the doctor on the following Monday, office hours ended by 1 pm on Saturdays.

What did the doctors tell you when you did seek help?

I told our family doctor what I had and he agreed. No food trigger or stress was responsible for the initial hit. We often had thunderstorms during the summer in Connecticut so if one was coming, the drop in barometric pressure could have caused it.

Over 30 years I may have had 3 auras–the flashes of light that 1 in 5 migraine sufferers get but it’s a phenomenon that is interesting and makes the news over the mass that don’t get them.

Pretty much the response in the last 3 decades has been: ‘Try this — fill in the blank.’ Pharmaceutical companies push their drugs as cure-alls but only 1 out of 5 people get any relief though all 5 pay for a drug that is useless to 80% of them. Doctors are poor at pain management and prefer to think that anti-depressants will stop pain which actually makes it worse since I’m taking the stuff, I still have the headaches and I’m more depressed! When I told doctors about a drug they proposed, ‘I tried that already’ the doctors’ response was, ‘let’s try it again’. Oh yes, and they accuse long term sufferers as being pill junkies and addicts. That was always helpful, NOT!

What have you tried to help you with your pain?

Drugs, diet changes, meditation, acupuncture. I had an MRI and CT scans so the good news–nothing there, the bad news–nothing there to fix…

Can you tell me a bit about what worked and what didn’t?Beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers did nothing, blood pressure regulators and steroids were useless.

Drug wise I took: Cafergot, Inderal, Elavil, Fiorinal, naproxen sodium, Depakote, Sansert, Pheyntoin, Lithium, Amitriptyline, Prozac, Butabital, Alprazolam, Midrin, Axocet, Chromagen, Percocet, Atenolol, Ultram, Deltazone, Prednisone, Neurontin, Acetazolamid, Verapamil, Trazedon, Stunarone, Tegratol, Topamax, and Imitrex. Compazine for the nausea did its job. Tylenol with Codeine #4 is the only thing that reduced the pain level by 25% or so.

Topamax actually caused auras and dizzy spells. It also changed the taste of artificial sweeteners to a sour taste so I was off my diet sodas.

I had been a guinea pig at a headache clinic in Stamford to try the injection of Imitrex when it first came out. It did nothing. Neither did the Imitrex inhaler or the pills.

Reiki helps when I can’t sleep for the pain.

How does having this pain make affect you in terms of how you live your life?

In my later 30s, I had gone back to college to take courses to become an RN, changing my career from a graphic artist. Due to either the headaches or the side effects of the drugs, I had trouble focusing and I missed classes. I had graduated Summa Cum Laude at 21, now my memory was bad, my handwriting changed–not that it was good but even I couldn’t read my notes and I had to stop my dream. Eventually I had to quit work and returned home because I couldn’t afford to live in my own place any more. I went on disability and live my life around the pain.

If you were to look back over what you have tried/haven’t tried, would you change anything? If so, what would you change?

I’ve tried many things and read up on even more. I do believe it’s a good idea to rule out physical problems by getting an MRI and a CT scan. My food trigger is dried beans/peas. They have a natural mold on them, like the silvery mold on plums or grapes. Dried peas and beans in soups etc will cause a massive headache for me in 20 minutes or less. Low barometric pressure is also a cause: I can feel the storm coming in my head. Menstrual changes and hormone levels just before my menses will give me a migraine. Cleaning chemicals can be a trigger so can fluorescent lights that are felt by the brain though the eye doesn’t see the cycling energy. Caffeine sometimes helps, chocolate is not a trigger for me. My triggers are: moods, foods, stress and PMS. Meditation, subsisting on brown rice, moving to the desert and getting a sex change is not realistic, though it is possible. I’m hopeful that with menopause I’ll lose a quarter of my triggers.

I still won’t get a Botox injection. It’s poison derived and I’m just not comfortable with that. Granted most medicines can be toxic in the wrong dose and in lethal combinations, but I’m not going to take a risk with botulism in my head.

What would you say to someone in a similar situation who is just starting to try to find treatment and relief?

Migraines are different in each person, the headaches have different triggers, sometimes multiple triggers. Control what you can in the way of foods, cleansers, lighting for work and home, with whom you associate, and how you react to stress. Finding what works can take decades, the triggers will change too. Be informed, many drugs to prevent headaches can also cause them.

Would you like to add anything?

Since leaving the workforce, I’ve discovered my writing voice. I can channel my pain and aggression into characters, I can make worlds, and I can cope.

Thanks for sharing your story Pam. It’s hard when we have tried so many things to manage the pain – all we’re asking for is *1* thing to work!

If you have a story about living with pain and would like to share it in a future Company’s calling – please let me know. Anyone is welcome – even if you think your story isn’t interesting, it most likely is!

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Image: iStock.com

Post from: Blisstree

Company’s calling – another migraineur speaks out

Living with a condition that can be made worse by the food you eat can make it difficult or frustrating to find foods you like to eat that are also good for you.

Food is often a social thing – we gather around dinner tables with friends, go out to eat at restaurants, and we celebrate life with food and drink. So food isn’t just a nutritious part of life, it’s often a way of life.

So how can people with food-triggered pain manage just like everyone else? It does depend on what the issue is. For example, if you have celiac disease, this is a disorder that can’t be cheated on. You can’t have gluten -not even the tiniest bit. Even if it doesn’t hurt you in the short-term, it can really hurt you in the long term.

Migraines

Other illnesses aren’t so cut and dry. Migraines, for example. While some people have migraines that aren’t food-related, others do. And what might be a food trigger for one migraineur is not necessarily a trigger for another migraineur. Here are some common ones:

- Foods with tyramine, a substance that is found in food that ages, like cheese

- Alcohol, specifically darker ones, like red wine

- Food additives in foods like processed meats, hot dogs, MSG in Chinese food

- Some fruit, like figs, raisins, over ripe avocados and bananas

- Freshly based yeast breads, sourdough breads

IBS

If you have problems with your bowels, such as irritable bowel disease, you may have other issues with food.

Some foods may cause cramping and diarrhea, while others may cause horrible gas pain.

What often happens when someone is diagnosed with IBS or they think they have it, the restrict their diet severely. They eat something, have a bad reaction and then strike that from their diet. But, it’s not as easy as that because there may be other influences other than just the foods. Dieticians recommend that people use and elimination diet to find what foods are the culprits. That means to eliminate the foods most known to trigger IBS symptoms and then introduce them back into the diet one by one. That way, you will notice which foods are your triggers.

Here are some of the most common ones:

- Dairy products

- Fats, butter, oil, sauces, salad dressings

- Caffeine

- Chocolate

- Food additives, particularly MSG that is found in many Chinese foods

- Artificial sweeteners

Contrary to popular belief – people IBS generally need a good healthy dose of fiber in their diet.

Do you have a food-related chronic illness/chronic pain? What is it and how do you deal with it?

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Post from: Blisstree

When food causes pain