Health - Desparate Migrainer...

[SunnyHours]

SWIM is a desperate migrainer.
He tried almost every migraine medication available to him.
Here's a little list:
Naproxen
Tylenol
Aspirin
Advil (Liqui-Gel)
Acetaminophen with Codeine (8mg)
Acetylsalicylic Acid with Codeine (8mg)
Zomig
Maxalt
Relpax
Amerge
Tramadol
Percocet
Codeine 30mg
Fioricet 1/4 Codeine
Sudomigran (Preventive med)
Celexa (Anti-depressant, used as a Preventive med)

In this list only 2 things works, in those 2 only one of them really helps.
He usually spends 3 to 4 hours in terrible pain (that is when he takes 3-4 Advil Liqui-Gel) in my bed moaning. After those 4 hours he faints. When he wakes up the migraine is usually gone, but he feels weak and dizzy from the pain and the amount of Advil he took. When he doesn't have any Advil available he can be in pain for at least 8 hours.

Codeine only gives him some kind of relief. The migraines is still there but less painful. The migraine then last less than 2 hours.

Percocet is fantastic though! The migraine is completely gone after 30 minutes. Vanished. He can get back to work. No side effects, nothing!

The only problem is that his doctor doesn't want to prescribe it to him.
Even if he has been suffering for years and he tried all other migraine medication possible, his doctor still doesn't want to help him. She prescribed the Fioricet, he got the Codeine from another doctor and he faked bladder stones to get the Tramadol.

He knows it's pathetic but he really is desperate. He feels that his doctor doesn't want to prescribe the painkillers because he was "addicted" to weed. He told me that even after explaining everything she still didn't want to prescribe anything.

The pain from those migraines are so painful he said he's about to go to Heroïn...That is how desperate he is.

He is willing to try things less potent, but he really needs relief from those migraines.

I'm just here to ask help about what he could say to make his doctor to understand the pain under which it puts him. Or just how to say it since he already explained.

Thanks,
Sunny Hours.

[Lisa J]

SWIM is a migraine sufferer too and knows how terrible the pain can be. Luckily for SWIM she's on a hefty dose of opiates for other reasons so her migraines are much less painful, she still gets vomiting and often feels so weak she has to go to bed most of the day. Opiates will help with the pain but not the other symptoms of migraine, but SWIY says there is one that helps and you can still function so keep pushing for it. Unless the migraines occur 3 or more times a week then addiction shouldn't come into it, a friend of SWIM gets diamorphine injections when her migraines are bad.
Heroin will certainly help with the pain but SWIY will have to have tremendous willpower not to use it for reasons other than pain control, that said SWIM does find she gets far less migraines when using heroin regularly. Still not a good enough reason to start using it though, has SWIY tried beta-blockers?

[SunnyHours]

SWIY's friend is lucky to get those injections...SWIM went to the hospital 2 times for his migraines and only got something that is supposed to stop those migraines...even the Advil was more efficient. And SWIM cannot take Beta-Blockers because of his asthma. His neurologist wanted to prescribe those but he said that SWIM could have problems because of his asthma...
SWIM is starting to look for a new doctor...a doctor that won't say migraines are the same as a headache...

[Lisa J]

If SWIY'S doctor thinks migraines are just bad headaches then changing doctors is a good move, make a point of calling out the doctor every time SWIY gets a migraine, day or night. They soon get pissed off with this and will usually prescribe emergency pain meds, how often does SWIY get migraines?

[SunnyHours]

around 3 times a week...Sometimes more, sometimes less...
SWIM says Thanks good idea! haha

[tryptamaster]

yea swim been there. him and his mom both get severe migranes and once again one percocet is all it takes. any OTC painkiller and where swim is thats tylenol and aspirin NO codine is totally worthless. u jsut need to find a doctor who sympathizes. or you need to get a stash of poppy pods for emergencies...idk watever suits u best.

[klonopinz]

Swim would not recommend H, pointing out that this would prove right your doctors statements regarding your character and habit forming tendencies, which until now are wrong. Also, if Swiy has a hard time getting medication when "weed" is the only known drug that his docs know he took, then just imagine their disposition if it is known he used H afterward. Swiy should be thankful that at least his doctor listens to him and has prescribed the medications mentioned; your doc is trying at least. Swim remembers it took him 2 years before getting an RX for something that had an effect on his condition, and then some more to find the right ones.

Swim knows first hand that doctors are more authoritative and decisive in the places they are comfortable with. If Swiy somehow could get in touch with the doctor outside the office environment, his guard will be lower, more receptive to topics he/she has authority over.

Swim also went to most appointments with a companion which the doctor can feel sure of that swim won't confederate with to get the drugs (parents work best, if not too old; if not a successful older relative of the family). They can usually validate the patients accounts if the doctors listens carefully to swiys companion.

Last, swiy should not mention specific medication desired, but rather the ones you are not. This is if you have never asked you doctor for it specifically. If you have, then Swim recommends asking for very low pill amounts stating you agree that the medication in question does have habit forming qualities, and might be addictive, and you just want to take it when pain is too acute. Swim suggests asking for 5 20mg oxycontin pills (oxycodone, time release), stating swiy won't ask for more in whatever period the doctor thinks adequate.

If still the doc says no, politely ask him/her what's his background on pain management, and what places around the area would he recommend swiy visit for further diagnosis and treatment. At this point, it should be clear to Swiy that the doctor's main concern is not his patients well being, but him/her mantaining his/her reputation and practice. Why would anyone visit a doctor ever again once they know this about them.

[TheNewLeft]

migraines are a bitch. the only thing that will help with the pain are heavy opiates....and also long lasting ones.

oxycodone and hydrocodone will work in high doses if you repeat dose every 4 hours.

but what you really want is either straight morphine sulfate (ms-contin) or something equally powerful like hydromorphone (dilaudid) continuous release.

[SunnyHours]

if SWIM would get any form of relief he would already be happy...
He's doing CWE and he takes around 300-350mg of Codeine to help with pain and go to sleep...

[klonopinz]

betsym, please understand that some people simply don't care about raised eyebrows at them, since pain is the one thing disrupting their life, not appearances, and more specifically, Klonopinz comments here where not directed at any drug seeking individual, but to SunnyHours case in particular (so he already knew the doctor, and had gotten percocet once). Also, Swim doesn't see how can Swim, or the doctor, worry about abuse when only giving 5 pills are dispensed every 2 weeks or so. SunnyHours is not planning on abusing them (injecting them), but using them correctly.

When Swim refers to non "office environment", Swim meant places like hospitals he works at or volunteers, or if he works with a group of doctors at some other clinic, or even in the hall outside his office, just not in the place he usually keeps his RX pad at. Docs are trained to always deliver diagnosis and treatment guidelines in a setting exclusively controlled by them. It may or may not arise suspicion, but what you are looking for is a different answer from the one given at the office.

Also, swiy should not just label or think anyone using a narcotic drug will become addicted to it and can't successfully use it for a long period of time or simply disregard its effects. Pain Management has advanced in the last few years, and safe and effective therapies exist to treat pain with a much reduced risk of habit forming. The sole point of asking if SunnyHours doctor has any pain management experience is because at this point it should be clear to swiy that the doctor won't risk his DEA# to help you any further, and you should move on to an adequate place (with his help and support). Good pain management centers usually have teams of doctors covering most specialties, aside from Anesthesiology, and will enforce contracts with their patients involving random drug testing, random drug concentration levels, and random medication counts.

betsy, You are right though, about asking for Oxy (again this was only directed at SunnyHours case), and that doctors will play with their patients knowledge and guage their responses to get a better idea of their background, usually mentioning substances, or procedures sometimes even incorrectly. And the "acting" abusing users have employed to get drugs has made medicine a much less innocent profession, I agree, yet doctors choose to get into it, knowing this before even med school. Patients don't. We have to.

Oh, and just be glad swiy don't come from where swim does. 8/10 docs there will simply act on whichever way allows them to collect the most money overall. If you go to the Gastro for some heart burn complain, you end up getting a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, or visiting the neuro will ask to see MRI of whatever part it is you complain of, only to tell you at the second visit that you have to do it again because he forgot to write that IV contrast should've been used.

--
Klonopinz forgot to add earlier: "Personally, I do not encourage lying to doctors if you are truly seeking medical assistance. Although, narcotic prescription to previous drug 'ab'user is significantly lower, if you are able to first establish a cooperative patient-doctor relationship, which is mostly based on honesty, it shouldn't be a problem to obtain the drug you need, and recieve adequate dosage, tampering and random monitoring of intake . You could also pursue other (illegal) treatments or drugs over a period of time (as long as he doesn't prescribe or gives you access to them) and he would oversee your health during this time. Finding doctors that allow this type of intervention from the patient let swiy be involved (and aware) in decision concerning swiys health. The key is honesty... but since most doctor won't go for this, Swim suggests reading, and following of betzys earlier post".

[klonopinz]

betsym, klonopinz wanted to let you know:
..."

Although I currently reside in Miami, it's been only for a few months, before this, I lived in Georgia too for a few years. Before that, I resided outside the United States, but within one of its territories.

Also, he does know and understand that specialist order tests to allow for a comprehensive differential diagnostic. But when you start noticing things like the following, you realize that something is wrong.

For instance, the neuro forgot to tell me that the MRI required IV contrast, makes me come in a second time to just inform me of this, reissue the RX, looks in disbelief at the mri report for 10 seconds, quickly re-evaluates me (ask me how I feel and if I had lost weight), prescribe another type of whatever OTC pain medication he feels like and sends me off with a revisit when tests re-done. When redoing the MRI, I noticed that I had actually allowed the release of a copy of the results to my doctor ASAR (as soon as read). In my next visit, I discreetly got a hold of my record from the door of the room I was assigned to. The fucker had received a faxed copy of the results, and they had been archived a couple of days prior my second apt. You would figure that your doctor would call you asap, to let me know, and inform the lab to redo the tests promptly and just see you a second time with all the information required, not having to meet and perform unnecessary tasks and assessments. But what the doctor actually did was just to convert meyou into 2 different patients, only really caring for one of us... This way he gets 2x to 3x money he's supposed since he sees you twice as often, reads twice the tests, prescribes twice as much, etc. Corruption, just like drug abuse, is habit forming, addictive, and increasing.

Regarding betsym's particular problem getting the right medication to treat pain, my only recommendations are to keep the lines of communication open & to offer infinite options in which you compromise to meet the doctors opinions. If your doctor decides against more pain medication, ask why. Whatever the reason, it will be an opinion, not a medical standard he HAS to follow. Get him to acknowledge that. Then, ask if instead of getting a remedial daily dosage of a particular drug, to get a more effective drug, yet only take half as often, and prescribed in half the pill counts previously given. If faced with a no, ask why. (Swiy has probably done so but regardless) Ask if you could then try to take twice the amount of the currently prescribed medication, again half as often, mentioning that, just like him, you know these medicines are addictive and low doses should be mantianed to prevent this, but you simply don't know what else to do. If another no, then ask if you can try adding combinations of OTC pain medications and other types of drugs like a weak muscle relaxant. Just keep at it. Once your doctor decides that it is not irresponsible to help you, he will. The easiest and most effective way to achieve this is to be truly responsible, but it's no guarantee! Gluck!
"...

[Tweak92]

Try doing large codeine CWEs and keeping a few doses in different bottles that way you could have a week-long supply.
Swim thinks 100mg should do but it varies from person to person...

[Jatelka]

Does the monkey take metoclopromide with their analgesia when a migraine hits? Migraine slows gastric emptying, and absorption of meds can be affected/less efficient

B-Blockers are pretty good preventative, as is low dose Amitryptiline. 2nd line measures include Gabapentin, Topiramate and Sodium Valproate

It seems odd that the monkey was prescribed an SSRI, as there is no evidence that it's any better than placebo

In terms of migraine, the flamingo used to suffer terribly between ages 17 and 23 (ish). Then she re-started taking LSD, after a hiatus. She hasn't had one since (she doses about 5 times a year). There's lots of anecdotal evidence, and this...

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/loc...atid=68&id=769

which looks at the response of cluster headache to Psilocybin and LSD

[RoboCodeine7610]

Just do a CWE on some Para/caffeine/codeine pills, that way you'll get the analgesic effects of paracetamol, codeine And you'll have the caffeine both potentiating the paracetamol and causing vasocontriction (which is what migraine meds do).

[Politicalchalk]

Swim was getting migraines and started just happened to have a meeting with his neurologist a week later. Swim was put on 60mgs Propranolol XR (ie, "extended release") -- seemed very effective. Don't get that warm opiate feeling, and you take it every day as a preventative measure, but it's worth checking out. It's a beta-blockers.

[Herbal Healer 019]

Heres a great recomendation that will completely alleviate SWIy's migraines, while leaving SWIy pretty high (donno if that's good or bad 4 SWIy), & SWIy will not have to redose. Ground poppy pods (papavar somniferum; they contain morphine, codeine, etc..) brewed into tea or eaten with food will most def. alleviate SWIy's migraines for 8-12 hours, possibly more. Poppy pods

The only thing with poppy pods, is, while SWIy wont have to redose twice in one day, SWIy will likely use the pods everytime they have a migraine, & if their migraines occur daily, then using pods is not the answer because they can lead to physical addiction, and eventually painfull withdrawels (no personal experience here, so dont ask). These pods are pretty easily obtainable through the internet & aren't pricey at all per individual dose if bought in bulk

Another great 1, which is completely legal to buy in the US is Kratom. Kratom gives a long acting 4-8hrs possibly more sense of analgesia (pain relief) & is probably less addictive than oxycodone (percocet) & poppy pods (morphine, codeine, etc..)

SWIy should probably try a new doctor & explain that percocet (oxycodone) worked best, & if possible ask for oxycontin because it contains no tylenol (acetominophen) which will destroy your liver with prolonged use.

[Metomni]

SWIM was prescribed Axert a few years ago and when SWIM gets a migraine it helps if he takes one at the onset of symptoms. You may want to try that. SWIM also gets cluster headaches and NOTHING helps those, so it just depends on the severity. In SWIM's experience, axert is awesome for medium severity migraines and dulls the pain of severe ones.

[AddyCrazy]

As SWIJatletka suggested taking LSD or Psilocybin even in small doses has been proven to help with cluster headaches and migraines although SWIM has no personal experience. It has also been proven to help with mild depression and self confidence among a load of things so it is definitely worth getting into. SWIM wouldn't recommend opiates as an answer for the long term as one may find them self on a slippery slope when using them in the long term. SWIM is curious if you have used marijuana at all to ease these because SWImy sister had migraines and started vaping and eating it and helped alot

[witchychick]

we have something called migraleve here in the UK. it is v good for migraine, the pink ones containing paracetamol ( acetominophen ), caffeine, codeine and an anti nausea med. v good.. may be worth checking out if they are over there under a diff name?

[ichiitk]

swims monkey uses cannabis(weed/hasjish, whichever is available), for good results. Only drawback is she was a fist time user when she started taking it for migraines(age 23), and in the beginning it worked great and not much was needed. Now after about 1 year of daily use alot is needed. Its hard on the economy and she cant sleep unless a lot of cannabis is consumed.

swim was recomended kratom by a friend, and swim is planning to try it with his monkey. Will give swiy feedback after executing project kratom. swim will also try to get hold of some mushrooms/LSD, but does not know where to buy. he will have to ask around a bit first. If swim gets some he will leave feedback if wanted. good luck with swiy migraines, swim has not had them but his poor monkey has them alot.

[RX420]

swim found codeine and tramadol to actually worsen swimy migraine.

swim is lucky to be prescribed 10 mg hydros and percocets. and swim finds that norcos to work best. or atleast they seem to work faster...the percs take a good hour before it dulls down. iSWIMho

and swim found ganja a great relieve too, but it all depended on strain. some would make the migraine pound even more while usually the numbing indicas really knocked out the pain.

swim has also heard about Psilocybin being great at stopping migraines and cluster headaches. and Kratom would be anonther great choice. Swim finds it as effective as the hydrcodone at the right dose.

swim has tried imitrax, norflex ( mainly for back pain, but found it helped with headaches), topimax, and Lyrica.....swim found that lyrica actually helped. but its expensive and swim is lucky their doc will hand them samples.