Hello..new and wanted to introduce myself

I have commented on a few threads here and in the fibro forum. But before I start posting more, I wanted to introduce myself. I'll be 37 this week and have 2 great kids, and a wonderful husband and all of them put up with a lot because of my health issues. My 13 year old also gets migraines and I've apologized to him profusely for passing on that trait.

I have had migraines since I was in my early teens. It began with just a few per year. In my late 20's, I had a period of time in which I had weekly migraines for 2-3 years. At the time, maxalt worked to abort them. In 2001, I moved to a new state. My weekly severe migraines stopped as quickly as they had appeared, and went back to my previous pattern of a few per year.

In April '09, they abruptly began to increase again. No specific changes in diet, environment etc. By September, I was having 4-5 per month. This month, I finally cried Uncle! and dragged my uninsured self to the doctor because I couldn't take it any more. These headaches are stealing 5-10 days out of each month. $350 later, I walk out with prescriptions for verapamil and nortryptiline to try to get them under control and treat HBP. That was almost 3 weeks ago. I've since had 8 migraines, one of them lasting 2 days. We elected to drop the nortryptiline since it also seemed to be turning me into a whacked out mess... guess it is not an appropriate anti-depressant formula for my system. Doctor said he will likely try me on topamax since abortive medications are not on the menu due to hypertension.

I get migraines with and without aura. I will usually feel increased fatigue (between fibro and insomnia, I'm always tired, but it gets markedly worse before a migraine). Occasionally I will notice my vision wavering a bit. Right after it starts, I begin to feel very cold, shaky and weak and that lasts throughout the migraine. I become extremely sensitive to smell, sound and light. When I close my eyes, I feel as if I am a very tiny person in a very large room (weird, I know). Every noise seems to come from very far away. I have zero appetite when I have a migraine and nausea is standard. With some of them, even the slight motion of breathing is agony.

I'll stop there before I put everyone to sleep. Thanks for reading and I'm glad to have found an actually active forum for this issue!

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for the information. To clarify, my doctor did not say the triptans were off limits, but he did not offer them to me either. Because he didn't offer them, I assumed that the high blood pressure could be a reason because I had read on several different sites that they might be a problem but maybe that is just with extreme HBP, which I don't have. When I re-read my post, I see that the wording I chose made it look like my doctor said he wouldn't give them to me. It is good to know that it may not necessarily be the case. I have taken maxalt in the past, and it did work for me. The other reason he may not have recommended them to me is that I don't have health insurance, and triptans are expensive. My doctor is aware of my lack of insurance and is trying to prescribe medications that will help me without breaking the bank. I do have hydrocodone that I can take in cases of severe attacks that seem to help a bit.

I have not been on topamax before, but have read about it. I don't feel like I have anything to lose at this point. The headaches are affecting me to the point that I am almost afraid to make any plans because I don't want to have to cancel them for a migraine.

Thank you, and I hope we find something that works soon as well. I appreciate any help and input. I'm hoping that they just die down again like they did 9 years ago. But in the mean time, I'll take whatever I can get to help minimize the impact.