Take one pain away leads to another problem

Woke up with a horrible migraine as I always get. Took excedrin (that has caffeine obviously) because it is the ONLY thing that works for me. I have three kids youngest being 6 months so I can't go out of operation. Still had the migraine so I drank a cup of coffee. Migraine feels BETTER. A lot of relief to where I can get up and I got a shower cleaned and I'm doing laundry. Now I'm a nervous wreck and it feels like my hearts acting funny. So get rid of the migraine (not totally but got a ton of relief) and now I have the anxiety where my body is shakey inside. Seriously? Whatever happens always leads to anxiety in my life no matter what. I don't want to take my Xanax because I've been doing soooo good without it. But if I start having heart flutters (which is what I panic over the most) I might need too. They scare me SO bad. Make me think I am dying every single time. I haven't gotten them in awhile that I can think of which is good but feels like today might be the day so I am going to try and stay as busy and positive as I can for the time being and try not to focus so much on it because it works me up even more. Anyone else out there deal with frequent painful migraines and anxiety? What kind of relief do you do for them?

Lacey,

Upon reading your message, I have a few thoughts. It sounds as if you're a bit stressed needless to say. What is your daily life like in a nutshell? Do you grind your teeth at night? This could result in waking up with headaches, but am unsure about migraines. My dentist says I grind my teeth at night probably because I'm stressed. It makes so much sense, but I never put two and two together.

Do you get much heartburn or acid reflux? I ask because I have quite the history with it. Caffeine can trigger it and make it worse and it sounds like you consume a lot of it. When I first had my issues, I had fluttering, which I thought was a heart issue. Have you had your heart checked out for peace of mind? I have. Knowing everything was okay there took away a lot of the anxiety as far as my heart was concerned.

I am personally dependent on Xanax to get me through. It is the only thing that rids me of the heaviness I often feel in my chest. There are many coping exercises here atop the page where all the anxiety threads are listed. A breathing exercise my therapist gave me is to inhale for five seconds and then exhale for five seconds. I feel breathing techniques can make all the difference for some.

What I have written is probably frustrating because you get relief for your migraines from caffeine, but the caffeine could be causing your heart flutters. You can't win for trying. I get it. I've been there. Luckily, reflux is easily treatable. Have you spoken with your doctor about the migraines? I wonder if massage would help.