I am desperate to find relief for my mom. She had coiling done Nov.2010 to repair a ruptured aneurysm. After months in hospital she came home and actually went back to work as a nuring professor. This proved to be way too much for her so she had to retire after a semester. This wasn't so bad because she is 65 anyways. The problem is she has steadily declined every since. She has been taken to the ER at least every over month if not more often for extreme headaches and nausea. She vomits all the time too.
She just got home last night from a 5 day stay at the hospital. This time they thought she had spinal menigities then ended up diagnosing her with a raging UTI (she had no idea she had). They entire time she was in the hospital they never completely got rid of her headache!!!! Some doctors actually wonder if she really has a headache! Her daily meds are now:
Xanax 0.5 mg 1 tablet 3 x a day as needed (makes her zombie and sleep)
Asprin 325 mg daily
Clonidine 0.1 mg 1 tablet 2 x a day
Gabapentin 300 mg 1 tablet 1 x a day
Lisinopril 10 mg 1 tablet 1 x a day
Metoprolol (Lopressor 50 mg) 1 tablet 1 x a day
Paxil 40 mg 1 tablet 1 x a day (still has constant panic attacks and saddness)
Topamax 25 mg 2 tablets 2 x a day
Fioricet 1 -2 tablets every 4 -6 hrs as needed for pain (doesn't touch headaches)
Oxycodone 5 mg every 6 hrs as needed for pain (helps some)
promethazine 25 mg every 6 hrs as needed for vomiting
This time they told us her coils must be aggrevating the nerves around it and she will just have to deal with it. We took her to a phych one time but they told her she must quit smoking pot which is the only thing that helps her feel okay so she got pissed and said she wouldn't go back.
PLEASE HELP if you have any suggestion, my mom said she wishes she would have died instead of living in constant pain. Her care is tearing my family apart because we are all so aggrevated and sad.
Michelle, so sorry your mom is going through. Is she having headaches or migraines? Maybe some of the meds are helping one thing but causing the headaches? No doubt her anxiety is there in her condition and taking all the medicines must be scary for her. I developed migraines post-op for 3 months straight and felt the same as your mom. My neurologist put me on fiorcet and verapamil. The fiorecet did nothing for me, but the Verapamil was and is the drug that took control of my migraines. Maybe it will work for her. I must tell you though it took 1 month for it to kick in and get rid of my migraines. If she can't take that then maybe something similar. Someone here in the group told me about the verapamil and I am so grateful for her suggestion. Prayers and keep us posted. Jeanne
THANKS for your response. My mom was a Nurse Practionar and said she has heard of this med. I was surprised to hear how long it took to become effective, that was good to know. Prayers to you too :) Michelle
Your Mum is certainly having a tough time. Medication overuse (analgesic) headache is a possibility. i.e. headaches caused by all the analgesics. The only way to find out is to come off all analgesics for at least 2 weeks. Pain may initially get worse, but then gets better. If she doesn't think thee analgesics are working it might be worth a try. It is likely the vomiting is due to the oxycodone. She may be dependent on the oxycodone and/or alprazolam so should only try stopping those suddenly on advice from her doctor.
Keep us posted...and the results of her angio...I think someone should also re~evaluate her medications, because some of them may be causing her some of her problems...~ Gotcha in my thoughts Colleen
hi Michele! so sorry your going thru this- just wanted to say Hi and i also took gabapentin (nuerotin) and it did nothing for nerve pain, my pcp dr doubled the dose- still nothing so we discontinued. He didn't suggest an alternative but maybe your dr could try something else?
Hi yes she did get another angiogram today. The doctor came out and said good news, there's no problem at all. No more aneurysms, coiling look great, vessels look good and clear, shunt looks perfect...The doctor was not amused when i didn't jump for joy. Instead a tear ran down my face. He said it's all good at least we know nothing is wrong there. I almost wish he would have found something wrong then maybe there would be a chance it could be fixed. Instead we are back to where we seem to land over and over...with everyone telling us they can't find any reason to explain my mom's relentlessness daily headaches. Tomorrow will be her third trip to the acupuncture. She loves it while she is on the table and says when she gets home she feels like she just got a massage but the headache is still there. She is changing her primary care this week and also checking out 3 different pain management Dr referred by current primary care. We would still love to try the botox head injections. Just such a long sad day. I didn't mention the interventional surgeon who did the procedure said she just needs to accept it, she had a major brain trauma and there must be scar tissue that is causing her headaches. No empathy what so ever. Good Night I'm exhausted and bummed.