Chronic Migraine, Coping, Diet, Triggers

An Unexpected Pep Talk (Following Some Reflections on Wellbutrin, Migraine)

After crying over the royal family, I knew I needed an antidepressant sooner than it would take to convince my insurance company to cover Viibryd. Since the dizziness had almost subsided and I didn’t want to wait to get a prescription for yet another drug, I tried increasing my Wellbutrin dose to what it was before the four-day migraine attack in January. No additional dizziness. In fact, it finally stopped the residual dizziness that had kept me unsteady. I’ve been back at my pre-migraine dose for two weeks and am doing fine.

I’m frustrated with the constantly moving target that is my health, but I’m also fascinated by it. The migraine attack changed my brain and, through my reaction to an unrelated medication, I was able to see my brain change back to it’s pre-migraine state. I knew that would happen, but being able to observe it was unusual.

It’s just one of the many changes I’ve been able to observe in my body now that I don’t have a migraine all the time. I can feel fine, but if my feet are freezing, I know I’m in the early stages of an attack. I can be writing for hours and thinking at full capacity, then notice that constructing sentences has suddenly become difficult. Even when eating doesn’t trigger a migraine attack, it can hint at one for a while and I’ll have to stop working until it resolves, which is usually does within an hour without medication. These are just a few examples of the many new reactions I can see in my body.

It would seem like someone who has had chronic migraine for as long as I have would have figured these things out by now. That was impossible, though, because the migraine attacks never stopped. I didn’t have a clear idea of my prodrome symptoms because I never knew when a migraine was ramping up again. I had experienced the metal fading before, but only recognized it when I was already deep into the attack. Now I notice within a few minutes after the cognitive dysfunction begins.

Despite knowing that identifying triggers and prodrome symptoms would be crucial to managing attacks, it seemed like an elusive, if not impossible, goal for most of my time with chronic migraine. I kept trying, even though it was terribly frustrating and I had a lot of misattributions along the way. I’m glad I did. It’s even more valuable that I imagined it would be. I’m more able to avoid migraine attacks now that I was even a year ago and I can take triptans at the earliest possible moment, which reduces the total time I spend in a migraine attack. At least once a week, I take a triptan and only slow down for 30 minutes before I’m fully functional again. I had a “bad” one yesterday—at least really bad for how they get these days—the pain hit a 6 and I was down for six hours. That’s a Sunday drive compared to how they used to be.

I still credit DAO with most of my improvement and my diet is second, but the benefits of knowing triggers and prodrome symptoms continue to increase. With 40 foods in my diet still and only adding two new foods in the last seven months, I often feel like I’m stuck. Then I remember how much shorter my attacks have become and that my cognitive impairment has decreased so much that I’m able to write through more migraine attacks than I’ve been able to in at least eight years. I’ve changed nothing treatment-wise since September, yet, on average, each month is a little better than the last. It’s a slow, slow climb, but I’m still climbing.

I always worry that I sound like I’m bragging or showing people up when I write about my improvement. I share it so you can know that improvement is possible and that even when if feels like you’re totally stuck, you could be making progress that you can’t yet see. When you feel terrible physically, it can seem like you’re failing yourself by not actively searching for and trying new treatments. Sometimes holding on is the best you can do for a while. I know that’s terribly clichéd, but it’s meaning is exactly what I wish to convey. Know that it won’t always be this bad. Instead of criticizing yourself, try to give yourself some love. You need it and deserve it.

That turned more “rah-rah” than I expected. I won’t delete it because it’s something I wish I’d come across five years ago. Since I’m a cheerleader baring my heart, I want to add this: I may not know you by name, but I do think of you all and wish the best for every one of you. I haven’t been in the exact place that you’ve been in, but I’ve lived through years that I have no idea how I survived. I believe you can do it, too. It may not feel like it, but you can.

Meds & Supplements, Mental Health

Wellbutrin Side Effects

Dizziness is one of Wellbutrin’s most well-known side effects, one with which I’ve become intimately familiar. Since I know I need an antidepressant right now and refuse to take any with sexual side effects, I’ve become experienced in managing Wellbutrin side effects. In addition to dizziness, I’ve had some trouble with insomnia. This information stems from dealing with those problems, but it may be helpful for other side effects, as well.

The main points:

  • Try different release types
  • Take the meds with food
  • Try different ways of taking different dosages (example: for 300 mg, take 200 in the morning and 100 in the afternoon or vice versa)
  • Try generics from different manufacturers
  • Try the name brand drug, if possible

Wellbutrin (generic: bupropion) comes in regular release, sustained release (SR) and extended release (XL). I started on 200 mg of the generic sustained release. My diet is heavily restricted, so I don’t eat many calories at once and eat few carbohydrates, both of which seem to make me more susceptible to dizziness. I could manage as long as I consumed 800 calories before my first dose and took the second dose six hours later.

Then I increased my dose to 300 mg a day, which added insomnia to the dizziness. If I took 200 mg in the morning, I got dizzy and stayed that way all day. Taking 200 mg in the afternoon caused less dizziness, but made it difficult for me to fall asleep and stay asleep.

So I switched to 300 mg of the generic extended release, taken in two 150 mg tablets with breakfast. I still had a little bit of dizziness, but it was pretty mild, and no trouble with sleep. Then I started taking the 300 mg in a single tablet and wound up with intense dizziness that even kicked up when I rolled over in bed.

The question is whether I did better with two 150 mg tablets because there were two pills or because they are manufactured by a different company than the 300 mg tabs. I’m guessing the latter since generic drugs have the same active ingredient as name brand drugs, but the other ingredients may differ and, thus, may have different side effects.

Which leads to what will be my next experiment — taking two 150 mg tablets of Wellbutrin XL, the brand name extended release version. If my insurance company approves it, I’ll let you know how the experiment goes.

(And now you know why my posts have been sporadic and I’ve been slow to respond to email and comments the last few months. Computer time is the first thing to go when I’m dizzy. Today it feels manageable; we’ll see if that lasts.)

Update: I got the dizziness under control a few ways:

  1. I always take it with food, usually about 30 minutes after eating.
  2. I split the dose, one with breakfast and two around 3p. (It can cause insomnia, so you might need to take it earlier.)
  3. When those two things stopped being sufficient, I switched to name brand Wellbutrin XL (I was on generic XL before that).

If name brand Wellbutrin isn’t an option (insurance companies often don’t cover it), you could try generic bupropion from a different manufacturer. Ingredients vary enough from one manufacturer to the next that switching to another generic can do the trick. The downside is that you may have to try generics from multiple companies to find one that doesn’t have side effects for you. To switch, find out which company makes the bupropion that’s causing your dizziness (it should be on the bottle or your pharmacist can tell you). Then ask your pharmacist if they stock another brand or are able to order a different brand for you. This usually is no problem, but there’s a chance you’ll need to try a different pharmacy.

Chronic Migraine, Diet, Mental Health

Checking In

Worried emails come in whenever I’m quiet for long, so here’s a brief update. My mood is pretty good and my migraines have been a bit better (though I have an ugly one right now). Wellbutrin is still making me dizzy when I work on the computer, so I’m not writing much. I’ve chugged a Tolerex with breakfast the last two days, which seems to have kept the dizziness at bay. My fingers are crossed that I’ll be fully functional again soon.

I’m now 38 and had a lovely, low-migraine birthday (though Hart had a migraine that day!). I decided to indulge in dinner out and homemade yellow cake with buttercream frosting. A migraine followed, but it was mild and worth it.

If you’re looking for new writing from me, Migraine.com is a good place to check. They have a backlog of articles from me that they publish as needed and usually post one new one from me each week. Here are some recently published posts:

I apologize for letting your comments languish; I hope to reply this week. And I hope to get at least one new post up this week. I hope you’re doing as well as possible!

 

 

 

 

Diet, Mental Health

I’m Out of Cope Due to Depression

After posting Food and Migraine Frustrations: I’m All Out of Cope, I finally looked at all the pieces that were frustrating me (and how I was overreacting to everything and felt helpless) and realized they added up to depression. I was still waffling until the day I woke up and didn’t want to get out of bed. Then I knew it was time to increase my Wellbutrin.

I started feeling better almost immediately. It’s highly unlikely that the Wellbutrin made such a difference so fast, but recognizing what was happening and taking steps to change it was a big relief. I’m also seeing some improvement in my diet and pinpointing the foods (and possibly a supplement) that have been problematic. And one day out of every four is (usually) trigger-free.

Unfortunately, I’m not getting enough calories to support 300 mg of Wellbutrin without side effects. Like happened when I was on Tolerex in December, I get dizzy looking down or working at the computer. Once again, it’s keeping me from working much.

I’m still frustrated, but no longer feel helpless or overwhelmed. I’m taking each hour as it comes and trusting I’ll figure this out eventually. (That sounds so trite, but it’s totally true.) I’m not sure what “this” looks like, how long it will take or how many migraines a week (or day) it will mean. And that’s OK.

Chronic Migraine, Community

The Current Silence

Between the excellent American Headache Society symposium, the American Headache and Migraine Association patient conference, and some exciting new discoveries about my health, I have a ton I want to share with you. Unfortunately, one of the complications of my current regimen is an extreme susceptibility to medication side effects. In particular, Wellbutrin (which is definitely helping my depression) is making me dizzy and the dizziness is exacerbated by looking at screens. It’s a short-term issue, but one that’s keeping me from writing about all these topics I’m so eager to tell you about.

I’ve received worried messages from readers, so I wanted to let you know that I haven’t been overtaken by horrendous migraines or depression. I’m actually in good spirits and feel like I’m on the verge of uncovering a new course of treatment, but getting to that point requires traversing a very bumpy road. I’ll be writing as much as I can as soon as I can.

I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and doing as well as possible. xoxo