Meds & Supplements, Treatment

Debilitating Nausea Caused By High(ish) Magnesium Dose

white capsulesWoo hoo! I feel human again and it’s all because I stopped taking magnesium. Yep, magnesium, the wonder supplement that helps so many people with migraine and chronic daily headache. I don’t think magnesium itself is to blame, but that the dose was too high. Since I can’t even take a multivitamin without nausea, I was hyper-aware as I increased from my starting dose of 100 mg. Or so I thought.

At 333 mg per day, it was within the normal dose range for treating headaches of 200-500 mg per day. It was also within the recommended daily allowance of 350 mg. I’ve discovered that allowances and ranges are like speed limits: A guideline you’re not supposed to exceed, but that you don’t have to meet.

Practically every health care provider I’ve seen has recommended magnesium to me. I’ve taken it on and off over the last five years, although this is the first time I’ve taken it consistently for more than a few weeks. Because I’ve read so much about it and had it prescribed before, I thought I could adjust the dose myself just fine. I figured I’d be fine if I stayed at or under the RDA. I unwittingly fell for the myth that medications, vitamins and supplements sold over-the-counter are harmless.

The good and frustrating news: My overall head pain was less and I had fewer migraines during the time I was horribly nauseated. I’m guessing that means the magnesium helped some. I think once my system flushes the current round of magnesium, I’ll have my different vitamin and mineral levels tested. I’ll also make myself keep a diary of my symptoms and doses. I wouldn’t want to go through these last six weeks again. I felt horrible and was so scared of what might be wrong with me.

I haven’t had any blood tests, so I’m not positive the nausea was caused by excessive magnesium. But when debilitating nausea that began about the time I increased my dose goes away when I stop taking the pills, the evidence is strong enough for me.

What is your experience been with magnesium? Please leave a comment below or chime in on the online support group and forum.

Meds & Supplements, Treatment

Palladone Removed from Market

Palladone and alcohol have been found to be a potentially lethal combination. The risk is increased with higher doses of the drug. Palladone, which is prescribed to patients with moderate to severe pain who need continuous relief, has been pulled off the market until the safety issues can be addressed.

Symptoms of the interaction include slow breathing, seizures, dizziness, weakness, loss of consciousness, confusion, coma, tiredness, cold and clammy hands, and small pupils.

I don’t know how commonly Palladone is used for headache patients, but I’m blogging about it just in case one of you happens to take it.

Palladone Pain Drug Pulled Off the Market

Meds & Supplements, Treatment

Migraine Preventive Lamictal & the Pill

Lamictal, an anticonvulsant sometimes used for migraine prevention, can reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills. If you’re using any sort of hormonal birth control (like the patch or a vaginal ring) and are prescribed Lamictal, consider using a back up method of birth control.

12/14/05: The link to the news article on this no longer works. While searching for it, I found old information that says that Lamictal doesn’t impede hormonal birth control. I’m sticking with the article I posted on — as they say, better safe than sorry.

2/9/10: I’ve asked several doctors about this potential interaction. All have said it isn’t an issue.

Chronic Migraine, Coping, Reader Stories, Treatment

In a (Large) Nutshell

Some readers have asked me to share my story, so here it is. Be forewarned, it’s long!

I’m 28 and have had bad headaches for as long as I can remember. They became daily around the time I was in middle school. My doctors said it was just a headache, so I ignored the pain or treated it with Advil, Tylenol and caffeine.

I have no idea how many painkillers I took in a day, but by college, I took four at a time more than twice a day. I tried special pillows, thinking that my neck got strained in the night. I thought grinding my teeth might be the culprit, so I had a mouth guard made. I also had TMJ surgery. Nothing helped.

In the year before I graduated from college, I had an illness that couldn’t be diagnosed. I was nauseated and tired, and had dizzy spells. I had headaches at the same time, but they were still “just headaches.” The doctor eventually told me that sometimes people can’t deal with major life events, like graduating from college, so they invent illnesses to avoid dealing with the events. To him, I was one of these people.

The headaches got worse over the next few years, but were still secondary to vertigo and nausea. I was diagnosed with and treated for Meniere’s disease (a diagnosis that was later dismissed). Then I sought to treat the headaches separately. I didn’t think I could have migraines – I don’t have auras and rarely have one-sided pain – and it never occurred to me that the three symptoms could be related. I went through round after round of allergy tests, got weekly allergy shots, medicated for sinus infections and had multiple scans of my sinuses. I had surgery to correct a deviated septum and had small structures and the top of my nose shaved to reduce pressure. None of the tests showed much and the treatments didn’t help.

At the end of 2001, the headaches began to wake me up every night, about four hours after I went to sleep. This had happened before, in spells that lasted no more than a few months, but this time it scared me. I went to my GP in mid-January to see if he had any ideas about what was going on. He recommended treating the headache pain and figuring out its cause.

This started me on several years of seeing specialists and trying practically every medication and treatment available: triptans, ergots, anti-depressants, anticonvulsants, sleep aids, painkillers, Botox, massage, acupuncture, relaxation, diet modification and so on. After all the tests, the diagnoses were migraine and transformed migraine (a.k.a. chronic daily headache).

Having a name for the problems didn’t help much. I still had daily headaches and migraines at least four times a week. I kept working for a while, but wasn’t up to par. I went down to part-time and then, when we had to move for my husband’s job, quit working altogether. I spent the majority of my time in bed and wondered how long it was worth living with the pain.

I didn’t respond to any treatments that usually help those with hard-to-treat headaches, so my doctor told me about occipital nerve stimulation. This experimental device, which is for people with untreatable migraine, essentially scrambles the pain signals that are sent along the nerve responsible for communicating migraine pain. An expensive and unproven treatment, a nerve stimulator seemed like my last resort. I had it implanted in December 2003. The stimulator has definitely reduced the pain, but it hasn’t given me any pain-free days. My daily headaches now hover around 3 on the 1-10 pain scale and, on average, I’m bedridden one or two days a week. I still can’t work.

After the stimulator was in, I spent more than a year adjusting my expectations. More than having to learn to live with constant pain, I had to face – and accept – that I may never find a miracle cure. I can’t describe how horrible this was and how shattered I felt. It was ugly. I was so tired of fighting that it took me 16 months (and trouble with the stimulator) to go back to the doctor.

I’m coping pretty well now. I take Cymbalta, Wellbutrin and amitriptyline. I’m on a restricted diet to sleuth for food triggers. I do a modified form of yoga that doesn’t interfere with the stimulator. I try to relax and let go of my perfectionism. I drink a lot of decaf lattes. I have fun when I can.

I have an appointment in October with a headache specialist in the city I now live in. I may try anticonvulsants again and I’m already testing a new triptan. Most of the time I’m willing to fight, but some days I only seek escape. My days aren’t easy and I haven’t beaten this disease. At least now I have the energy, mindset and reduced pain levels to try to keep it from beating me.

What’s your story? Share it in the comments section if you’re comfortable with that, otherwise you can e-mail it to me.