ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Headaches => Topic started by: mll on July 27, 2010, 04:12:13 pm
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I haven't posted since my retrosigmoid surgery in October, but I'm very frustrated and hoped you guys could help. Like many people I have been suffering from headaches ever since my surgery--before surgery I almost never got headaches. At first my neuro thought they were rebound headaches and put me on gabapentin 3 pills 3 times a day. But I'm still getting bad headaches every day. Now they are changing me to naprosyn and nortriptilyne. Has anyone tried these medications for post-op headaches? I appreciate all of your help.
mll
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Yes I take 50 mg of Nortrypline nightly and I believe it helps with the nerve pain. It also helps with sleep as it makes me a little drowsy. I've been on it or its cousin amatryptline for almost 2 years...with some success, and combined with other meds it has helped. Unfortunately it is just part of the cocktail...finding the correct cocktail can be tough, but keep at it and you will find relief.
Liz
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I take prespription Naprosyn (Naproxen, Aleve....all the same stuff). No side effects...........works "ok".....sometimes better than other times. Not great for major head/neck cramp-ups!! Just make sure you have some food or milk (yuck) in your tummy or it will eat you alive. :o Doesn't make me drowsy or anything like that. I'm definately still a work in progress.....but hoping to find my miracle fix! Thank goodness for M&Ms ~ they keep me from going crazy!! ~Kathy
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Thanks Liz and Kathy for your responses. I didn't have a major headache yesterday (first day in a long time!) I'm starting to wean myself off of the gabapentin. Hopefully this new cocktail is working :)
mll
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My surgery was end of Oct 09. Headaches turned out to be more neck/shoulder aches. PT helped with neck massages and gave me much needed relief. Only need extra strength tylenol on occasion. But when a headache hits, you know it. Now just trying to deal with the nastly "dry eye". Good luck.
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mll:
Like you, I hardly ever got headaches before my AN surgery. I took nortriptilyne for headaches for about a year. It definitely did help. It helped get me off of Tylenol. I get less headaches and they are less intense. However, I'm not headache free. I stopped taking nortriptilyne because I hadn't noticed improvement for a few months & it was so difficult to get up in the morning--a result of it's relaxing effect. The neurologist warned that the headaches could get worse if I stopped nortriptilyne, but they haven't. In fact, I continue to see improvement.
Good luck.
Syl
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*dones hat as daughter of pharmacist.....* ;)
Nortripilyne is typically used as an anti-depressent but also used to help numb out nerve endings in its treatment of neuralgias (certain types of pain) etc A good link for the drug is:
http://www.drugs.com/nortriptyline.html
Naprosyn (noted here, also known as brand names Aleve, etc) is not a typical anti-inflammatory (such as Ibuprofen products). Use to be Rx only but now OTC. A decent pain med for headaches/body aches, etc. Care needs to be taken with potential GI issues as well as other potential side affects. Those on daily aspirin regimens should take care while taking this med. Another good link:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a681029.html
*takes off daughter of pharmacist hat...*
Hope this helps.
Phyl
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took nortriptilyne as sleep aid and it made me hungover in the mornings so stopped it ...Naprosyn hurt my stomach to the point I had to take other pills to counter the effects of it ... so didn't have luck with either ... but along this journey I have learned that there is no good answer to what will help you ... what works for one may not for another
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Thanks for the link Phyl,My dr prescribed Amnitryptline for sleep......he said to take as needed......i also take lorazepam but doesn't always work and i will go three or four nights in a row w/ veyr little sleep hich means major head pain,balance and ace neck and head spasms..Brain Wrecks...took an amnitryp last night slept good till about 5am and was awakened by the electrical noises coming from my head....actually got up and looked outside as i thought it was coming from my open bedroom window.....having extreme difficulty telling where the sound is really coming from.....kids paying out side will look for them in one direction and they are actually in the other.Not helping is the fact that my fiance is almost deaf in one ear and speaks low....so i talk he goes huh.....i say it again he just looks at me then i speak really loud and geta dirty look ;D
Goes back and forth huh?Huh?
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my husband talks low and even before surgery we did the huh thing ... now sometimes I just walk away when get irritated ... I tell him he can turn up his volume but I can't turn up my ear ...
the different sleep aids I have tried just make me goofy ... kinda disconnected feeling and get up looking for sounds that are in my head and not out in yard or somewhere in the house ... dazed and confused would be a good description ...
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Well I did get a headache yesterday but it was not as intense as usual so I'm still happy. So far so good today. I have been thinking about neck massages but thought I'd wait to see if the nortriptilyne is working. Syl, I'm happy you have found improvement with your headaches--it gives me hope that one day i won't need to be so dependent on medications. Phyl, thanks for the links--I'll definitely check those out. Thanks guys.
mll