Secondly, does anyone know where I can get any information regarding Lyme getting worse due to a trauma, ie. a car accident?

I get cluster headaches. Something I suffered with well before Lyme.

There are differant types of medications.

You may want to try Imetrex nose spray. It works well but is considered to be very strong and is only given to people who do not have a history of addiction. Some Dr.'s still back away from it.

If you can tell a migraine is coming on you can try Maxalt. It is a disolving tablet.

Also, look at all the herbs and vitamins that you are taking.

Some of these may be causing your migraines. Black walnut and cat's claw can be triggers.

It you are taking a multivitamin check to see if there is B6/B12. The B vitamins can cause headaches.

I have heard that the antibiotic Rifampin is very effective at treating infections that involve migraine headaches. I would suggest discussing a trial with your LLMD.

Keep on, keepin' on!

This is probably a long shot but , have you looked at your diet as a cause of your headaches?

I had headaches for years until I discovered that dairy was the culprit.

The most common foods that give people trouble are: dairy, egg, wheat, peanut, soy, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish.

I can relate to face pain, head pain, ear pain, TMJ, etc.

I use RX Elavil in low dose which is an old anti-depressant, but used widely for pain now. It makes the pain go away. It does not cover up the pain. Get the cheap generic.

I've taken Percocet from my Dentist which masks the pain. In an hour or so, the pain is worse than before I took something. I have to take something for the underlying inflammation which is Motrin with snack & then some Elavl.

If I still have leftover pain the next day, I use as low a dose of Elavil as I can. I treat until all pain is gone. If I go to bed in pain then I'll wake up in pain.

My Elavil is 10 mg. tablets. The RX says 1 to 2 tablets. I have a pill cutter to use as needed.

I also take Elavil 10 mg. to sleep & to have restorative sleep. If I don't sleep hard, I'm a super neuro mess.

I've taken Elavil intermittently since the eary 90s. From what I remember, Elavil takes the brain through all phases of sleep.

Sleep is important to keep your pain at a minimum.

Take Care
Jan

There are some foods I can tolerate occasionally but if I eat them too often then they trigger a migraine (blue cheese, eggplant, sesame...

I learned which foods caused my headaches over a long period of time. Whenever I would get a headache I woould look back over everything I had eaten and eventually the patterns became very clear. Preservatives like potassium sorbate, sodim benzoate etc.in bread, tortillas, sour cream... were triggering migraines every time I ate out.

I also need to keep my coffee intake under control. If I feel a headache coming on a cup of coffee actually helps stop it.

The other thing that helped enormously is going to the chiropractor regularly. If I start feeling "headachy" I go right away. For me this prevents a full blown migraine from developing.

I've gotten my migraines down from several a week to 1 or 2 year just by avoiding the triggers.

Since getting Lyme I'm on the anti yeast diet and have not had any headaches.

Good luck being a detective.
h&s

Do you get a feeling headaches are pretty common among Lyme patients ?

My cocktail:

At the first sign that a bad headache in coming on I take one Phenergan. It helps a little with headaches but I take it to start calming my tummy (from nausea).

Then, about 20 minutes later I take the Imitrex nasal spray.

If the headache is still going strong, I take one Demerol.

If after all that, and several hours have passed and the pain is still progressing, I take one Toradol 60mg. intramuscular injection.

Usually if the headache goes that far it is one of those combination/cluster headaches from the h-e-double-hockey-stick place. The Toradol works on those 99% of the time for me.

Also, getting in the shower, sitting down, and letting warm water run on my face,neck, and back of my head helps relax me until the meds kick in.

I know a good pain doc if you can come to San Diego. For that matter, he may know of someone is your area. Would you like me to ask? Just e-mail me at [email protected].

I've taken Vicodin for the headaches before and that seems to help more than the Maxalt but I'm afraid to ask for such strong meds. I think it would be great for me to find a doctor to deal with all the pain issues. Anyone know of anyone in eastern MA or RI (I'm near Cape Cod, MA)?

I'll look into the Imitrex nasal spray and see if it would cause the same side effects that the oral Imitrex was causing. And I'll try to speak up about the pain at my next LLMD visit in a few weeks.

--Annie

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Ive had intense, toxic feeling migraines for years. And, before I knew what was really ailing me, I used to take a double-dose (800mg) of Ibuprofen at the onset and that used to take care of it. (My MD suggested I do this)

When that no longer worked (and later I totally couldn't take it anymore from the stomach pain, but that took years - about 10) - then I started taking Codeine/acetaminophen on prescription - strong ones. They helped which was great, and made me feel "happy", but on the other hand after a while they gave me stomach cramps and itching on my back all the time - so I had to give it up also. I think I used to just take too much too often of these things due to the pain and frequency of these headaches........

.........So, I understand where you're comign from and if you're not already, the above mentioned drugs might help you.

Another thing I used for a while, until it also had no more effect for me, was feverfew drops........later acupuncture. Both worked, but after a while didn't work any more.

So, now I am only "allowed" to take acetaminophen, which doesn't do much. So, what I do now, and the only choices I'm left with really is that, plus I use Chinese White Flower Oil - if you can get a hold of any at a Chinese Grocery store, this does help to take the edge off the pain. It has a cooling effect and really helps me (along with lying down in the dark with a bag of frozen peas on my head sometimes).

I should mention, that since I started Mepron in July, I've had virtually none of these headaches after years of them being chronic. So, once you treat the Babs, it might go away or get much better.

DLL

I have CFIDS and used to get horrible headaches that would start in the back of my neck and then work their way up over the top of my head. I take imipramine (tricyclic antidepressant) daily to keep these away.

I noticed that you talk about a car accident, but I am not sure that this reference is about you... I found that if I get a really bad headache (starting in the back of my neck) that using heating pads and massage helps. I never would have gone to a chiropractor... until I found that they can also relieve this type of headache. Try stretching exercises for your neck...

I wish you the best

You can also try a new product, called mangosteen. It works great for migraines! http://www.onmangosteendaily.com/go