RE: Headaches

Ellen Wilson (Pumpkin_Ridge(AT)msn.com)
Sat, 9 Aug 97 21:41:51 UT

Apparently a lot of us have had migraines since TM.... I used to have them a
lot more frequently before I started taking Nortriptyline. I'm taking it to
releave muscle spasms, which I used to have nearly constantly. My own theory
about the migraines doesn't have doctor approval (all of them have kind of
looked at me funny when I asked about it, though my neurologist said I might
be right). But here's what I think: I think when I have more muscle tension
and spasms in my back, the tension level rises up my back until it reaches my
shoulders and neck, then I start getting the warning signs of the oncoming
headache. If I can stop then and go lie down in the dark with a heating pad
on my shoulders and neck, I can stop it. Particularly if I can get the muscle
spasms to quit in my back.

I mentioned that I had headaches a lot more frequently before I started taking
Nortriptyline. Recently, I got stung by a wasp and had an allergic reaction.
I had to stop taking the Nortriptyline for several days after I got a steriod
shot for the sting and three days after I quit taking Nortriptyline, I had a
migraine again. I've had several headaches since then, but am getting back to
normal again now. So whether I have any medical backing on the theory, it
works for me. And I do get the full fledged migraines with auras around
bright things and nausea and everything. They used to lay me out for two
days, too.

It surely won't hurt anything to try to get your back to relax before it gets
tight all the way up.... Getting in a hot bath works best for me. Plus you
can have bubbles or bath oil or something and make it more of a luxury/rest
stop kind of thing and that always feels better than more "treatment" of the
medical kind.

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