Sorry, I've been away for a while -- a bit longer than two months, to be precise.
So where were we?
I'd just had a bad headache and as usual, I had put off using medicine I knew would work because I dreaded the side effects so much.
I've been a bit more pragmatic since then. December was not a great month in my head, but I dealt with it more effectively -- I took medicine when I needed to and while I didn't avoid all pain, I didn't spend any days in bed moaning in agony.
I also gave Excedrin Migraine a try. It works, but the side effects, while different than Maxalt, are still unpleasant. For one thing, there's a shit load of caffiene in that stuff. I try not to take it after 4 or 5 p.m., because I can't fall asleep. Also it upsets my tummy and generally makes me feel a little cruddy (I've never dealt well with caffiene -- it's what's kept me from getting addicted to coffee or Coca-cola) But I did use it a few days when I was at work and needed to be alert.
I'd been trying an herb called butterbur, which I thought maybe was helping, but since I still ended up using harsh medicines about nine times, in retrospect, perhaps it wasn't working that well after all.
But toward the end of the month I got an email from someone who claimed to be a doctor and offered to send me a free trial of a medication he had developed. Dr. Steve Roberts is his name. I wasn't sure what to think. I checked out his Web site and did a little searching around on the Internet about him, and there was indeed a Dr. Steve Roberts who appeared to be a reputable migraine expert and this seemed to be one and the same as the one who contacted me. I figured he either found this blog or found me on one of a number of migraine forums where I have posted questions.
I figured chances were slight that he was a psycho out there looking to poison people, and since the ingredient listed in his concotion didn't appear to be anything that could harm me, I thought, 'what have I got to lose?'
So I said, 'Sure. Send me the stuff.'
It's called Banjo. Here's the link with more information:
http://drstevesbanjo.com
When I got it, I was still a bit nervous about it, so it took me a couple of days to start with it, but then by the third day I was feeling a bit headachy, so I jumped in. I did not end up getting having a migraine or even a headache that day.
I had a pretty decent January, all in all. I had two times when I succumbed to Maxalt. Dr. Steve (who has been very accessible and responsive) asked me if I took two of the lozenges when I began to have the headache and I don't believe I did. In any case, going from nine to two in a month is a good sign (although I have had good months before). So, I'm cautiously optimistic.
I am going to keep using Banjo and see what happens. I would really like to have my life back from the migraine monster.
