My Body is not Living up to its Fabulous Reputation

My body is not living up to its fabulous reputation as a drug tolerant machine.  It seems two Aleve twice a day is a bit much.  I didn't feel well.  Nausea, upset stomach.  

My neck was doing so much better.  Well, maybe not that much better but it was improving and so was my back.

So I had an Aleve holiday or two, and I am building back up to two, maybe three pills a day.  I just need more Skelaxin.   

I had an Aleve this morning, one yesterday late in the day and I am about to take a Skelaxin.  Maybe an Aleve too.

Of course there is the possibility that my stomach has become as "twitchy" as my neck; and I'm just way too sensitive.

I'm a little leery of taking too much of the Skelaxin since it has side effects too.  Headache, I think is one of them. 

Déjà vu all over again (to steal a phrase)

It's been a while since I reported on the state of my headache and twitchy neck pain, so I thought I would describe the current state of the issue.

I'm taking two Aleve in the AM and two in the PM which takes care of a lot of the neck problem, but it moved the headache up to the crown of my head, and I feel sharp bits of pain on the sides of my head.

Rather like a miniature whip, you feel the ouch and then it's gone. 

I asked my doctor if he would be willing to prescribe Skelaxin, since that takes care of the problem temporarily, and he did.  I now have enough that I can take as much of it as I need, instead of carefully parceling it out so that it will average one pill a day.

I remember when this small disaster began back in the summer of 2009, I was taking 4 Aleve a day,  4 Skelaxin on the side and in the evening 3 Carisoprodol (Soma) spread throughout the night as I woke up from the pain.

Things are much better now, but sometimes I forget to take the Aleve in the AM (or PM) and I wonder afterwards if I took it.  It's not a good idea to give myself a double dose, so I let it go and take the next one on schedule (if I remember).  

But considering that I will be feeling it by then, that's not such a problem.

Let's Jiggle the Dosages

I sent my doctor an email that described the schedule of the 3 Aleve I take a day and saying that the headache comes back later in the day. 

I mentioned that I was about to take a Skelaxin and asked him if he had a better alternative?

He replied  and suggested that I up the dose of Aleve in the afternoon and cautioned me against taking more than 4 or 5 in a day.   He asked me to let him know how that worked out.  

He also wanted to know how the Skelaxin was working.

So far I can say, except for being drugged all the time, the Aleve several times a day has been the most relief that I have felt.  My headaches are there later in the day, maybe from mid afternoon on, but I'm feeling much better than I did when all I relied on was the Skelaxin.

The Aleve helps with what I think is arthritis in a couple of fingers of each hand, swelling in my left hand has gone down since I have been taking it.

It's also nice not to need so much Skelaxin. 

Skelaxin and alcohol are contra-indicated, although I'm not sure if death is a side effect of that interaction. I will be able to have a glass of wine.  Or a shot of whiskey at some indeterminant  time in the future.

My limits even then are severe.  Half a glass of wine, and perhaps a thimble of whiskey.  Not much.

Maybe I should

I have been thinking that I should change the name of my blog to "My Secret Headache" although the headache is more or less from the cancer, and aftermath. So it is appropriate that I talk about it here.

As per my headache status:  I've been going with the three Aleve a day now for several days, and yes I still have a headache. My neck muscles don't have the nasty twitchiness that they used to, and I don't have the direct muscle pain that I had at the back of my head, but the headache is still there, only it seems to be from different muscles being irritated.

It has a character that seems more like what I imagine a tension headache would be.

I'm not entirely sure if the nausea I have been feeling off and on the last few days is from bad food choices or the Aleve.

Half of a really serious pain killer has the effect of staying with me the next day and slowing me down, so I don't like that.  The Skelaxin, although it's not as useful as it used to be at least takes the pain away and leaves my head functional for work.

I have asked my family doctor to manage my headache at least until I can get into the Headache Institute where I hope I will get some relief.  He tells me there are options; which is what I think I need. 

Some Good News

I stumbled on something that has been very helpful.  I started taking Aleve throughout the day.  One in the AM, one in the mid afternoon and one before I go to bed.  That seems to be enough to get rid of the really bad headaches.  I have been doing this for several days now, and It's been working.

The headaches don't go away but they are much more tolerable.  Small bits and pieces of pain instead of the feeling that I've been whacked in the back of the head.

I haven't dealt with a lot of stress yet, so I don't know how that will affect it, but so far so good.

I should be overjoyed, but I don't want to jinx it.