Radiation treatment followed by migraine???

I didn’t have migraines with radiation treatments but I did have them with chemo. And then now just over a year over frontline treatment and in to me reoccurrence I’m in the middle of a migraine nightmare. Since before Christmas I have had a migraine with aura almost every day. I finally got in to my neurologist and he wants me to do a treatment of steroids to try to stop this nonsense. However, I’m a little leary of doing that because of all the other meds I’m on but I’m pretty desperate. I sometimes wonder if all this treatment is worth it because it leaves you so broken. Sorry, I’ve just really had a horrible few weeks and have my CT scan tomorrow. Sorry to hijack your post Nonik. My advice is to find a good neurologist ( not easy). When I called down to Penn they gave me an appointment on April 2. I’d have slit my wrists before then. Fortunately I got in to my old neurologist but he’s not very good. Get thee to a good neurologist. Have your oncologist intervene if necessary. 

CheeseQueen57 said:

Migraine

I didn’t have migraines with radiation treatments but I did have them with chemo. And then now just over a year over frontline treatment and in to me reoccurrence I’m in the middle of a migraine nightmare. Since before Christmas I have had a migraine with aura almost every day. I finally got in to my neurologist and he wants me to do a treatment of steroids to try to stop this nonsense. However, I’m a little leary of doing that because of all the other meds I’m on but I’m pretty desperate. I sometimes wonder if all this treatment is worth it because it leaves you so broken. Sorry, I’ve just really had a horrible few weeks and have my CT scan tomorrow. Sorry to hijack your post Nonik. My advice is to find a good neurologist ( not easy). When I called down to Penn they gave me an appointment on April 2. I’d have slit my wrists before then. Fortunately I got in to my old neurologist but he’s not very good. Get thee to a good neurologist. Have your oncologist intervene if necessary. 

Oh Cheesy, I'm sorry to hear that! I had a couple of bad headaches w/my chemo but nothing that approached migrane level. I also hope you can get Imatrex, my migrane-plauged friends swear it really helps. Please let us know what you find out, okay?

I can only take Imitrex 3x a week but what I do is break the pills in half.  My doctor has had me on Topamax which is a preventative.  I took it but it takes 3 months to work.  It gave me tingling in my fingers and toes.  Not good

MAbound said:

Migraines

I started suffering from migraines out of the blue about 6 months after my daughter was born and they are still a problem for me these days. Over time I've identified what often triggers them for me, but I can't always have control over them.

My triggers are eucolyptus, attar-based perfumes (as opposed to vanilla-based), dust, mold, tannins (like in wine and tea), weather changes, fatigue, and stress. Avoiding these as much as possible has had a real impact on my life, but any migraine sufferer will tell you they've contemplated suicide just to get the pain to stop, so becoming a bit of a recluse to avoid people who drench themselves in perfume (going to church is a real ordeal for me) doesn't seem so drastic.

When I feel a migraine coming on (they originate over my right eye like I'm being hit with a hammer there or at the back of my neck before reaching my right eye) I stop what I'm doing to lay down in a dark room with an ice bag on my head and a heating pad on the back of my neck. This was something I was told to do by an ER nurse in the middle of the night when these migraines first started and I was desperate for help and wanted my husband to take me to the hospital. It really works, but it has to be both together not one or the other.

Ibuprofen works for me if I recognise the onset quick enough, but I can go from fine to throwing up within 5 minutes, so I really have to recognize what's about to happen fast or the pill is just wasted. The worst headaches are always the ones that come on while I'm sleeping because it's usually too late for anything to fend the worst of it off by the time it wakes me up. Fiorinal (non-narcotic version) is the prescription drug I take after I throw up and it's been pretty effective for me for more than 30 years, but like the Ibuprofen it might not be an option for you because of the Afib you have.

A hot shower or bath sometimes helps when the migraine is due to a weather change. It never matters what kind of weather change it is, its the change that is the trigger for me.

Besides the ice/heating pad combo for some relief, I strongly recommend you keep track of what was going on or what you were exposed to when you get your migraines so you can hopefully get a handle on what your triggers are. You won't be able to do much about some of them, like stress and weather changes, but you may be able to limit exposure to others. 

I strongly suspect the onset of migraines was caused by my pregnancy and the hormonal changes that occurred with that. Lord knows this cancer and its treatment has an impact on our body chemistry and may be why you are having these now, too. You have my deepest sympathy and concern about what you are going through and I hope this helps you to cope with it a little bit. It is a breathtaking sort of pain compared to a regular headache, isn't it?

I second the idea of pregnancies and drastic treatments like chemo changing our body make ups permanently I have always had allergic asthma and after my pregnancy some of my seasonal allergies were alleviated. I am still allergic to dogs, cats, horses, oaks, eucalyptus, pine, grass, dust, dust mite etc etc. In fact we were very afraid of me having a reaction to Taxol since the raw material comes from a type of pine (Pacific Yew) though it is mostly synthetic now I think. My daughter is hoping that after chemo, my immune system will know what to fight with, the evil cancer cells, and I will no longer be allergic to dogs so finally we can have one We were visiting a friend when I was high on stereoids - the day after a chemo session - and was not bothered by the dog. I think that gave her the idea Googled to see if anyone experienced such an unexpected positive outcome. It seems mostly people have worse allergies after chemo. 

My mother in law has migraines. Like MABound she tries to understand what triggers her. She has figured out that dehydration is a big trigger for her. MSG in asian restaurants is another trigger. You would think that it would be easy to avoid that but we have fooled by eager hostesses a few times.