Holy crap, migraine from hades!
So earlier today, I had the WORST migraine. You know- the type where you are not sure if your brain will be smashed out through the back of your skull or if you will start vomiting first....Well, I had to go to work so on my way I stopped at as drug store to get something for it (i used to have a prescription but I have no insurance now...) I talked to the pharmacist to see if any of the migraine meds helped with the nausea associated with it. Unfortunately your not supposed to take them if you've ever had stomach bleeding (which I have because I accidentally ripped a large hole in it one day...) I didn't care if it was bad for my stomach though cause I was in so much pain I couldn't think strait. So I didnt even THINK to ask if it was vegan. So I took the bus the rest of the way to work and stumbled in. Took the meds and then tried very hard to sit still and not start crying because that would only make it worse.
But then I started vomiting. yeah, it really hurts to puke when you feel like your head is about to fall off. I must have already absorbed the Advil Migraine though, cause it calmed down a bit about a half hour after that.
When I regained consciousness I read the bottle (which I was not able to read before) And it turns out there is GELATIN in it.Gelatin is not even vegetarian...never mind vegan. So, I'm not really sure what I should take...cause I'm allergic to almost every strong pain med I know of (like deathly allergic) to codeine, perkiest,vicodine,tegritol...the whole family.
and NO...a little extra-strength aspirin will NOT help. So, what can I take? I can't be getting another bout of migraines- I work two full-tiem jobs (in addition to running the chicken rescue) I cant just hibernate for the day....
While I'm asking, what other meds arnt vegan? I mean, I know that the majority of them were cruelly tested on animals but it seems that practice is so widespread that I cant do much to stop my fiscal support in those areas.... :'( whats a vegan to do?
Aww. I'm sorry you didn't feel well. Migraines suck. Don't beat yourself up about the Advil. I understand about not being able to give your body the rest it wants. I have a household to run, meals to prepare, three children (6, 3, and 4 mos.) to take care of, and a husband to keep in line ;) (not really, but you know what I mean.) When I'm not feeling well, I have to keep moving anyway, so if I really can't deal with it on my own (and I usually do) I just grab whatever is in the cabinet that most closely matches what I need. I don't take medicines often at all so I never think to check the veganness of anything until I need it. By then, I just have to do what I need to do to keep going. Sorry I don't know about this stuff.
I'm quite windy and useless tonight.
i know how ya feel. past few days ive had headaches in the afternoon/evening. yesterday i took 2 ibruprofren and it didnt help anything. i just got rid of the nausea earlier by eating something other than cheeseits.
I am SO sorry you had do deal with that! I used to have migraines fairly frequently (like 2-3 times a month) until recently. Since I started practicing yoga regularly and paying closer attention to what I eat, I don't get them very often. HOWEVER...when I do have one, it hits like a truck! I have always refused prescription medicine for migraines, but when I get a really bad one, I eat Excedrin Migraine like candy. I don't know what is worse...prescription or occasionally binging on over-the-counter. Anyway. I may not be much help. I don't currently have any Excedrin in the house, so I don't know if it is vegan or not. I do know that it doesn't have the coating that Advil does...I think that is where the gelatin is. Hope you feel better! Migraines are so awful...and I never feel like people who don't get them can understand that it isn't "just a headache."
with me i usually dont take that much. also i usually only take whatever we have when the pain gets to bad. most of the time i dont get migraines but i think ive had one for the past few days and merrick screaming didnt help either yesterday. i know that we live with jason that im going to have to get used to very little lights. he gets migraines when hes been around too many bright lights all day. for some weird reason he sees infrared (sp?) and they dont know y either.
Having suffered from migraines for like 35 yrs, I have about tried it all. I don't even mess with OTCs because they are known to cause rebound headaches and when I stopped taking all of them, my migraines went down by two-thirds! However, now I only have the killer kind. I sometimes forget that when my left eye is blurry that is an aura, not a dirty contact lens, ummm like now. Sometimes the first clue I get is that I feel very nauseated and like I am going to hurl, then the head hurts. Anyway...as I have no insurance either, I try what Joan Borysenko, PhD suggests. She says that migraine sufferers have "spiritual conduits" and to "listen" when you get a migraine. Her listening is not trying to ignore it, but rather to focus on it. The mind doesn't have an unlimited amount of focusing ability and is easily bored. So if you pay close attention to the headache and think, in words, what it feels like, you end up boring yourself out of a lot of pain. Sounds dumb, I know, but it can make a killer migraine more manageable and makes the small ones disappear.
So...does it feel sharp, dull, hot, cold, thobbing or constant. I like to think about what color it feels like and flow with that for a while too. Pretty soon, trying to concentrate on the exact feeling of the headache, it decreases. I also trend to turn the part of my head that hurts in the direction of the sun and as close to uppermost as I can like a flower trying to receive a message from the sun and then relax as much as I can so that my neck doesn't tense up and make it all worse.
I know, it sounds really hokey, but I find it works most of the time. I figure, anything that will help outside of the Ultram or Vicodin I once had to take to knock one. Given that mine begin in the wee hours of the morning during sleep, stuff like Imitrex and Amerge were completely useless. NOthing like a pounding migraine to interrupt a perfectly decent night of sleep and for the above, I don't even have to get out of bed.
migraines and other chronic headaches can be fixed by going to a chiropractor a coup0le times a month. if you don't have insurance you can almost always find a doctor with a sliding fee scale. (i had a doctor that only charged me 100 dollars a month when i was supposed to be seeing him twice a week). and i know i've posted about chiropractic before, and this is a vegan website, so you folks probably already know most of this, but honestly, when i am seeingn a chiropractor regularly, i never have headaches, my periods are more bearable, and i never get sick.
It sounds like your prescription is just extra-strength advil (ibuprofen), in which case you can just get OTC ibuprofen without the gelatin. Sometimes migraine meds also have caffeine (it helps headaches, though too much too often can cause withdrawal headaches ), so you could also drink tea or coffee... or heck, chocolate.
I've had migraines (not regularly), and they're never as intense as I hear some other people having them (hallucinations, nausea, etc), but caffeine always helps for me.
Caffeine helps me too. I down some strong coffee and that usually cures it.
Im feeling much better today. Yesterday I had a minor one, but not as bad as teh day before! The med I used to be on was called depakote...adn it wotked to make it so teh migrains wouldnt come int eh first place...for breakthrough ones Id usually stay at home crying in bed...this was in highschool....
Well, hopefully I wont have to worry about it for a while again, but Im gonna start looking aroud for other options...and hay, mexico is only 45 minuets away....
I can totally "feel" your pain. I've been getting them since puberty and in the last 4-5 years have been getting them sometimes 4 times a week. I can't take any triptane drugs (Imitrex, etc) so I was prescribed Midrin (basically super, super strong Tylenol), a muscle relaxer and two preventatives (Topamax and Lyrica). I've also found that an ice pack works wonders in bringing a migraine under control. It helps constrict the flaring nerve. When I've been away from home I've resorted to holding a cup of ice to my head. Although if you do that expect to get strange looks. One time I almost wasn't allowed on my flight home because the ticket agent saw me do that. lol But my philosophy is do what you have to do....because I'd rather look ridiculous than be sick to my stomach and be in pain.
Chocolate, cheese, wine, and orange juice are well-known migraine triggers for those who are sensitive.
Since you posted about your chocolate-strawberry incident, and this happened so soon after, it seems likely that you have this sensitivity, and that's what set it off.
The gelatin in the med was probably the gel-cap. Sometimes you can call the manufacturer and ask them, and it is safe (tho sometimes not tasty) to squeeze the gel out of the cap and take it on a spoon, in a veggie-cap, or in some liquid. It doesn't make up for the gelatin being there, but you don't have to ingest it that way. (Be sure to check, some meds aren't safe, or don't work that way)