Migraines POST RNY?

I had the absolute worst headache of my life last night.  It started right around dinnertime, and by around 7:30 I was completely incapacitated.  I took 2 tylenol extra strength, but they did nothing for it.  All I could do was lie in bed in the darkness, in complete silence.  I eventually fell asleep and after about 4 hours sleep, felt a bit better.  I went back to bed shortly after waking (since it was after midnight) and this morning I am feeling much better. 

I imagine that this is what migraine sufferers deal with, but I've never had a migraine before in my life.  Has anyone had this happen post-op, when they didn't suffer from migraines previously?  If so, what are your triggers?  Thinking back on yesterday I was pretty busy at work, and was a bit late having my afternoon snack - could that have caused it?

Also, what do you recommend taking for the pain?  My previous go-to for any type of headache was advil, but I can't take that now.  My husband was pushing me to take the tylenol with caffeine that we have, but I was hesitant because I haven't had caffeine since before surgery, so didn't want it to make things worse! 

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Basically, you did what I would have done.  I still get headaches, but really try to take Tylonal when they first start to get them under control.  I have had to take Advil since WLS (Dr. approved) but it's really rare, and I've only done it when I really needed it, and only one dose when I did.  There is a Tylenol Ultra, not sure if it would hel*****t.

As for triggers, each person is different.  You mention that you were busy, the later snack wouldn't cause the headache, but if you didn't get your water in yesterday, that can cause nasty headaches.  I've had a few of those.  I try to hydrate extra after that.

Good luck, hope you don't have a repeat performance.

Cathy

Thanks, Cathy!  You are probably right about the water.  I did a good job of hydrating on Monday after noticing I was a bit dehydrated, but yesterday I had a bunch of meetings so noticed I didn't go through my water quite as quickly.  I will make sure to get back on track with that today! 

I do have the Tylenol Ultra (with caffeine), so next time I might try that to see if it takes the edge off.  Although I'm also hoping I don't have a repeat performance!

I was a migraine sufferer before surgery. I do miss my Aleve, but I think i've only had three migraines since surgery (almost two years, and I would get them 2-3 times a month). I have taken Tylenol, with caffiene (I never stopped caffeine, wasn't told to), and i've taken Tylenol for migraines and Tylenol 3. Of course the last one worked the best :-)

It's great to hear that you get migraines less often now.  I'm really hoping this was a fluke and I'm not going to start getting them after surgery.  I think we're allowed to start adding back caffeine at my stage - I just wasn't sure if the tylenol with caffeine would make it worse!  I'll definitely try that next time, as the extra strength gave no relief.  I don't have any T3's, but I do have percosets left over from surgery - probably not a great idea to take those, though!

Did it just feel like a really bad headache, or did you have other neurological symptoms, like sensitivity to light and sound, and feel nauseated, like you might vomit? If not, it may not have been a migraine, and just a really bad, painful headache. I am a migraine sufferer and actually use a combination of advil and percocet to manage them, as prescribed my my neurologist. I had a DS in part because of my need to take NSAIDs for my migraines are they are the best treatment for them, but sometimes they aren't enough, which is why my doc prescribed the percocet. Since you are unable to take NSAIDs, I would recommend taking two extra strength tylenol with caffeine or a caffeinated beverage at the first sign of the headache/migraine. Hopefully this will be enough. If you have no relief after 4 hours, take a percocet. Never take percocet and tylenol at the same time though, as you could cause an accidental overdose of acetaminophen which is very toxic. I hope it doesn't happen again! Keeping on schedule with hydration and meals goes a long way for me for prevention.

Hi Pat,

I did have quite a bit of sensitivity to light/sound, and also felt nauseated.  The good news is I was able to fall asleep after just taking Tylenol, so perhaps it wasn't quite to the level of a migraine headache (as I've heard that the pain from those can be so bad that you can't sleep without major pain meds). 

Thanks for the tip on the caffeine - I will give that a try next time for sure!  I will also try to keep more to my schedule of water and food, no matter how busy I am.  It's not worth suffering the pain afterwards!  Thanks also for the tip on the percoset - I forgot that it was acetaminophen based. 

Julia

I am a migraine sufferer, and I can tell you that most of my migraines are triggered by changes in the weather and atmospheric pressure.  It's been particularly bad over the last few days.  In fact, today is the first day I haven't had a headache in five days.  Everyone I know in the area (Ottawa) who suffer from headaches and migraines have had massive ones!  Don't know about your area...but I would bet it has something to do with that! 

That is a very good point - here in the GTA there have been some pretty wicked swings in temperature over the last few days.  I wonder why it would start to affect me post-op when it never did pre-op, but the body can be a crazy thing!  Thanks for posting!

I get less migraines post RNY than I did pre - RNY.

I medicate with one of : tylenol (over the counter) or tramacet (prescription). I find tramacet gives me less side effects than the coedine based painkillers.