Don't Back Down

I really try not to take too many medications, mostly because I've had pretty bad luck with them. I don't know how others look at medications, but I believe that most people probably don't look at over-the-counter medications as a problem. Unfortunately I have allergies, and a couple of years ago I just could not shake a cold, so I ended up taking just about anything I could get my hands on (legal items, thankyouverymuch). By that I mean I was looking for any sort of decongestant to provide some sort of relief.

In the end, I found out that decongestants could have a bad interaction with Dilantin, but not before having at least one seizure that we could attribute to it. Now that's not to say that a decongestant by itself can cause seizures. I don't think that they can. I also don't take Dilantin any more, and I don't know that decongestants cause problems with Zonegran. But it certainly made me gun-shy, you know?

I've mentioned before that I take Claritin (not Claritin-D), and it generally does a good job of keeping things clear. It really sucks if I do get congested, because I have to mostly wait for it to clear up again, since I'm so paranoid about taking a decongestant. But one of the side effects is that I can get a pounding headache - which may or may not be related to the congestion. It may just be that I'm concerned about what's going to happen next.

I don't think that I ever really had migraines before, but I certainly feel like I've been getting them lately. Not lately as in the last few days, but lately as in the last couple of years. I certainly had a few headaches here and there, but now I feel like I have headaches pretty regularly, and every few weeks or months I get a whopper that just makes me completely useless. I'll end up being able to do nothing at all.

I understand that people who have migraines have problems with light. Light always bother me. Not just any light, but really bright light. I so prefer the dark. It's just much more soothing to me. And I also understand that nausea can be a problem. This usually isn't an issue with my headaches, but there have been a couple in the last year or so - including one just last night - where I felt like I was going to throw up (nothing ever came, I just felt like it).

Anyway, to the point. The only thing I've been taking is Ibuprofen. It's like the only thing that works. Regular old aspirin used to do a decent job, but the doctor warned me away from it. And as you know, Naproxen and I don't do so well. I've tried some migraine medicines, but most of them seem to have caffeine in them, and I think that caffeine makes my headaches worse, not better. So I guess it's just me and my Ibuprofen.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?