Hey! Hey!
Salut! Ciao! Hola! Kon’nichiwa! I mean it’s only fair now that my headache has gone international that I start caring for such countries. Unfortunately, that’s all I (and google translate) have at the moment, but I’ll work on it (maybe)!
For those who are new here, hey! I’m Lucy. A 28-year-old who has been something of a medical mystery for over 12 years now. For some reason, my body likes collecting chronic conditions like they’re Pokemon! Whilst I can think of greater things to be achieving in my 20s, if some good can come from me yapping about my experiences then I’d say that’s a win!
The main event …
If you are up to speed on the last episode, you will be aware I have embarked on a journey as the resident guinea pig with the hope of achieving some sort of symptomatic relief in the interim. If you are not up to speed, shame on you and go read I enjoy walking Camden markets in the afternoon first!
Exhausted from the outing to London, the extent of my adventures the following day was to the pharmacy in order to collect my lengthy private prescription. Having seen the amount of items prescribed, it’s safe to say that the staff in the pharmacy shared my (lack of) enthusiasm levels about being there.
I’m going to need a pay rise …
After clarifying that I would in fact have to pay for this prescription, she proceeded to price up each item requested by my neurologist. Although, I’d be lying if I wasn’t confused for a split second when the words “you do know you’ve got to pay for this” left her mouth because its not exactly like NHS prescriptions are free!
All priced up, one of the lovely ladies crept (literally) over to me, whispered that it was would be £64 and looked apologetically as if she’d just broke me the worst news of my life. In fairness, it definitely ruined my day, so I almost appreciated the apologetic look.
Unfortunately, I do not possess the ability to keep my internal thoughts inside my head and apparently thought the appropriate response in that exact moment was “As long as I can get a refund if they don’t work.” I can confirm that I was the only person that found my comment funny …
Side effect central …
Later that evening, it was time to take my new and increased dose of the Pizotifen medication. Up to this point I had been on 1.5mg for roughly a month with no benefits or side effects. However, my lovely neurologist had explained that the fact I was experiencing meant I was not on a high enough dose of yet.
The side effects I was prepared for were drowsiness and stimulation of my appetite (something she was almost hoping would happen given the malnutrition concerns). As for the side effects listed on the information leaflet, I had a quick skim over the rare side effects and then discarded it nonchalantly.
About 45 minutes after taking the dose, I started to feel a bit drowsy so it was back off to bed I went. The following morning I awoke from what was possibly the deepest sleep of my life (minus the sleep I had under general anaesthetic) completely disorientated.
As I attempted to get out of bed, I definitely still felt drowsy. I also felt very spaced out, quite like I was floating and a lot like a zombie (or at least what I imagined a zombie would feel like given I don’t have personal experience of feeling like an actual zombie). One hoped that these side effects would wear off pretty quickly, but of course that was not the case. Instead, I found myself still behaving as if I had taken some sort of legal high by the time it came to take my next dose.
Triptan roulette …
Heavily intoxicated (or whatever the appropriate term is) with Pizotifen side effects, I turned my attention to the Rizatriptan that had been staring me down for several days. Now, for anybody who has never had the misfortune of playing the triptan roulette, allow me to paint a bit of a picture for you!
The triptan family of medications are normally prescribed to treat migraine attacks by narrowing the blood vessels in the brain. They are supposed to be taken at the onset of the migraine with the hope of shutting it down before it becomes a full-blown attack. Now, obviously my headache in question is not a migraine, but as there was no response to any “mainstream” pain medications she suggested we give it a go and see because there was nothing to lose (again, I wholeheartedly consented to this knowing we were entering unknown territory).
In an ideal world …
In an ideal world, it was hoped that if I took the Rizatriptan roughly 30 minutes before reaching the point where the pain is too much and I need to lie down then it would delay this point and allow me to be semi-functional for a bit longer. As I say, this is in an ideal world.
Now, historically, I had tried the use of another triptan when my original headache disorder was undiagnosed. This particular triptan went by the name of sumatriptan and taking it would worsen the headache before knocking me out for a few hours and then waking up back at my baseline level of pain. Therefore, I was more than aware that taking a triptan would have one of four outcomes:
- Medication helps symptoms and there are no side effects.
- Medication helps symptoms but there are side effects.
- Medication doesn’t help the symptoms and there are no side effects.
- Medications doesn’t help the symptoms but there are side effects.
Place your bets now …
Now, I’m giving you this particular sentence to place your bets on which of these four categories I fell into. Placed your bet? Brilliant because here comes the answer …
Category 4. Of course I fell into category 4. If you are sporting a pretend surprised expression, it’s okay you can drop it. So, what exactly happened when I took the triptan?
Hitting the side effect jackpot …
The first thing that happened about half an hour after taking it was my vision went fuzzy around the edges. This was it. I knew now we, and by we I mean I, was about to embark on the rollercoaster journey that is losing the triptan roulette. Lying down (so instantly defeating the purpose of trialling the medication), I then started to feel really nauseous and for someone who is constantly nauseous this is a bold claim.
In fact, I even had my bin in position because there was no way I was making it to the bathroom when my body inevitably decided to throw up the remnants of this rizatriptan. Next came the headache. I know, I know she already has a headache is what you are thinking, and you would be correct. The only positive (using that term very loosely) to my leaky spine headache is its resolution upon lying down flat.
This rizatriptan induced headache was not as considerate. To say I felt like I had been whacked around the back of my head with a baseball bat would be an absolute understatement. Pair this with attempting to sit upright and I swear I saw another universe flash before my eyes.
Think we are done? Think again …
So yeah, we were currently racking up vision problems, nausea and a headache. this tablet couldn’t throw anything else at me could it? Apparently it could!
What followed Included neck pain, stomach pains, jaw pain and whole body aches. I’m sure there were possibly more but by the point I was out of it and literally rolling around in a combination of pain and hysteria! After roughly 3 hours, the triptan nap finally hit me and I was out of it.
I believe it was a good 4 hours, but it could have been 40 hours for all I remember! When I did eventually wake up, I was experiencing what shall henceforth be known as the triptan hangover. We were now at least 7 hours since consuming this tiny but deadly tablet and it was still thriving inside my system. I was (apparently) stringing sentences together in a way that would be expected of someone who had taken something illegal (I promise I hadn’t), but to be honest I don’t really remember what I said.
Verdict? Never again …
It genuinely wasn’t until the following morning that I started to feel slightly more with it, but I think it was safe to assume there were still some Pizotifen side effects tampering with my bodily systems. When I did return to planet Earth, I was naturally more annoyed by the fact a large portion of my £64 prescription was now redundant and non-refundable. Grudges aside, it was safe to assume I would not be placing a rizatriptan tablet into my body, or any triptan for that matter again.
It was like the real life hunger games and the odds were very much not in my favour!
It could only happen to me!
X O X O,
Your favourite headache!
Ask me what I learned from all those years ~ Karma, Taylor Swift, Midnights
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