Got up this morning feeling fine (or as good as it gets these days) and within a short time I was dizzy and feeling like I would faint, and nauseous. Typical feelings of an attack for me. I had already taken my morning Lysine and so I took half a Meclizine and crawled back in bed. Have slept most of the day other than eating some toast mid morning and taking my Acyclovir. Just got up now to take more lysine and seem to be doing a little better. I'm so bummed! I was at 82 days vertigo free for the first time in over 18 months. Now I'm trying to figure out what happened. So far the only thing I can think of is I was feeling so good I started adding a few pecans into my yogurt. I take 3000 mg of lysine a day and thought that would offset the arginine. Other than that had some fresh strawberries with a little cool whip last night for a snack. We're leaving in a couple of days to visit our daughter in Jersey for the 4th. Not a good time to be sick!
Sorry to hear that did you get vertigo or just a little dizzy? Sometimes I find the sugar bothers me more than anything Maybe too much sugar or allergies which are very bad for all lot of People this time of year feel better
Pecans and strawberries have more arginine than lysine BUT I know I have mentioned this to you I feel you may have MAV as well and yogurt, nuts, strawberries are all MAV trigger foods, you might have gone over your threshold with these that caused your attack. http://www.drpodell.org/migraine-diets-nj.shtml Food and Diet Triggers That All Migraineurs Should Avoid: •Nitrites, a preservative added to hot dogs, bacon, lox, salami, bologna and other luncheon meats. Look for nitrite and nitrate free processed meats. •Salt – High sodium diets tend to provoke migraine. •Chocolate •Alcohol, of any kind but especially red wine. •MSG or monosodium glutamate, a commonly used preservative especially in soups, and in Chinese food. •Migraine clinic doctors often report migraine diet problems from citrus fruits, dried fruit (including raisins), nuts, peanuts, high yeast foods such as sourdough or home–made breads, cheeses (especially hard or stinky cheeses; ricotta and cream cheese are okay), sauerkraut and other aged foods, ripe avocado, ripe banana, yogurt and buttermilk, raspberries, plums, onions, Worcestershire or Teriyaki sauce. migraine diet alertA double blind study found that a special immune test called IgG RAST helped spot migraine food triggers. Avoiding these foods reduced migraine attacks by 30%. IgG RAST is more effective for migraine than either standard allergy blood tests (called IgE RAST). It's also more effective than allergy skin tests. Source: Cephalgia, vol 30, p 829, 2010. Most migraine doctors and Headache Clinics recommend avoiding migraine diet triggers which are rich in the amino acid Tyramine. For many headache clinics this is a standard migraine treatment. Other headache doctors and migraine clinics are less concerned. Foods high in Tyramine include: aged or blue cheese, yogurt, smoked, cured or pickled meat or fish, red wine or beer, soy sauce, miso, and tempeh. Most headache clinics prefer migraine diets that also avoid foods high in the amino acid, phenylethylamine. These migraine diet triggers include: cheesecake, yellow cheeses, chocolate, citrus fruit, cocoa, berry pie filling or canned berries, and red wine. Other migraine treatments avoid foods that are high in histamine. These migraine diet treatments avoid most prominently banana as well as beef, pork, beer, cheese (especially yellow ripened cheese), chicken, liver, eggplant, fish, shellfish, processed meat such as salami, sauerkraut, tempeh, tofu, miso, tamari, spinach, strawberry, tomato, tomato sauce, tomato paste, wine, yeast and foods containing yeast, pineapple, citrus fruit and chocolate. ▶back to top Caffeine: A Migraine Treatment, a Migraine Diet Trigger or Both? Our NJ migraine clinics offer many different migraine treatmentsMigraine and Caffeine: All Migraine Clinics have mixed feelings about caffeine. Caffeine is a useful acute headache treatment when used occasionally along with aspirin or Tylenol. BUT, drinking caffeine regularly can cause a kind of addiction to caffeine, so that not getting quite enough coffee, can be a major migraine trigger. Headache Clinic doctors recommend tapering off caffeine for a trial of 3 or 4 weeks. This is especially important for people who drink 3 or more cups of coffee or tea a day or who often take migraine treatment medicines, such as Excedrin, which contain caffeine. Persons who drink less coffee are not at high risk, but our migraine clinic has observed caffeine withdrawal headaches among persons who drink as little as one cup of coffee daily. Suspect caffeine might contribute to your headaches if skipping caffeine for one or two days causes fatigue, muscle aches, migraine or other headache. If caffeine withdrawal headaches are severe, the best migraine treatment is to taper off caffeine under medical supervision. A brief course of anti-headache treatment with a preventive medicine such as amitryptiline can block “withdrawal” headaches. ▶back to top Other Treatments: Migraine and Nutrition Our NJ headache clinics offer many kinds of migraine treatmentsMigraine and Gluten: Headache doctors and Migraine Clinics find that a small but significant proportion of migraineurs are sensitive to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, oat, barley and rye. Ask your doctor to do a gluten blood antibody test. If gluten antibodies are high, consider eliminating all gluten for a three month period since it takes that long to judge a gluten-migraine treatment. Eliminating gluten is not an effective migraine treatment for all, even if gluten antibodies are high. However, for many who are gluten sensitive, gluten headache treatment results can be dramatic. Migraine and Food “Allergies” or Sensitivities: Some, but not all headache doctors and migraine clinics believe that allergy-like sensitivities to milk, wheat, egg, yeast, soy, food additives can be migraine triggers. A full scale elimination diet for these might best be done under medical supervision. A migraine diet may limit certain foodsMigraine and Hypoglycemia: Headache doctors argue about whether hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is “real”. But, at our headache clinic we are convinced that treating the hypoglycemia migraine connection is often an effective migraine treatment. If you often become achy or tired or develop other symptoms if your next meal is late, consider low blood sugar to be likely. Change your diet to small, frequent meals with fewer simple sugars and carbohydrates at each meal. Please note: measuring the level of blood sugar and/or a glucose tolerance test is usually NOT an accurate way to diagnose migraine-low blood sugar problems.
I'm sorry.... I hope you feel better before you leave. I am not at all up to date on what foods are ok to eat etc - I just know I have to stick to low sodium/even sodium - between 1200-1500mg a day and I am good. Sugar I am probably a little worse with. But that is because there is so much candy that is sodium free - LOL I try to be good with both.
Crawled out of bed this morning and got a shower. Feel like I've been hit by a truck but at least I'm moving again. To answer Lisa I have both the all over dizziness and the quick but hard vertigo. Today I am off balance and still a little dizzy but mostly just feel exhausted. And Vicki, I think you are absolutely right. I think I do have MAV also. No Dr has ever diagnosed it since I don't get headaches most Dr's don't even consider MAV. I was feeling so well these past few weeks that I got careless with my diet. I always maintain the low sodium but I started eating a few pecans in yogurt and other things that either have high arginine or are MAV related. I guess I thought since I take 3000 mg of lysine a day that I had the arginine issue covered. So it's back to tracking my food again and I increased my Acyclovir to 1600 mg from the usual 1200 for a few days. I just want yo be able to spend a nice 4th of July with my grandkids after not seeing them for a year! This sure was bad timing! Thanks everyone for your input.
oh Sharon sorry you are still feeling so poorly. High lysine would not counter too many MAV trigger foods unfortunately, that's for MM. Which when we have both we need to watch out for all of it. Drs who are knowledgeable about MAV would know the most common form is w/o a headache. I rarely get a headache and never get a migraine but I definitely have MAV as well as MM. It is common to have both. Some doctors even feel the 2 diseases are one of the same. This I don't know. I think if you watch MAV triggers you should be okay in a day or two. An attack from MAV happens when you go over your threshold. Unless ofc you are coming down with something which I hope you are not.
Thanks Vicki, I'm quite sure I don't have a bug coming on. I believe it was caused by eating the wrong food. I lost so much weight when I first got sick and have been trying to gain a little but finding high calory, loso foods that don't have high arginine or cause MAV issues isn't easy! I think I just got careless since I have been feeling so well. Even had popcorn twice and now I see it is a high arginine food also. Just have to pick myself up and start rereading all the info on this stuff again.
I agree with Vicki threshold plays a big part in attacks. I also found, for me, that if I avoided foods and drinks that are high in tyramine or sulphates and sulphites I would maintain control over the attacks. Hope for better days ahead for you.
Stress is a big trigger. Lack of sufficient sleep is another. (Significant weather changes do as well.) I will keep positive thoughts that this setback is done and gone before the 4th!
Thanks for all the well wishes everyone. I'm up and moving around again but continue to have aural fullness, dizziness and off balance. Continuing my Acyclovir and Lysine and made an appointment with my NUCCA Dr for tomorrow as the back of my neck is very stiff and sore also. Not sure why but that happens with most of my attacks. I'm afraid to eat much as everything is either high in arginine or a MAV trigger. Leaving for vacation on Thursday so I have only a little time left to get this under control. Have been tempted to get out the Ativan. I have been completely off it for 3 months now and really don't want to start using it again. Maybe one more day will make a difference.
I get a sore neck that seems to correspond with my degrees of imbalance as well. It's nice to know someone else feels that too! I see an upper cervical doctor (blair) as well. He helps me but not as much as avs. I do hope you start feeling better ASAP!
I had my first attack in months too. I also get the stiff neck and my bead hurts. The irraticness of the attacks is what makes it so hard to diagnose. I am convinced my emotions both conscious and subconscious are playing havoc with me. I am.so reluctant to take antianxiety meds but I might have to. I do not want to get addicted. I might be out of options.
I got through my bad days without going back to Ativan. Hope to never use it again. Am feeling much better now although still not as well as I had been doing but it may take a little longer.
Sharon did you do or take anything to help you get through the bad days and so happy you did not have to take Ativan!
Vicki, I tried using Meclizine but it makes me pretty tired and just yucky feeling. I increased my acyclovir to 1600 mg a day for three days. I'm still on 1200 mg regularly (with dr Gracek's approval). Can't seem to get down to 800 without symptoms.
that happened to me it took me 8 months before I could go from 1200 mg to 800 mg. but 1200 mg might be your maintenance dose. either way I think its okay.