Headaches, drug allergies, etc. (long)

I get terrible migraines and sometimes I think they're a combination of migraine and cluster-type headaches. Sometimes, a headache will last two or three weeks before it finally goes away. I've had them all my life, so they're nothing new. I used to pop Advil for the pain and that kept pain down to a low roar. Didn't go completely away, but the Advil helped.

Somewhere along the last couple of years, I developed an allergy to certain meds: lisinopril HCZT (my blood pressure med), aspirin, Excedrin, Bufferin, Advil, Motrin, etc. Pretty much everything but Tylenol (which does absolutely nothing for the pain, anyway). Oh, and Halls Lozenges, too....found that out back around the beginning of the year when I tried to suck on one for that cold I had.

What happens is that, several hours after taking the med, my lip starts to swell. Badly. To the point where you would swear there was a grape inside my lip. Sometimes it's my lower lip, sometimes it's my upper lip. Sometimes it's the side of my mouth. Sometimes it's my tongue and the inside of my cheek. One night it seemed like my throat was closing; that was scary. Another time, it affected pretty much the entire left side of my face, up to my left eye. It swells and then the swelling subsides and go away. Takes about a day for it to run its course.

I've seen an allergist and all he said was, "Stop taking the meds that are causing the problem".  Well, that's easier said than done, especially when the list seems to be getting longer all the time (Halls Lozenges? Who knew?). My family doctor took me off the lisinopril, an ACE-inhibitor and put me on Bystolic, a beta-blocker. And I've been doing well. The Bystolic has been working well to keep my BP under control.

Well, I've had a headache now for two weeks. Not bad, but the pain comes and goes. The only thing I can take is Tylenol, which, like I said, is like taking candy....it does nothing. Yesterday, though, I was so frustrated that I took three Tylenol around 6:30 in the morning. And by 1:00 yesterday afternoon, the right side of my mouth was swelling up like a yeast roll. By around 7:00 or so last night, the swelling had subsided and things seemed to be OK. But evidently, I can no longer take Tylenol either. (We've started to keep Benedryl on hand all the time as that helps with the swelling; as soon as I notice any swelling, I pop a Benedryl. Makes me sleepy as heck, but it does work to reduce the swelling.)

And now? I'm wondering if my BP isn't getting too low. That happened before when I was on a beta-blocker. It got so low that I started getting bad headaches and if I stood up after my walking, everything went black and I couldn't see anything. It was only momentarily, but it happened. And dizziness, almost to the point of fainting. That was with Toprol and, as soon as the doctor took me off the Toprol and I started in with the lisinopril, it all went away. My BP returned to normal (about 120/76 with the lisinopril, which is good for me)  and life went on. We tried taking me completely off BP meds and that didn't work. Evidently, part of my BP issues is genetic. I walk a lot and I try to watch my weight to help with my BP issues, and while it does help, genetics also plays a big part...and there's nothing I can do about that. Everybody in my family has HBP. Everybody. I don't need much, not a high dosage. Right now I'm taking 15 mg of Bystolic, which really isn't much at all. I also know that side effects of Bystolic include headaches and dizziness. Until about two weeks ago, though, everything was fine.

I do have a doctor appt. I was just wondering if anybody else has experienced this? And if so, what did you do to help yourself?

I too suffer from migraine HAs & I feel ur pain. You mention HBP & migraine-- Have u ever had a sleep study done? I had terrible migraines that caused me to vomit. At the behest of a physician friend I had a sleep study done.

It turns out I had obstructive sleep apnea. Wearing a CPAP when I sleep fixed 90% of my HA issues. I also am allergic to citric acid, which can bring on a rough HA

It sounds like an anaphylactic reaction to these particular drugs. I seriously doubt it's the active ingredient you are allergic to. I would look at what inactive ingredients they have in common.

I have wierd reactions to "drug fillers" in some generic drugs. It's entirely possible that fillers in OTC meds are an issue for you.

Don't dismiss the sleep study though. It saved my life.

That sounds really awful and I'm so sorry to hear about these difficulties you are having.

Advil is the only thing that works for us, too, like you said Tylenol does absolutely nothing!

My very wise dear sister had a lot of chronic pain, and she could not tolerate Advil. She said taking Tylenol was like taking water, BUT there was ONE type of Tylenol that worked really well. She gave me a box to bring home when I was visiting her once; I wrote KEEP across it and put it with our meds. I just dug it out, if you want to give it a try, it is:

Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release Gels

(the package is red and white and the tabs are red, white, and blue)

Hope this helps. 

I had a sleep study done quite a while ago and do not have apnea. And most people with apnea have trouble breathing (snoring, for example). When I'm at a good weight and am walking and exercising, I don't snore. At all. Rick will even tell you that. He says that he has actually moved over to me in bed one night because he couldn't hear me breathing at all and it scared him. I breathe very slowly and evenly, even on my back, with no gaps, no breathless episodes. Nothing like that. (When I'm heavy, though? I snore. Loudly.)

The migraines started when I was very young, about 8 years old. They were so bad I couldn't even speak coherently. I pretty much spent my sixth grade in bed....had it not been for the fact that I was able to keep up with home work and such, they'd have probably kept me back to repeat that grade. Drugs did nothing. After I gave birth to my son, they completely stopped. When I hit 40, they started back in again. The neurologist said that's pretty common, starting up again around the age of 40. This time, I have the aura.....colorful jaggy lines breaking my vision. Or I'll be reading something and letters and words will disappear.

My grandmother also had migraines and would shut herself up in the bedroom for awhile when they got really bad.

I, too, am thinking that it's not the drugs themselves. Rather it's whatever fillers the manufacturers are using in the drugs. I had used lisinopril for quite a few years and it kept my BP under control. They changed the fillers at some point a few years back. That's when I started having trouble. And it quickly spread from lisinopril to aspirin to Excedrin, and so on. And now, as of yesterday, Tylenol.

Thank you.

Sorry, I missed the part that you can't take Tylenol, either! Please let us know what you find out.

Just a thought, could anxiety be causing any of this?

And yes, orthostatic hypotension occurs with many of the cardiac meds. Some meds affect some people more than others.

Have you ever seena a neurologist? I think that would be what I would do. There are things they can do about migraines.

peaches08 said:

Just a thought, could anxiety be causing any of this?

And yes, orthostatic hypotension occurs with many of the cardiac meds. Some meds affect some people more than others.

Click to expand...

Anything is possible. Anxiety, stress could be causing the headaches, although I don't particularly feel stressed about anything really. I am suffering from major sleep withdrawal and have been for quite a while now. That could be feeding the headache.

Willowy said:

Have you ever seena a neurologist? I think that would be what I would do. There are things they can do about migraines.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have. He is really hesitant to give me anything because of my BP and, now, because he's not sure how I will respond to the meds because of what's been happening to me....the swelling. It was never really an issue before because I could take Excedrin for Migraines and that really did seem to help. As did Advil. But now.....I have to be very careful of anything I take because of the swelling. My lip/face swelling is one thing, but if my throat swells to the point where it closes up, that could be dangerous. So as leery as he is to give me something, I'm twice as leery to actually take it!

I will let you know what my doctor says. Thanks so much for everything.

Lack of sleep can absolutely feed migraines. I'm wondering if something like Benedryl at night may help. Of course, please consult your doctor first!

Something I know your doc will agree with me on for people prone to true anaphylactic reactions is to keep Benedryl elixir on hand. It works faster than pills when you need it to!

My wife had similar headache issues for years, and she was always just diagnosed as having migranes. Like you, no meds ever relieved the headaches. Finally, her dentist figured it out. He diagnosed her with something called temporal mandibular joint disorder (TMJ). Its the medical term for a slightly misaligned jaw. They took x-rays, a mold of her bite, and made a custom mouth piece for her.   She just wears it over night.  Its been a great help.

Has your doc ever prescribed Fiorcet for your migraines? It's really the only thing that works for mine as far as pain relief goes. Opiates just make the HA worse. Fiorcet is Butabital (a mild barbituate), Tylenol, and caffine. It's similar to Excedrin Migraine with the prescription drug in place of the aspirin. It works waaaay better though. It doesn't make me drowsy, or dopey feeling either.

I know you had a tylenol reaction recently, but was it just the one time? It's possible you had a reaction to something else and you percieved it as Tylenol. Just a thought.
 

 I have migraines too, and they used to be so bad that I would have to go to the ER on occasion and they would give me morphine to knock me out.  But finally my neurologist found something that I take on a daily basis that really helps with the occurences AND the severity of them.  It's Topamax.  Not a pain killer, but something that must be taken daily (as I said) to just cut down on the migraines themselves. 

And when I get one, I also take Fiorecet, but unlike BigPerm, they DO knock me for a loop, especially if I've taken them on an empty stomach.  I absolutely cannot drive on them, and usually fall asleep if I sit still for any length of time.  But, they do stop the pain (usually). 

You may have a good point when you say you may be allergic to the fillers in these OTC pain killers.  They do have them in liquid forms don't they.  Those work faster too.  I'm pretty sure I've seen Advil liquid caps. 

Thanks, guys. I will ask my doctor about keeping Benedryl elixir on hand.....she probably won't have a problem with it. I never thought about trying the liquid caps! Now, though? I'm afraid to try anything.

I'm pretty sure it was the Tylenol that caused this on Tuesday, simply because it was the only thing I consumed that was out of the ordinary. I had my coffee at that time, too, but that was it. A diet Mt. Dew around 1:30 p.m. or so, but by that time I was already swelling up. And that was all I had until dinner Tuesday night, just the coffee and the Dew.

I think, several years ago, the doctor I had at that time did prescribe Fiorecet. I had no allergic reactions or anything like that, but that might be the drug that knocked me out cold.  I can ask as they'd have it on record.

It's not just the OTC pain killers as evidenced by the swelling happening from Lisinopril, too.

Will post when I see the doctor again. Thank you!

ETA: The good news is that, at this point, the headache is pretty much gone. Thank goodness. Two weeks with a headache is two weeks too long.

Glad it's gone !

At the first sign of a headache, I have a strong coffee.. no idea why, but it often works.  Second is a lavender oil mix massaged into the temples.  Third is a mix of aspirin and codeine.  Aspirin is great for me, but obviously not for you.  I'm just wondering whether powdered Willowbark would be worth a try?

I'm so sorry you're having all these reactions.. I do understand, though.  I've had a lot of meds over the years with various conditions and after a while my body resists them. 

Yay that it's gone! You know, caffeine withdrawal can also cause headaches...

mrsgreenjeens said:

 I have migraines too, and they used to be so bad that I would have to go to the ER on occasion and they would give me morphine to knock me out.  But finally my neurologist found something that I take on a daily basis that really helps with the occurences AND the severity of them.  It's Topamax.  Not a pain killer, but something that must be taken daily (as I said) to just cut down on the migraines themselves. 

And when I get one, I also take Fiorecet, but unlike BigPerm, they DO knock me for a loop, especially if I've taken them on an empty stomach.  I absolutely cannot drive on them, and usually fall asleep if I sit still for any length of time.  But, they do stop the pain (usually). 

You may have a good point when you say you may be allergic to the fillers in these OTC pain killers.  They do have them in liquid forms don't they.  Those work faster too.  I'm pretty sure I've seen Advil liquid caps. 

Click to expand...

I forgot to mention that I also take Topomax. I'm not sure if the dose I'm on does me any good or not as it's very low. I was once on 3 100mg Topomax a dy, and it controlled my HA's pretty well. However it made me dumb as a box of hammers.

If u have the "makes me stupid" side effect, it's not a viable option.

Mani said:

Glad it's gone !

At the first sign of a headache, I have a strong coffee.. no idea why, but it often works.  Second is a lavender oil mix massaged into the temples.  Third is a mix of aspirin and codeine.  Aspirin is great for me, but obviously not for you.  I'm just wondering whether powdered Willowbark would be worth a try?

I'm so sorry you're having all these reactions.. I do understand, though.  I've had a lot of meds over the years with various conditions and after a while my body resists them. 

Click to expand...

Willowbark contains the same active ingredient as aspirin so if the OP is allergic to aspririn and not a filler that won't help.

I sprayed my Japense apt. for some tatami mat mites and developed a bad case of hives, so bad it didn't go away till I moved, but the hive would come back once a month, when I got my period turns out that episode triggered an allergy to aleve, aspirin, ibuprofen, basically all NSAID drugs in addition to the original pesticide. I also agree that tylenol does nothing for pain.

I'm wondering if you should have an epi-pen on hand for a possible severe allergic reaction?

My husband is very sensitive to medications.  He can't take lisinopril either as it causes his asthma to spiral out of control. 

If you're open to it, you might want to detox your liver by taking milk thistle.  All those chemicals in the meds may be built up in your system and causing your body to react.  Also, you can take stinging nettles to lower blood pressure.  Many essential oils help with migraines and headaches as well.
 

Winchester, has your doctor ever done a Cranial Blood Flow MRI? If you have insurance, they will probably pay for it.