John first of all I think it is wonderful that she has a husband that seems so very supportive of her and what she is going through with this disease. That is a very important factor that she have a support group around her during this battle.
Although I am older than your wife I too struggle with the medication sensitivity and have been unable to tolerate any medication to date other than a very and I mean very small dose of valium . I take a 5mg and cut it into quarters. Take one quarter a day. I did start with a half about four months ago.
When all of this really started full blown for me last July I was under a lot of stress with work, family and life in general. My mother was very ill and my parents lost the house they were living in at the time and had no where to go. I was dealing with that plus we were renovating our home which only added to the stress at the time. I had what I refer to as my crash last July.
I went through the VRT and them putting me on meclizine (which did nothing but put m to sleep) and I was still had the vertigo/dizzy/rocking 24/7 this lasted until October until I went to see my ENT and he gave me the diet and I tried it and started seeing tiny improvements after three weeks. Then I started walking every day and seemed to get a little better by December I was much better than in July. However the anxiety which accompanied the issue ramped up because I too like your wife was afraid to go anywhere by myself for fear I would have another attack and I would be alone. This is still a very big struggle for me.
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This list Scott gave you (1) Regular schedule – every day should look like every other day; regular meals and don’t skip; regular sleep and enough of it; some regular exercise (even if it’s just a walk to the end of the block and back again).
(2) General medical “tune-up” – migraine symptoms are more likely to flare if there are other medical/physiological stresses on your system. Migraineurs should work with their other medical professionals if necessary to get control of other health problems, such as allergies, thyroid, blood pressure, blood glucose, hormones, etc.
(3) Migraine diet – there are many foods that are potential migraine triggers. The joke about a migraine diet: make a list of all the foods you like … you can’t have them! The simple way to remember a migraine diet: eat ONLY fresh food. You can eat fruits, vegetables or meats. You can cook your food. But all food must be prepared fresh when you want it. If you do this, you are pretty well on the migraine diet. The list of “Thou Shalt Nots” is long and sad:
- nothing aged, cured, pickled, or fermented (cheese, beer, wine, alcohol, vinegar, soy sauce, yogurt, sour cream)
- no caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate)
- no artifical sweeteners/sugar substitutes (especially aspartame)
- no nitrites (deli meats – proscutto, pepperoni, salami, etc)
- no sulfites (red wine, dried fruits – raisins, apricots, etc)
- no nuts
- no MSG (monosodium glutamate – take-out Chinese food, and virtually every packaged food in the grocery store – usually listed as “natural flavour additives,” not MSG, in the ingredients label)
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For me I have found that keeping a regular schedule is so very important and I am sure with a new baby that is very hard but go to bed the same time each night, get up the same time.
Eat the same time during the day…I eat about six to eight times a day very small meals that is what works for me.
Drink plenty of fluids …water, water and more water.
Get the book “Heal Your Headache” read it and follow it …it has worked for some people for others it has not but it will do you no harm if it does not work. You have to be very disciplined on the diet and I have not adding things back in for fear that it would cause a trigger but that is what I choose to do , others have been able to add foods back in after a while.
I would also recommend getting her hormones checked as I found out I am going through perimenopause and I think that has contributed to my issues. Plus that will also contribute to the anxiety when they are fluctuating.
I would also have her Vitamin D level check where many of us have found out that our Vitamin D levels were very low when all of this started. That is something that can be easily corrected. Take supplements or spend more time outside which is the best way to get the Vitamin D needed.
I understand what she is going through with wanting to find a way to combat this without medication since she is very sensitive and has a hard time tolerating them.
She may find a therapist that can help with the anxiety which does not have to involve medication , not to say that it is a bad thing but it can be addressed without medications in many cases.
I wish you both all the best and coming here and getting support helps to know that you are not alone in your journey , take one day at a time, one step at a time…and just keep going day by day.
