I remember getting my first migraine headache in junior high. I woke up in the middle of the night with my head pounding so badly that I was pretty sure I was going to die. On top of that, I was nauseated and everything was lit up by yellow halos and pulsating. I literally crawled down the stairs to scratch on my parents’ door like a sick dog, and then it suddenly subsided into almost nothing. I convinced myself that I’d imagined the whole thing, and never thought of it again until my 20s, when it started happening every few months and continued for years. I took the usual variety of over-the-counter painkillers with some success. They would sometimes take the edge off, but the symptoms were still often bad enough to seriously interfere with my life, sometimes making it impossible to leave my dark bedroom for days at a time. I kept thinking that sooner or later they would just magically go away, but as I began to miss work and often found myself vomiting and with a headache of unnatural proportions, I realized I should probably see a doctor. I described the symptoms to her – extremely painful headaches, nausea, yellow “auras” around everything, and total intolerance to bright lights and noises above 20 decibels. She assured me that I likely didn’t have a brain tumor (not that I could have afforded a CAT scan or MRI anyway), and put me on Sumatriptan on an experimental basis.
Not everything is known about what exactly causes migraines, but the present consensus is that they’re caused by widening blood vessels in the brain. Sumatriptan is supposed to work by constricting those vessels but not interfering with cerebral blood flow. Sumatriptan also inhibits pain receptors in the brain. After making sure my blood pressure was normal (you’re not supposed to take this medication if you have hypertension), the doctor started me on a lower dose to begin with (50 mg), and told me to take it with a large glass of water the next time I felt an attack coming on. You don’t take this medication on a daily basis, only when you feel a migraine coming on. So I filled my prescription and just waited until an attack came on. It seems like it was about 2 months before I needed to take it; I took a dose about 15 minutes after I started to feel that vague pulsing and everything in my field of vision got a funny glowing edge. I didn’t have any side effects that I can recall, other than a couple days of a very mild belly ache – more like a full or distended feeling. But that was well worth avoiding a debilitating episode.
I haven’t had to take the Sumatriptan for over a year now, as I’ve only had a couple of episodes that have only affected the vision in one eye with no pain at all. But I’ll definitely get a refill the next time I get a bad one.

Luvox has proven to be quite successful as a “heavy hitter” in treating numerous psychological disorders. It works to even out moods so that the patient can often avoid the crashing lows and all-encompassing panic and anxiety attacks. The patient is usually able to eventually achieve a more realistic outlook on life in general without being constantly hindered by obsessive thoughts and negative physical manifestations of physiological disorders, such as hair pulling or skin picking. Luvox can function as a type of coping mechanism to enable the user to lead a more “normal” life, without all the frustrating distractions and “going off” on the little things. In addition, its overall calming effect has been useful in treating some types of impulse control and debilitating compulsions.
The first thing I noticed during that first month was that I didn’t notice anything. I didn’t feel that head rushing rage all the time like I had on other oral contraceptives, and I didn’t gain 10 pounds overnight. The doctor did warn me that I needed to take Mircette at the same time each day, as since it was a lighter pill, it was also more sensitive to dosage irregularities, and may not be as effective if I missed a dose or otherwise got off schedule. She also told me to use backup birth control like condoms if I ever vomited, had diarrhea, or had to take antibiotics, since all of those things could render the medication weak and make it possible for me to get pregnant.
Welbutrin usually takes about 2 weeks to truly take effect. Antidepressants in general take a few weeks to settle in; sometimes it’s a full month before major changes in your mood or outlook are noticeable. Your doctor will prescribe the dosage he/she thinks is right for you depending on your symptoms and overall health. It’s very important to take exactly the dosage prescribed and at the same time every day so that your results are “even” and for the medication to follow its intended course.




