De nuked for migraines, maybe?

[jdvazquez]

I'm a navy nuke electrician onboard the enterprise for a year now and after an increase in my headache frequency and severity my neurologist has prescribed me drugs which have been deemed unacceptable for nukes.  So I could either ignore the effectively excruciating pain and go on or maybe get denuked.
So I guess I’m asking, how would this affect my nuke career after the navy?
And if I got denuked if I’d be more likely to be forced to be a conventional or be let out of my contract?

[jemac]

jdvazquez
Do not ignore your health!  If your doctor has perscribed medication that renders you unfit to perform your duties, then that doctor should have also placed you on limited duty status.  Uncle Sam has spent a lot of time and money to train you to be a nuke electrician, so it should be in the Navy's best interest to get you well and get you back on the watch bill.  If you do loose your nuke status, it's not the end of the world.  Life goes on.  Get a transfer to a non-nuke department.  Find out first hand that "liberty call" doesn't mean 8 more hours then field day the engine room and then maybe if your not dink you can go on the pier for 15 minutes before your duty section is on watch.  My biggest advice is make sure you find out what the root cause of your headaches are.  You also might want to talk to someone in psych to make sure the stress isn't getting to you.

jemac
X-NUKE-EM from a long time ago in a land far, far away.

[Mike_Koehler]

I suffer from migraines and went through the nuke navy. I don't know what they gave you for meds, but they gave me some pretty strong ones (at one point they had me taking Amytriptoline sp-5) and didn't take my nec. I was on light duty for a while though. I discovered that changes in sleep cycle were the largest trigger for the migraines and that if I could set a schedule for sleep that wouldn't change much I was usually ok even if it was 3 section or port/starboard. Keep a sleep/food/environment diary and see if you can determine what triggers your headaches and avoid those things like the plague. I was allowed to go on WestPac on a sub with Headaches/meds and all........ I guess you have to ask yourself what you want and is best for you and go for that. If you don't take charge of your situation, you will have to accept whatever the Navy deems best for you. The most important thing you have is your health!!!! Good luck and thank you for serving.

Mike

[justatech]

I have had migraines for 20+ years - the kind that you bang your head on the floor because it actually feels better than the migraine itself.................With that said - 10 years ago my Dr prescribed Imitrex - 100 mg - Wonder Drug From Heaver. I'm supposed to take it when I feel one coming on - I wait against Dr's orders (I don't like meds) and take it when I can't see and am ready for dry heaves - within an hour - NO MORE MIGRAINES..............you should be able to get this prescription without a problem - it is not a narcotic...........try and when it works - let me know.

[radbitch]

I have had migraines for 20+ years - the kind that you bang your head on the floor because it actually feels better than the migraine itself.................With that said - 10 years ago my Dr prescribed Imitrex - 100 mg - Wonder Drug From Heaver. I'm supposed to take it when I feel one coming on - I wait against Dr's orders (I don't like meds) and take it when I can't see and am ready for dry heaves - within an hour - NO MORE MIGRAINES..............you should be able to get this prescription without a problem - it is not a narcotic...........try and when it works - let me know.

I also have migraines and was prescribed Imitrex-"wonderful stuff". I also have a box of it in single use nasal injectors. They are more effective than the pills. I usually feel nauseous just before my migraine starts and the pills usually cure me, but when I wake up in the middle of the night with one the nasal injectors are great! Migraines SUX big time!!! I'm glad to have finally found something that works...

[stormgoalie]

As a migraine sufferer too, I too recommend following the Dr.'s advice.  I take Zomig and it works wonders.  1 itty bitty pill and no more pain   The people I feel for are diabetics like my wife who cannot take any of the migraine meds on the market due to the fact that they can cause a stroke in diabetics.  She has to take Percocet to kill the pain which is quite the narcotic.

[jdvazquez]

thanx for all the input, they seem to have added quite a few new Rxs to the list (zomig and topamax) deeming them physchotropic (sp) whether the fall under the traditonal narcotic catagory or not. i tried imitrex a few years back, prior to navy, but it might be worth a shot again. eitherway, somthing will work.
as long as it doesn't effect my carrer opportunities it's nothing for me to stress about.

[HydroDave63]

  So I could either ignore the effectively excruciating pain and go on or maybe get denuked.

Please take care of your health, you only have one body, it's your only ride home!

Also, if you were to choose 'ignoring' your pain to stay off of meds and continue in the program, then you would be operating in the plant in a diminished capacity and unfit for duty. That in itself would be,unfortunately, an integrity violation.

As jemac pointed out, there are other excellent ratings onboard.

Let us know how it goes, your heart is in the right place!

[tigger]

thanx for all the input, they seem to have added quite a few new Rxs to the list (zomig and topamax) deeming them physchotropic (sp) whether the fall under the traditonal narcotic catagory or not. i tried imitrex a few years back, prior to navy, but it might be worth a shot again. eitherway, somthing will work.
as long as it doesn't effect my carrer opportunities it's nothing for me to stress about.

I have suffered from migrines for 14 years now. One of the things they are trying right now, and was very effective for me, was Inderal and Reglan. Inderal is a vasodilator (BP med) and Reglan is a smooth muscle relaxor, mostly used for stomach problems.
Just something else worth trying.

[Camella Black]

Just wanted to let all you migrane suffers' (sp) know that there is hope... I suffered for years, spent many days and nights in hospitals, took meds, got shots, puked, cried and nothing worked. Then bam, they went away. The only major changes were: cutting out caffiene, stopped smoking and began menopause. It has been years since I've had one. I wish all of you luck and well health, and if any of you are having or have children please be aware that migranes can be passed to your children and children can have them, so don't assume your child is faking when they complain of constant headaches.

[DGNukeChief]

Better late than never, but I figured I give an input.

I had bad headaches/migraines when I was on the Truman...  and nothing they could find or prescribe fixed it...

Then I realized that I had started drinking Diet Coke.  I had never really drank diet drinks before.  Turns out I was sensitive to the artificial sweeteners in it.

Stopped drinking or eating things with artificial sweeteners and no more headaches...

Something to think about.

[gsmagnum]

As far as the Enterprise is concerned, there are non-nuke electrician billets there.
It doesn't sound like you should have to be de-nuked.

If you are still here, an update on your situation would be nice.

[gr8guyak]

I had a roommate, a fellow SPU here at the prototype in Charleston that started getting migranes.  He ended up medically discharged and is now working at a nuke plant in NC.  The navy trained you as a nuke and you enlisted as a nuke, as long as you arn't lying or malingering you have nothing to worry about.

[Broadzilla]

Better late than never, but I figured I give an input.

I had bad headaches/migraines when I was on the Truman...  and nothing they could find or prescribe fixed it...

Then I realized that I had started drinking Diet Coke.  I had never really drank diet drinks before.  Turns out I was sensitive to the artificial sweeteners in it.

Stopped drinking or eating things with artificial sweeteners and no more headaches...

Something to think about.

Diet drinks are one of the worst things you can put in your body. Might as well just ingest poison.

Mike

[Duke Nuker]

Nuclear isn't everything.  I know it seems you have put in a lot of time and effort to be one, but being denuked is not the end of the world.  I was denuked for a shattered ankle in 1980.  I went to a sub as an A-ganger, a tender in the Rad Con department, and have been in commercial nuclear since 1985.  Can't say it slowed me down any.  I still retained the knowledge I gained in Nuke School.  I have used it to my advantage over the years.  The bottom line is get yourself healthy and get to work, whatever the job might be, after all, you are breathing our air.......

[officedrone415]

Hi! 

I too have suffered from migraines over the past 10 years and have tried tons of approaches ranging from imitrex to spinoffs of codeine.  The key thing to remember is that everyone is different and there's no one size fits all treatment approach.  When your trying to deal with a condition like chronic migraines, you have to look at your day to day lifestyle as well as prescription options.  Like one of the other posters suggested keeping track of your diet can be key, and if you ask your neurologist he can probably set you up with a list of the most common triggers.  Finding the right pain medication is crucial but it will be more effective in the long run if you work with your doctor to find other non-drug methods of prevention.  In my case the neurologist suggested craniosacral therapy which worked wonders in conjunction with 1000mg a day of naproxen and imitrex as needed for the pain.  After several months of treatment my migraines came down from being every day to roughly once every 8 weeks and the pain is considerably less when they do occur.  It can take a while to figure out what finally works for you but keep hanging in there!  At the end of the day nothing is more important than your health.  Best of luck and hope you find the treatment that works for you!