The Regimen

I take these medications every day to prevent migraines: 
50mg of imipramine once per day
300mg of Co-Enzyme Q10 once per day
500mg of Magnesium once to twice per day

I take these medications when I get a headache: 
2 tabs of Aleve with 100mg of Imitrex

Diet wise I try to limit my refined sugar intake (which usually doesn't go so well), totally avoid bananas and grapefruit, which I know causes me migraines and I drink a TON of water, usually between 60 and 90oz per day. 

Lifestyle wise, I work only day shift as working the swing shift causes my head to hurt pretty much all the time, I try to keep my blood sugar level by eating at reasonable times and I try to keep my sleep schedule pretty constant. Which means that I try to be in bed between 10pm and midnight and try to get up between 6am and 9am. That doesn't always happen, but I try. AND, I think a lot about exercising, because that's supposed to help. Sometimes I do exercise for a few days, but that never lasts long, unfortunately.

This doesn't sound like much, but it feels like a lot to me. I feel really restricted in my life right now because of all the contraints I try and live between just so I don't get a migraine. Half the time I feel like none of this works anyways.

Well, that's not completely honest. When I am on the full strength imipramine and I am in bed on time and wake up on time and such, my migraines are pretty controlled. That means I am only have 12-15 days of mild headache a month. It also means that I am not having to use a lot of Imitrex (zero to one tabs/month) and I am also not downing an entire bottle of Aleve in one month (which happens sometimes - I am surprised I don't have a hole in my stomach).

The really frustrating thing is when I've missed out on doing something fun because I'm trying to prevent a migraine and then I wake up with one anyway. Oooooh. Those days just make me want to SCREAM and cry all at the same time.

I can't do this anymore, I don't WANT to do this anymore, I want out.
There has to be something better than the medication schedule I am doing, which is why I'm going to see an ND, researching better dietary choices and looking up chemical sensitivities. I want anything that might be causing me pain out of my life....except chocolate.

I have no idea how I am going to handle not eating that anymore.
(lots of additives, refined sugar, etc. All things which might be causing me pain!)