There is a lot of information and opinions out there about migraines. And a lot of people have a tendency to judge those of us who have them. They say "It's just a headache, why can't you function?" My migraines are totally debilitating. Some of the symptoms that I suffer from other than the pain itself are nausea, blurred vision, lightheaded and dizziness, and confusion. I will all of a sudden forget where I am and what I am doing.
Some of the symptoms that I experience are symptoms of having a stroke so there has been many instances where I will call my neurologist and she will send me to the emergency room to get checked out just in case it is another stroke. Thankfully that has not been the case so far.
After the stroke I was suffering from 5-6 migraines per week. We started off trying a medication called Topamax, which is a seizure medication called an anticonvulsant. This medication would cause my hands and/or the side of my face to go numb at random intervals. It scared me because it happened one day while I was driving! My doctor took me off of this right away.
They also advised me not to take anything over the counter for the pain of the migraines because it can make your body dependent on the medication to handle the migraines.
Next we tried a medication called Amitriptylin, which is a low dose antidepressant that doctors use to treat migraines with. This medication actually took me from 5-6 migraines a week to 4-5 a week. This was helpful but didn't get rid of them all the way. At the same time she also prescribed me a medication called Olanzapine, which is an antipsychotic that they use to treat the pain of migraines. This only got rid of minor migraines that I had.
Then the doctor added a medication called Candesartan, which is a blood pressure medication. They combined this with the Amitriptylin and they seemed to work very well together. I went down to having 2-3 migraines a week, which was a huge relief. The only problem was that I was indeed still having them and the ones that I was having were very severe.
At this point my neurologist suggested that I apply for intermittent FMLA because the days that I had the migraines I was not meeting my production at work. I stare at a computer and talk on the phone for 8 hours a day and my migraines were seriously affecting this. I applied and after a few months I was approved for intermittent FMLA. My job wasn't happy about it but at this point they couldn't do anything about it. The only downfall to FMLA is it only protects your job, not your pay. So the days that I was missing for migraines were unpaid days.
About a year ago my doctor decided that I qualified to try using Botox injections for my migraines. They can be expensive though and thankfully I qualified for financial aid through the hospital that administers them. You get them done every 3 months and they say that you have to have it done about 4-5 times before you begin to notice immediate relief when you have them. Below is a picture of how many and where they put the injections. I will admit that it sucks when you get them done.
I have had 4 rounds of the injections done and there for a while the migraines had diminished down to about 1-2 a week. However, for some reason I am back to 3-4 a week now.
They also prescribed me with a medication called Metoclopramide, which is typically used mostly for stomach and esophageal problems but they prescribed me with it to treat the migraine pain. It does help with my severe migraine pain about half of the time.
I see my neurologist this later month and hopefully we can discuss a new option or she may have me try more rounds of Botox. I am not sure what options we have left at this point because we are entering in our 3rd year trying out different things to get rid of them.
The main concern here is that having chronic migraines can cause damage to the brain. I have permanent but minimal damage due to having a stroke. The more damage that is done, the higher chance I have of having another stroke. So the goal is to get rid of them completely.
Having a chronic condition like this really sucks, there's just no other way to put it. But it does make you take full advantage of the days you have that are symptom free. I try to be a productive as possible on my healthy days and enjoy them as much as possible.
If any if you have gone through a similar situation, please feel free to comment if you are comfortable with it! Live every day to the most and know that if no one else does, I feel your pain and you are loved! You are not defined by your chronic condition, you are defined by who you are! I hope you all have a beautiful day!
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