Hi---I just read Anthony's post and it could be about me (except of course, I'm a girl :-) I'm having problems with my doctor too. I have had (classic) migraines (preceeded by blind spots & shimmering lines that block out everything I see) since I was 14 (going on 12 years now), and this morning I was also thinking that after so much documentation and after dealing with these awful things for so long, I am still fighting for the most basic pain control. My doctor is basically VERY comfortably uneducated about migraines (I constantly have to tell her about the new treatments out there since she has no idea) and I cannot switch because I've only been seeing her for about a year and a half. Our town is small and people get labeled as "doctor shoppers" quickly--even if these "doctors" are incompetent. There is also a high rate of drug abuse and alcoholism here, and these people make it much harder for those who have legitimate and long-documented health problems. So right now I'm just at my rope's end. I am also scared to death because I am entering a new field, and I am so worried that my migraines will disrupt work again (like they have disrupted school, my social life, and basically every other aspect of my life). I also love to read and cannot for about 3 days following a migraine--that is so depressing. In January I will be starting paperwork to protect my job if I exceed my allotted sick days. I don't know what I will do if I am not approved. To complicate matters further it is doubly hard when you have to depend on your doctor to prescribe medication that will "allow" you (how generous of them!) to live some semblance of a normal life. I HATE the fact that they have that power (my doctor is certainly not home feeling like someone has stuck a knife in her head and being partially blind). I hope that this gets posted, and please know that you aren't alone. Also, after trying everything from Vicodin (I was put on it at 15) to Codeine, I too am on Ultram. It is the only thing that both takes away the pain and doesn't make me violently ill. I usually don't rant like this, but things sometimes just seem to come to a head all at once. Take care.

Kate
Monday, December 10, 2001 at 23:35:41

Please enter a message. :-)Hi, my name is Betty. I found this site when I was looking up some medication my Dr. prescribed. I read through most of the entries and I almost cried. Its such a relief to know that there are other people who DO know what its like to suffer this kind of agony. I've had migraines since I was 10 and I'm going to hit 30 in a couple of weeks. My migraines are mixed. I've had common migraines most of my life, but the last 2 months I've started having classical. I didn't even know what the auras were the first time I saw them!! What a joy when I found out. I'm at work right now and I hurt so bad I can hardly see straight. I missed last week due to a headache so I'm trying to ride it out. I just want to say thanks to everybody who's entered something in here. I really never knew how many of us are out there. I am the only person in my family to suffer migraines and as much as they love me they don't understand what's its like to really wish you could just die to get out from under the pain. I have great friends, but none of them know or understand this. I appreciate their concern, but I really resent them trying to minimize my pain or suggest trivial remedies when I've told them God knows how many times that I've seem how many specialists, had how many medications, etc... to treat this. So again, thanks to everybody who put something in this site. I don't feel as isolated anymore, knowing that there are people who really do understand. I'm sorry for all of us that have to suffer, but I thank God every night in my prayers that I found this web site. I guess I am blessed, though. I have a good Dr. who will work with me to find medications that work. She doesn't treat me like a drug addict. I've been to the ER at two different hospitals in two years and both times I was treated like a junkie looking for a fix. I knew I would get treated like that so I even tried to dress nicely and fix my hair so I wouldn't look suspicious to them. Nothing works. They still acted like I was a junkie. I really resent that. No one deserves that. Least of all, someone like us who really are at the end of the rope and are so desperate for relief that we have to tolerate being treated like that. Sorry, that's a pet peeve and I tend to ramble on about it!!!! Thank you for letting me vent. I think that's helped more than the medication!!

Betty Kashouty <bkashouty@gulfbend.org>
Monday, December 10, 2001 at 15:51:41

I'm a 58 year old male, I was reared end by a semi 5 1/2 years ago. Last severals year I have been taking Maxault.I now have develope chest pains.
I have like small strokes memory lost eye are light senstive.I have some type of headache all the time.I have had all kinds spinal injections,botox.Have what is called a closed head injury.I can not sit stand or do anything for any period of time.Before this I took nothing I now take about 7 or so types of meds. I take MS Contin 3 times a day along with percoset,baclofen,wellburtin to cheer me up a blood presure med to help relieve my headaches and then nitro time and fast acting because I have developed a small vessel dease from the Maxault they belive.Tonite went out to eat with daughter son in law and grandkids sick of my stomick. The MS contin covers up a lot but the effects of the headaches get so bad. My eyes are always verylight sentive.I can not sit and read I have not read since the accident. I must always be doing something and can not finish a project at one time. I have taken battery of test and my IQ remembering thing spelling and word meaning have demished.The Nerophy. (which I can not spell) for my indpendent medical examine stated that I didnt try hard enough. I did the best I could.As you can read I can not spell well nor can I write well anymore.I was never the greatest but much better then I am now.It has affected my speach in other words it has screwed me up.I can go on and on.Life has become very hard at times my case is still in ligation. I would like to hear of others in the same boat. I have had both shoulders and elbows operated on from this accident I also had a tooth driven down into the nerve that runs along the bottom of my jaw. I was a passenger in the rear seat of a dodge van with only a lap seat belt.I had meadiation Friday and the van shows very little damage. they failed to show the front seat that I had bent at the base. From the force of my head and arms.
maxelliot@hotmail.com
I hate to write anymore because I leave word out and get them turned around. My spelling is good tonight sometimes I have trouble spelling some very simple words.
Thanks for any or all help
Max Elliot
Green Valley AZ

Max Elliot <maxelliot@hotmail.com>
Sunday, December 9, 2001 at 05:08:08

Please enter a message. :-)JUST WANT TO SHARE MY MIGRAINE INFORMATION WITH OTHER SUFFERS.

KIM C. LOPEZ
Friday, December 7, 2001 at 18:51:53

Well siting at work with a hell of a headache just took three ultrams and two robaxines praying for the best
Why is it every thing we ask for from the doctors is always just the opposite from what we get? You know you think after a lifetime of headaches and the medical history that dates back till you where six years of age..you think just a little that your doctor would think your not drug seeking. God I am so sick of that
I have been every where and tried every little treatment and drug therapy known to man..been to the headache clinic the Mao institute and still nothing�.ok I get the fact that there is know cure �so what is it with doctors allowing us to live pain free�
I am a single father raising three girls on my own�with the headaches I have found that the ultram and robaxim �methocarbam� takes the edge off enough to allow me to do all the parenting things you have to do every day and also work�however I am still not pain free I know that vicoden and valium will get rid of my migraine for at least six hours�wow pain free for six hours wow however the doctors say ok once in awhile and say here�s a months worth ok even if I take six of each a day for ten days my math says that�s 60 pills so I tell this to the doctors and they give me thirty then when that runs out in five days they say well that was a months supply you must be abusing them�.cant they even do math�several years ago I went to a friends to go fishing and while we where out I got a hell of a headache now this friend being a firm believer in medical marijuana talked me into trying one of his medicinal therapeutic hehe
Well it worked zapped my headache instantly now I don�t know if it was the muscle relaxing properties or what part of it actually worked to relieve my headache so me being open minded �hehe� went to my doctor with this information expecting to tell him what I tried and thinking he would take a scientific approach to my theory you know maybe find something in a legal drug that might have the same properties as the illegal one and I�m not talking about the f)(*_*) BUZZ EITHER �but he took it wrong to called me a addict and told me I needed help�bye bye doctor blank blank should give his name out jerk
Any way started seeing this doctor in mo. Well he is kinda laid back country doctor he gives me a lot of ultram and robaxine their both a non addictive med. they work just not really well and he continues to make me see nero�s and specialist�s how ever if I don�t agree with them he listens why and we try something different�but I still have to put up with the ER issue like everyone god the are jerks in those places
Ever thing I have been on in the past months is non narcotic so if I go in to the ER it�s after the ultram and robaxin ,imatrex,migranol or maxalt in major doses and shot�s I go in there head swirling eyes popping out heart pounding in my head �and they want to �try something�try having your neck popped while having a full blown migraine I about pzassed out wish I would have then the ER doc was mad because I was too tense
To adjust �hehe go figure or the give you more dhe or gotamine what do they think migrianol is all it does to me is make me feel sick and icky along with being nauseated from the headache it�s great Jesus where do they get these people�. I hate to admit it but they have had this full grown man in tears begging for relief �.then while my head is exploding and I�m crying and basically begging for a swift death �they have the nerve to say something like�.why are you upset�or why are you getting angry at me I didn�t give you your headache�I like it when they try all the stuff that you have tried at home then say well there is nothing more we can do that�s when my girlfriend usually says well you can talk to his attorney and you aren�t worth a shit as a doctor because a month ago they gave him a shot got rid of his headache in less than a half hour�and as they are begging us to stay I head out the door and have her drive me to a neighboring county or to good old Missouri where my docs at �then when I do feel better I do get my attorney I don�t even go for money just enough for my attorys fees I just want to make sure no one has to deal with the prick any more�why don�t I just head to where my doctor is well it�s a hour drive and sometimes I don�t feel like being in a car with my head exploding�.just remember it�s all in your head �.hehehehe
Sorry everyone just venting
Love ya all your in my prayers
Ronda god bless you for this site

ANTHONY BUDISELICH <AWBUDISELICH@BEMIS.COM >
Friday, December 7, 2001 at 15:18:35

I am a 20 year veteran of migraine. At 48 years old, I feel that I've tried everything - spent a week in a headache clinic, seen neurologists, internists, gynecologists, etc. They have changed over the years and I'm happy to say that it has been months since I've been in an ER for a demerol injection.

I consider myself lucky if I go by one week without taking my Maxalt. So far, that has been my wonder drug. My headaches used to last 2-3 days where I was in bed, in the dark and comatose if I had the demerol from the ER. I can now take the Maxalt and usually 45 minutes later it has eased considerably if not gone away. I am currently in the care of a Neurologist who has me on Inderal and Elavil as preventive treatment. He also comment that since I have a long neck and my neck is always tight that perhaps a low dose of Robaxin (muscle relaxer) would help. Over the last 10 years, my headaches have changed in that they seem to start at the back of my head instead of left-sided. The muscle relaxers have helped me manage this. I am not all "drugged" up as the medication is mild.

During my week at the Houston Headache clinic, I visited every day with a dietetian who told me to avoid two pages of foods and additives. I'm sure it's different for everyone but my main trigger is Nutrasweet and some additives in tomatoe base products. Aged cheeses and yogurt can also do it but if I have them occasionally, I can usually get by.

Hope this helps someone out there. My life is much better. Hope you have a pain-free day!

Denise
Friday, December 7, 2001 at 08:41:23

I am 9 weeks pregnant and suffer from severe migraines. They are so bad that I puke and the pain lasts for days. I was taking Tylenol 3 and Fuircet and it didn't help. My Nuerologist prescribed me Demerol at 50 mg per dosage and assured me it was safe to take. Since I have become pregnant my migraines have nearly doubled and I am sick over them and missing work and you know the drill. Prior to becoming pregnant I took a drug called Maxalt which helped tremendously...but I can't take it any more. I am concerned about the baby and what the little guy goes through when I take Demerol. I have read up and I get mixed advice about it. I have taken it twice and it knocks me off my A*@. I am concerned that if it knocks me out, what does it to my baby? Has anyone taken Demerol and had a successful delivery and no after affects on the baby? Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you!

Rebecca <rmastoras@lmi.org>
Friday, November 30, 2001 at 10:43:16

Hi, I just found this site a little while ago and I have to say it's finally nice to come in contact with people that can really understand what a migraine sufferer goes through. I've been getting migraines for 14 years now(since I was 18). Mine are related to my hormones and come at "that time of the month"
If there is anyone out there who experiences these same kind of migraines I'd love to hear from you. I'm going on 33 years old and have noticed that they are improving.:) I'd like to talk to some that can maybe give me some insight on if they will improve with age and as my hormones change or are they apt to return at full force once again. I have now gone 2 months without one(knock on wood) and it feels great.
My heart goes out to all you migraine sufferers.

laurie <lgoulee@yahoo.com>
Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 06:31:46

Hi Caroline & everyone . . . I noticed the post about not knowing that migraines actually did run in your family, and wanted to post my experience. Neither of my parents have ever had a migraine, but one of my uncles on my father's side has had them since he was a kid, and my mother's sister has them occasionally too. I think it's weird that it would be passed on to me and not my parents, but oh well, there it is. Anyway, you say that your father never told you he had migraines, and I thought it was funny (not funny ha-ha, of course) because I didn't tell my parents about my migraines either. I had a friend make me a doctor's appointment when I was 15, and he told the neurologist (who diagnosed migraines with aura) that I was his sister. I only had them 3 or 4 times a year in the beginning, and they only lasted a day, plus I used to hide in my room a lot anyway during my high school years, so no one ever really noticed that I was feeling awful. I was careful not to let them know; I think I was afraid that they'd think I was faking it to get out of things. Now that I'm an adult, they know only because my boyfriend, who can tell just by looking at me that I'm going to get one or already have one, has told them. I feel kinda stupid now for not having confided earlier, they have been pretty supportive since he mentioned it. I hope that my kids don't inherit my pain, but if they do, I think I'd feel bad if they felt they couldn't tell me.

Just wanted to share! Hope everyone has pain free days.

Adrienne <ADRIENNE.RUSSO@maine.edu>
Sunday, November 25, 2001 at 16:13:34

Hello everyone!

I have not been on this journal in a month or so, I have been typing in the discussion area. I have recently discovered something about my father that I never knew before.
I have always known that he was a chronic tension headache sufferer, but never knew that some of them were actually migraines, and I have been wondering just how I have come to suffer daily with them, when all he ever had were tension, and nobody else in my family has ever had a headache that I know of.

We were talking about my migraines this morning, before all the family was to arrive, and he started telling me about his current headache he was having, because he had just taken two Midrin for it. He told me that it was in the back of his head, at the base, in his neck, and that it was Basilar Artery Migraine, and that he had been diagnosed with that in his early 20's. I was shocked! He had never told me that, and I have been suffering with chronic tension/migraines for the last 15 years, with the last 3 years or so being almost daily. I am on a fluctuating attack that has lasted for the past three and a half months, with no relief in sight. I just hope that this pain doesn't turn into a BAM, because I have read about them before on Karyn's BAM page, and they sound very scary! I don't think that I have heard my father mention any of the scary symptoms that I read sufferers have, so maybe I will be lucky and it won't be TOO bad for me if I ever get one.

Most of mine are on one side or the other, although my doctor says that my headaches I have all over my head, and think are severe tension, are probably migraines as well, because I get all the symptoms of migraines with those as well, except that I have never had an aura before. I hope I don't ever get one either!

Does anybody else have the regular kind of migraines, but have a family member that gets BAM's? I am still in kind of a shock over finding out about my father having them, although I am glad that his have gotten much better, maybe four in one year. I wish I could have that luxury!!! I don't remember the last time I went a full day without some kind of pain in my head, 75% of the time severe, or hell, and it sure would be nice to have a pain-free day again!

Maybe it is wishful thinking, but are bad migraines supposed to get better as you get older? I hope so, for any chronic sufferer out there, as well as myself.

Well, I was so surprised to learn about my father today, that I just had to sit down and type it all out. (also I am trying to ignore the devil over my right eye) I am sorry this is so long, but I feel better now that I have it all out.

Anybody need a friendly "ear" to bend and type your story to, please feel free, although it is hard to check my e-mail when the computer screen usually makes my eyes and head worse, so bear with me, if you decide to send me an e-mail, and I will try to do my best and reply.

Hope everybody had a happy, pain-free (or at least not as much pain) Thanksgiving!

Caroline.

Caroline <eniloracdnalloh@hotmail.com>
Friday, November 23, 2001 at 00:45:18

Does anyone here get dizziness without getting a headache? I can be just fine and then all of a sudden I get dizzy feeling. It seems to come and go. Sometimes I get a headache with it and sometimes not. I have had an mri and ct scan both neg. A little over a year ago. I also suffer from anxiety. Can anyone relate to this.

Thanks,

Dawn

Dawn <deboltpat@yahoo.com>
Thursday, November 22, 2001 at 09:03:31

Wow! I was doing a web search to find a former coworker, and this
page came up.

I'm a second generation migraine sufferer, unmedicated at this point
and heading into another winter where the nausea and auras will
be frequent events. It seems that all the chronic issues I have
(arthritis, asthma, carpal) seem to get worse this time of year.

I am curious to see if others have had this problem...
I started having severe vertigo this past February, room spinning,
barely could walk and severe nausea. I went through the normal
medicines, with no improvement. I had an MRI, which came up negative.
Here I am, nine months later, with benign positional vertigo.

It doesn't seem to be linked to the migraines, however, since the onset
of the vertigo, I've had many more migraines than I used to. It used to be that
I'd have 1 to 2 migraines a month, now it's more like 1 to 2 a week.

If anyone else has experienced this, please feel free to email me.
My doctor is wonderful, but she's exhausted everything short of a
neurology consult. I've avoided that because I can't swing the
astronomical fees that will happen if I go to one.

Thanks to anyone who can share some insights!

Suzanne

Suzanne <IamaPoohnatic@netscape.net>
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 at 02:18:21

I was interested to read the various entries re migraine. I have been at my wits end these days as have not been able to obtain my regular medicine due to moving country.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else knows of Avmigran (ergotamine) which I was able to get in Cyprus while working there and over the counter! When I told this to a doctor in the UK, he almost hit the roof and stopped me taking it saying I could have a stroke. This was the only effective medicine after 20 years of suffering approx. 6 days out of every month, wasted.

Now I am in Canada and trying to get the med. sumpatriptan which costs $77 for four tablets. As I don't have a job yet, this is virtually impossible. There must be a better way.

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has heard or tried ERGOTAMINE or who has any other info. about it.

elisabeth atesh <elisates@yahoo.com>
Monday, November 19, 2001 at 23:13:20

My sister told me about this site, and I am so glad it's here! I am 31 years old and, like my younger sister, have suffered from migraine headaches my entire life. I was put on codeine at the age of 8 and have gone through the gamut of pain medications and inhibitors. Some of course work better than others, but I am constantly hoping for a cure.
It is such a huge relief to find others out there who know what this is like: the loss of days of your life, missing work and important personal events, being told you may have an drug problem because you have to keep demanding something stronger, frightening friends with your screams and pleads for death, the guilt, the hallucinations, the nausea, the dizziness, the screaming mi-mis and, most of all, the horribly excrutiating pain.
My boyfriend never dealt with migraine headaches before he met me, and he has been very supportive and caring. The one thing he doesn't understand is why there is no cure or more talk of a cure for something that is so debilitating and strikes so many. I honestly don't know.
This site is a wonderful forum for discussing treatments and, importantly, sharing experiences. I literally started crying when I read through some of the short stories and poems. It is such a relief to know that there are so many others out there who realize that it's not just tension headaches or laziness or hypochondria; that's it's not drug addiction or bad diet or not enough exercise; to know what it's like to make every lifestyle change, to try every medicine and "cure", to keep telling yourself "it's all in my head, it's all in my head" and it still doesn't stop. You can only hope that there's plenty of time before the next one to re-visit your life again.

Thank you so much for having this site and for the honest postings and advice.

Rewrite <dawright@kern.org>
Saturday, November 17, 2001 at 03:57:01

Its good to know you arent alone with the trials you go through with these horrible headaches. I have cluster headaches (or cluster migraines, not sure which they are, the doctor called them cluster migraines) and at times I feel very alone. People at work think its a joke, and that I am just using my headaches as an excuse to miss work. Little do they realize how much I would rather be feeling well, and be at work.
People also find it rather odd how I can be in horrible pain, writhing about and squeezing my head, and then when it goes away, look and act like I could take on the world. My only answer to them is that I feel euphoric when the headaches are gone, because I am no longer in pain. When I have these attacks, I have woken up in the middle of the night (even though I am a heavy sleeper) on all fours, screaming and trying to shove my head through the headboard of the bed to ease the pain, with my wife in tears trying to pull my back from the headboard, not knowing what else to do. But again, I felt alone in my pain, and seeing others here, gives me a sense of peace, in an odd respect. I know I am not the only one dealing with this, and it eases the mind. Thanks for having me, and letting me vent a little bit! :)

Ray <JediRiff@aol.com>
Friday, November 16, 2001 at 15:54:56