Living with Migraine

I started getting migraines in high school, I would get an aura, and I’d have about 20 minutes to find meds. I tried Darvocet which worked for a few years, I would only get one every six months or so.

Then my migraines changed, I started getting them more often in college, about every three months or so. They lasted much longer, and the Darvocet didn’t work at all any longer. I tried Midrin, which made me sluggish and incoherent, but I didn’t care, because at least I could open my eyes and not feel the throbbing as much. I didn’t like the way it made my chest feel, like there was a band around it. But it was affordable and made the pain more bearable.

After college, when I was about 23, they changed again, they were stronger, lasted longer, about 12 hours a shot. I tried corticosteroid shots because the after-headaches lasted days. I went to four family doctors because I was getting one or two migraines a week and I couldn’t afford to miss any more work. The causes in their opinions ranged from hormones to genes, to triggers (like chocolate, fatigue, stress, time of the month)

It was like a snowball effect when I would get one, it would get broken up by medications but I would never really shake it loose. I took Depakote to prevent them, but the side effects made my hair thin out, and I gained 15 pounds, but the weight gain may have been caused in some part by the inactivity because of the migraines. I took Norgesic Forte for the after-migraine headaches which helped quite a bit. I tried Maxalt, Vicodin, a low-tyramine diet, and kept a headache calendar.

My migraines changed at 24, I rarely got an aura before the pain struck, but I would definitely feel funky, irritable, and tired before one struck. Imitrex worked the best, if I had a cup of coffee with it. The rebound/after migraine headaches were followed up with a multivitamin and the Norgesic Forte. But I still got them often, and the insurance premiums and costs were unbelievable.

I tried chiropractic therapy and got free treatment after I agreed to manage the office part time, and that actually helped alleviate the frequency of occurrences, and by that time I had found a family doctor that was very supportive of a team approach in conjunction with the chiropractic therapy.

My migraines are always like a locomotive, like a heavy train that once it starts, and gets going, it’s really hard to stop it and the best way to stop it is to try and slow it down - to stop the engine driving it, which is was what chiropractic did. The neurologist and family physician helped slow and stop the pain if the migraine hit anyway.

I still get migraines, but they’re back down to once every four to six months or so. They last about eight hours without meds if I miss the window. I can usually tell way before one comes now, and once I know it’s coming it’s easier to predict when I need to take my medication. But now, when I take an Imitrex, it stops dead in its tracks much, much sooner, and there’s no after headache.

I’ve also noticed after doing the low-tyramine diet that the highest risk of getting a migraine is right before my period, the few days before and after I get it I avoid alcohol, aged cheese, and chinese food. That usually lowers the chance I’ll get one.

What’s helped the most for me was the chiropractic, getting at least 30 minutes of cardio in three or four times a week and light weights, knowing what to avoid at what times, and figuring out which meds worked the best. It’s frustrating and depressing trying new meds and new doctors, but you’ve got to keep trying. I felt like some of my doctors didn’t take me seriously, so I changed physicians several times which was the scariest part, the worst of which was the letdown when the meds didn’t work, but I kept trying. I have a wonderful family doctor, a neurologist, and a chiropractor that work together as a result. Maybe some people can get the same result with just one talented doctor, I just felt much better after figuring out what worked best for me.

I hope my story helps somebody. Just keep trying to find what works for you.