Today marks three months without a debilitating migraine headache.
Many would shrug and say, eh, what’s a little headache - buck up cowboy. But these are not people who have had real migraine. Real migraine basically says, “You, my friend, are my bitch for today, so clear your calendar and stand up straight.” It then puts your head in a clamp and goes and plays a round of golf. For that day, at least, your life is not your own.
Migraine, for me, started around 6-8 years ago. It was not so bad at first, one or two a month. I wasn’t surprised because my mom and sister had these also. Furthermore, I suffered from kerataconus, a progressive eye condition that was making my vision change. I thought it was all related. I took aspirin (total fail) and made it through.
Progression
But then the frequency increased to weekly, then twice weekly, and even daily. As it happened I withdrew from friends and family. To attend meetings and live a normal life, I had to take a powerful, yet miraculous drug called Imitrex very regularly. But if you take Imitrex all the time it stops working, and it causes migraines to get worse. The only thing that would get rid of my migraine was Imitrex or sleep, but Migraine caused insomnia, and sleeping at 2 in the afternoon was not always practical. I kept a migraine diary and tried eliminating potential triggers from my diet, such as aspartame and MSG. I went to a pain “specialist” and tried biofeedback, such as hand-warming visualization. Nothing worked.
Migraine, even when they’re only mid-level, are excruciating. While you can teach yourself to ignore the pain of a mid-level, it affects your concentration and generally worsens as the day progresses. And you begin to look for comfort, such as eating sweet foods or drinking coffee. The other thing is that they come in massive cycles. One day, I felt great and was highly productive. The next day, I was head down on my desk for hours and couldn’t answer the phone. For the days when I felt fine, I was fearful the headache would come back – possibly during a critical client meeting. So I’d usually take an Imitrex as a “preventative” which really isn’t the best idea.
The Path Through Pharmaceuticals
Around three months’ ago, my college roommate mentioned, in a Facebook post, he was taking a new of medicine, called Propranodol HCL. I had never heard of it. I had tried at least five different kinds of migraine prevention medicine but all of them had unpleasant side effects and didn’t prevent the migraine. My Doctor had never mentioned this new class of medicines to me. But upon my suggestion, she suggested that I try a newer version of the medicine called Metoprolol Succinate Extended Release and we began to adjust dosage.
Miracles
With migraine gone, the whole world brightens. I feel like exercising and being around people. While I’ve always been very good at what I do, I am enjoying my work again. I’ve even started thinking about hobbies.
If you’re suffereing from Migraine, please, do the research and suggest things to your Doctor. There is an art of medicine, so I don’t blame my physician for missing this – and I thank her for working with me. If your doctor refuses to suggest new strategies and just keeps renewing the pain killers, get help from someone. There might be a solution out there.
Resources
Have a look at this amazing slide show on the New York Times. Some of the art is beautiful, and familiar.
Here are some other folks who write about it online.
- photo: tara hunt
