Has your doctor told you to stop taking medication?

Hello to all. I’ve been a lurker here for years. I started having migraines about 35 years ago. My PCP diagnosed me with classic migraines. Through the years, they’ve gotten much worse. I have seen a neurologist as well. After much trial with different medications, my neurologist prescribed an anti-seizure medication, as well as a triptan, plus anti-nausea medication. For years, these worked well. However, as time passed, the preventative stopped working altogether. I discontinued using them. I also began seeing my PCP to treat my migraines.

Fast forward to today. My PCP retired, and I felt like my neurologist shuffled me to his PA. My migraines are on a whole different level as well. They’ve gotten much worse. My rescue meds still work, but 99% of the time, the migraine comes back. I’ve had a couple that last about 8 days. The majority lasts 3-5 days. The nausea has gotten much worse too. The nausea is my signal that a migraine is knocking at my door. I’ve tried several of the CGRPs, and for me the side effects were just too severe. In the meantime, I found a new PCP. He’s very smart, but I just think treating migraines isn’t his strong suit. So, here’s my problem/question…my PCP has told me that when I get a migraine, I should not use any of my medications. He said that the migraines will eventually stop happening. I told him if I did that, I’d be bedridden. His response? “You might.”

Now I’ve read that if you use this method of stopping a migraine, eventually they’ll get worse. Or, worse yet, an untreated migraine could cause a stroke. He’s also cut in half the quantity of rescue meds I can get.

I kept a migraine diary, and I saw a pattern of 5-7 migraine days, then about 5-8 migraine-free days. I showed my PCP my diary. He said that even though I might have had several good migraine-free days, when I got another migraine, it’s all the same migraine. In other words:

• Day 1-5: Migraine

• Day 6-7: Migraine-free

• Day 8–14: New migraine - or the same migraine?

According to my PCP, day 8, or thereabouts, would still be the same migraine.

Has anyone else run into this way of thinking from their PCP, or neurologist? I can’t find a headache specialist near me, and where I live, it takes months to get into a new doctor. I’m sorry for the long post, but I felt background information was needed. Thank you.