Comorbidity diagnosis
I am a 37 yo female who has suffered with migraines for over twenty years. In my twenties I suffered from daily migraines but was able to get it back to episodic after several years. I’m now back at a chronic level and on Botox, Emgality and a beta blocker. My main question is for those of you with comorbidities how did you figure this out? I have many symptoms such as fatigue, all over body pain, insomnia, anxiety, GI symptoms that I know can all be explained by chronic migraine but I can’t help wondering if there is more to it. I I’ve talked to my doctor and neurologist in the past but TBH I know I tend to downplay my difficulties because I fear being seen as an exaggerator/desiring pain meds. And I’ve been treated as such before. This isn’t even what I’m looking for just feel like I keep modifying my life more and more and the pain/fatigue isn’t improving. I feel like at my age I should be able to exercise or at least clean without triggering these symptoms..thank you for listening and while this is my first post I’ve been a reader for many years and this is the one website that makes me feel validated and not so crazy from some of the things I deal with!
good morning and thank you for having the courage to ask!! I am glad that you have been following for years and that you find great help here. Like you said, it can be hard to decipher if it is something else. I have a lot of comorbidities as well. For me, when one of my other conditions flares up, it does affect the migraines and vice versa. As you stated, fatigue is a big problem with those with migraine. You definitely are not alone. I wanted to share an article by another in regards to her fatigue: https://migraine.com/living-migraine/chronic-fatigue-syndrome. Maybe that will give you some tips. One more article is from the editorial team about fatigue and the stages of migraine: https://migraine.com/migraine-symptoms/fatigue.
I also wanted to ask if you keep a record of the symptoms: when it happened, what were you doing, where were you, etc. I was diagnosed with migraine first. Years later, I started having GI symptoms. I started seeing a gastroenterologist. They did determine I had a stomach disorder. I think it may be helpful seeing providers that specialize in those symptoms. I also started seeing an internal medicine doctor to help get to the bottom. I hope that all this is helpful for you. Hang in there. Feel free to continue to visit the site and ask whatever you need!! (Tonya, migraine.com contributor).
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with symptoms and not feeling seen or heard by your doctors. I have had migraine since 7 years old and took an integrative approach to managing them - I welcomed conventional medicine and I also did a lot with diet and lifestyle to help reduce the frequency and intensity of them. Later when I was in my mid thirties, I was under a tremendous amount of stress - my mom was passing from a 10 year battle of cancer - and my headaches changed. I was getting more excursion headaches when working out, which I never had before. Because of the stress I was under, I didn't want to ignore new symptoms, so I made an appointment with my neurologist and she ordered a routine MRI. That MRI showed lesions on my brain that were reflective of MS, versus migraine. It turns out excursion headaches weren't related to MS, but they just happened to prompt the need for the MRI. I later got a spinal tap and additional MRIs all of which confirmed my MS diagnosis. So for me, we stumbled upon it in a routine MRI.
Outside of that, I know that I did have leaky gut and in my experience, that can be connected to fatigue, food sensitive, headaches and a host of other "random" symptoms. So if you're feeling like you're having GI issues, that could be something to explore. It's not widely discussed in conventional medicine, but there's a lot of information online that you can learn about it.
Please know that all of this information is just from my personal experience and opinion, I don't have a medical background. I'm just sharing my personal story as it seems like that's what you're looking to hear right now.Keep us posted on how you're doing.
Best
Alene, Migraine.com Team MemberThank you both for your reply! I am good about logging my migraines but not my other symptoms so I will start there.
I hear you about downplaying symptoms - I do that as well. It's hard to admit out loud we aren't feeling well and need help. Letting the doctor know our quality of life is negatively impacted by how we feel is important, although not easy. I think this is my biggest downfall. You aren't alone, we get it and are here for you.There are lots of different ways one can document attacks and symptoms. There are a number of apps out there many find useful as well as old school paper and pen! Here is a good overview on keeping a diary I hope you find beneficial; https://migraine.com/blog/keeping-migraine-diary-basics.
Please let me know what you think and I'm sending you pain free wishes, Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator Migraine.com Team MemberI'm glad that you found the conversation helpful. That's what I love about this community, we can connect with people who get it. And yes, logging the symptoms can definitely help give you more information and possibly make some connections that could even lead to some relief for you. Keep us posted on how you do!
Best
Alene, Migraine.com Team Member
Thanks yall!
