From chronic to constant
I've suffered from migraines since 1997. In or around 2000 they went chronic (3-5 days of migraine a week.) this past April they went constant. My abortives quit working. I had to go out on disability from work. I'm bi-polar2. In the past I have tried preventatives, to no avail, all sorts of anti seizure drugs, anti-depressants and numerous abortives.
Through this round I have tried the mayo clinic, massage, physical therapy, pain management, MRI, MRA, MR vena, psychotherapy, and biofeedback.
No tests have showed anything irregular. Where I so wished they would come back and say "ah, we found this wrong with you" so I don't continue to feel like a loser. When people can't see the reason for your pain, they don't understand it, and eventually think you're faking it.
I want to go back to work. I want to not be in pain. I want my life back.
I just don't know where to go from here.
Hi trblankenship,
I'm sorry are seeing an increase in migraine frequency. It's not uncommon to have our migraine patterns change and it's good to hear you're working on this with your doctors. You aren't a "loser", rather someone who has a genetic neurological disorder along with 38 million other people. There is no imaging or blood test to diagnose migraine, so most of the time our tests come back normal, which is a good thing. You are correct, many times people don't, can't or are simply ignorant about migraine.
Chronic migraine is defined at having 15 or more days a month of migraine and/or tension-type head pain; https://migraine.com/migraine-basics/chronic-migraine-overview/. Here are a few thoughts on chronic migraine I'd like to share with you; https://migraine.com/blog/changes-view-chronic-migraine/. Sometimes it is helpful to make down the days we don't have pain to have a more accurate picture of what's going on with our migraine.
An important thing about migraine is trigger identification and management and I'm not sure doctors spend enough time on this during our visits. Some people are triggered by certain foods, lights, odors, changes in the barometric pressure, dehydration, changes in sleeping patterns and many others. A few of my triggers are becoming dehydrated, changes in my sleep patterns, raw onions, red wine and others I can't think of at the momen! Let me share information with you on triggers; https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-management-essential-trigger-management/.
I noticed you've seen plenty of doctors, but I wonder if any of them have been board certified in headache medicine which is different than being board certified in neurology. And not all migraine/headache experts are the same, meaning we may need to try a few before we find the one! Let me share information with you regarding what makes these doctors so special and how to find one; https://migraine.com/blog/how-are-migraine-specialists-different/ and https://migraine.com/blog/looking-for-a-migraine-specialist/.
Mental health issues like anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder can be comorbid with migraine meaning they can occur at the same time but are not caused by one another. Here is information on this; https://migraine.com/blog/migraines-mental-health-awareness-2013/
I hope this is helpful,
Nancy
