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Good Ol Migraines

Hello all,

I have been waiting to post something about getting migraines, but here it goes.

As a kid (currently 35) i maybe got 1 or 2 migraines a year starting at age 14. They were bad (throwing up, blurry vision, pounding headache for 2 days), but it wasn't that often so big deal. Fast forward to Oct. 2019. I remember it well, I go my first migraine in about 3 years but it wasn't to bad. Lasted about a hour, then I was fine. The next day I got another one similar to the one the day before. This was the first time I have ever gotten them on back to back days. I went 3 months before I got the next one, which was the exactly same thing, back to back days. Then, on the March 1st started the flurry of Migraines. I got 20 that month, followed by another 18 the next month. This went on for 4 months, having more headache days than good days.

I went to see my doctor. They did scans and blood work and sent me off to a specialist. I was started on Emgality which took my migraines from 15-20 a month down to about 8. It also took down the severity of them as well. I was on this for 1 year, but I noticed by the end of the month, it seemed the medicine was wearing off, so I switched to Ajovy. I have been on that ever since, and its hit or miss. I should say, I do have eye floaties and I do have issues with my c3-c7 verts in my neck which does cause neck pain. I also have had 2 rounds of botox (not noticing any results from that)

I can go as long as 2 months without a migraine or i can get 4-8 in a month, its sooooo inconsistent. I will have to say, my Migraines are not bad. I always get Aura wit them, usually last about 45 mins, and I usually only have a slight headache when its over. So for that, I am grateful for, but it still is getting old.

That is my current situation in a nut shell, which is a lot of info. I guess I am finally getting all of this out there in hopes of learning something new. Its just crazy to me that all of a sudden I go from maybe 10ish in my entire life to almost 100 in a year. Some wires have to be crossing, I just cant seem to figure it out.

  1. Thank you for joining the migraine.com community and posting in the forum! We are glad to have you here. Migraine disease is sort of tricky. It affects each of us in different ways and can be very individualistic. I'm glad you have sought out treatment. This is helpful in getting the disease managed before it has a chance to become chronic. The CGRP class of drugs has been helpful to many people. My husband started on Ajovy and then had to switch to Emgality due to insurance issues. Like you, he has noticed the pain piece of his attack cycles are less severe, but the effects wane around the third week. His worst attacks are generally during the fourth week before the next injection. He also uses Nurtec as an abortive and a Nerivio device to help get through any attacks that break through. Migraine will commonly change and morph over time, too. This makes managing it challenging at times. The crossed wires is a good way to describe this neurological disease. Your brain get short circuited, lol. Are you tracking your attack cycles in any way? This is a great tool to help you and your doctor find patterns that can help you be proactive in managing attack cycles. I'll give you a couple of links to articles you may find helpful as you go along on the journey. Please keep in touch! Warmly, Cheryl migraine.com team.
    https://migraine.com/migraine-treatment/what-are-cgrps
    https://migraine.com/devices
    https://migraine.com/living-migraine/interictal-phase-between-attacks
    https://migraine.com/blog/keeping-migraine-diary-basics


    1. Welcome!! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. You're not alone - migraine can be frustrating and frankly exhausting to live with.
      Try not to lose hope, there are over 100 medications, supplements, devices, complementary therapies and lifestyle modifications that can be used to treat migraine disease and most of us are on a combination of these. gave you great information on devices and here is information on where to start with prevention medications;
      https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-preventives-start.

      Botox can take three, maybe four rounds for some of us before we see a reduction in migraine frequency and severity. It's vital that the health care provider be an expert in the Botox migraine protocol. I've heard from many who don't see results this may be a result of not following the migraine protocol. I've noticed a huge difference in practitioner administration. Have you seen our information on Botox? https://migraine.com/video/video-of-botox-injections. I've noticed a huge difference in practitioner administration.
      Speaking of practitioners, it may be time to see out help from a doctor who is a true expert in treating migraine and headache disease. These doctors are different from general neurologists as they are certified in headache medicine, all neurologists are not. General neurologists may be fine doctors but have a hard time being experts in one area because they treat many conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's and more. A true migraine/headache disease doctor treats migraine and headache all day, every day. Here is more information on how these doctors are different and how to find one;
      https://migraine.com/blog/really-find-headache-specialist/
      https://migraine.com/living-migraine/neurologist-vs-specialist
      https://migraine.com/living-migraine/change-thoughts-new-care. I've found seeing an expert doctor can have a huge impact in our care.
      Please let me know what you think and I'm wishing you a low pain day, Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator Migraine.com Team

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