Introduction and history
Hi, I'm an 80 year old male and I just joined the forum. I suffered severe migraines frequently from age 11 to age 55. It was familial from my mother's side of the family. My attacks, never with aura, usually lasted for a full day, with weakness and then euphoria for another day. The most effective preventative I found was propanalol but I could not take high doses for complete prevention due to it causing dangerously low heart rate. My migraines ended when I fell backwards down my attic ladder onto a concrete garage floor. I suffered a severe concussion (no fracture), the effects of which (vertigo, tinnitus, hearing loss, inability to do higher level math like percentages, and suicidal depression) lasted for nearly two years. Except for total hearing loss in one ear, I completely recovered. I don't recommend this technique to anyone for ending migraines. I kept my migraines secret from all but a few trusted colleagues while I was an officer in the Air Force and Air National Guard for 22 years to avoid medical discharge. I also had a successful career in the health care field, again due to support from a few trusted colleagues. I could not have made it without the loving support of my wife of 56 years who took me to the ER countless times for the blessed relief of demerol injections. My message: Never give up hope because there is a rewarding life and support out there.
Wow! Thank you for taking the time to share your story with us. It must have felt like such a miracle to have your migraines disappear after going through a traumatic brain injury.
Did the doctors provide you any information as to how this fall stopped your migraines? Something must have changed in your brain when you fell. I'd be so curious to hear what they said! - Cody (Team Member)
Hi
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and joining the conversation. It's so interesting how a blow to the head impacts us. When I sustained a "mild" TBI it totally changed the course of my life, and not for the better.
Good to hear you are doing well and thank you for your support!
Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator (team member)Thanks for the replies. My neurologist characterized my TBI injuries as primarily due to "diffuse axonal injury or shear (DAI)" which does not always show up clearly in imaging studies so is treated according to symptoms. He categorized my TBI as mild because it didn't cause "serious" deficits, coma, or death! He thought the disappearance of my migraines could have been coincidental to my age (55) as he stated that migraines beginning in childhood often lessen with age but he couldn't rule out the effects of the TBI. Conversely, he said that my age slowed down my recovery from DAI. He also believed my severe depression was primarily due to my reaction to my executive function deficits as a mid-level health care manager and clinician. Especially troublesome was my temporary inability to carry out and understand budgeting plans and surveys for my growing department. In fact, I thought at the time I would be willing to have my migraines back if I could better function at my job. A special "BiCros" hearing aid which relayed sound from my "dead" ear to my better but also impaired ear did allow me to participate successfully in regular clinical manager meetings with the hospital director and his staff. My boss, the hospital Chief of Staff, an MD pathologist, was very supportive and helped me get through my recovery. In fact, he wanted to help me write a clinical paper about my experience but my emotions were too raw at that time to be objective.
I hear you! As I mentioned there way nothing "mild" about my 1996 TBI in my opinion. It disrupted my executive function as well and as a former multi-tasker its been a challenge to find my new normal all these years later.
I think if and when you're ready a clinical paper would be very beneficial!! Keep us posted? Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator (team member)
Thanks for your service,
. It's a difficult road to walk, and harder still when you can't be honest about your physical health. I hope you have good medical care now. And what a gift to have such a supportive wife beside you for all of those years. I am sure it made all the difference for you. Yours is a unique story for sure -- glad to have you here with us! -Melissa, team member
