Specialists in Michigan?

Hi Terry,

I definitely agree making the move to see a headache specialist will hopefully help clear things up for you. It can be difficult with so many opinions on what may be wrong. Have any migraine specific medications (such as imitrex, maxalt, or other triptans) proved helpful for you at any point?

Weather can definitely be a migraine trigger, especially changes in the weather. True sinus headaches are actually pretty rare. There are other conditions that can cause face pain, too, such as trigeminal neuralgia.

You can read a bit about diagnosing migraine headache here: https://migraine.com/blog/diagnosing-migraine/

I do not live in Michigan so cannot personally recommend anyone. However, we have a page on our site that has resources to help find some: https://migraine.com/blog/looking-for-a-migraine-specialist/

Also, maybe someone else will be able to recommend someone.

Anyway, good luck 1qt5art and I hope you get to the bottom of this!

Be well,
Lisa

Hi Terry,

You may want to look at the Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute or MHNI. A member of my local migraine/headache disorder support group goes there and has had a dramatic improvement in her attack frequency and severity.

I've met Dr. Saper,who is the director of the MHNI and he is compassionate and caring. He has seen some of the most severe migraine patients around and been able to help many of them. We also have information on MHNI in our discussion forum you can find with this link; https://migraine.com/find/michigan/.

Let us know how you make out,
Nancy

Hi Lisa and Nancy,

Thanks for your replies and suggestions.
My internist wanted me to take a stress test before prescribing Imitrex. I wanted first to see IF these were migraines before taking the meds. I had to see an ENT for another issue (the ear ringing), asked him his opinion and he said no- he didn't think they were migraines. So I consulted with a general neurologist who wanted me to get an MRI, but he DID think these were migraines. But he only met with me for about 10 minutes, tops.

I figured it was time to see a specialist and not fool around with doctors who might not know what is going on. The neurologist actually DID give me a script for Imitrex, but he scared me so badly, I never tried it- he said if I got ANY chest pains at all, to call him immediately. Well, I don't have a great cardiac history, as my dad dropped dead of a heart attack at 43 and his dad and brother died young of heart attacks as well.

So my thinking was to first find out what this is before playing around with the meds. What does help about 50% of the time, if I catch them early, is Advil + decongestion meds + nasal nose spray. The other complication is that I have GERD, so I hate taking the Advil.

My grandmother had debilitating migraines. My dad (her son) had what he called sinus headaches and I think my symptoms are like his were- all in the face, (side of the nose for me, sometimes traveling up to my eye). I have memories of him putting a towel over his head and inhaling steam from a boiling pot of water.

In my search this past week, MHNI has come up twice from friends of mine, so I think that's the way to go. I'm only 45 minutes from Ann Arbor. My headaches, thankfully, aren't as severe or as crippling as what I'm reading here, but they definitely affect my quality of life.

Thanks for your helpful feedback- I'll give Saper's group a call.

Terry