40 and still living with Migraine
I started this roller coaster of life when I was in my 20's. At the time I worked at a healthcare group and my regular doctor was on staff. I felt as though I was a weekly, if not at times a daily patient. At the time Imitrex was the it drug of choice for doctors to use. However I found that it only made matters worse. Not only did my migraine not go away, it got worse and I also felt as though I was having a heart attack. This is when I became a drug guinea pig. I was prescribed every type of drug they could think of, and nothing seemed to work. Then along came Topamax; which worked until I found out I was pregnant. I had to stop all medications and hope for the best. My migraines seemed to ease off, but the pregnancy presented it's own problems and I was quite sick most of the time. I lost my job in my eighth month and ended up not working for the next 7 months.
When I returned to work, at a new job, my migraines were pretty much gone. I spent the next 2 years thinking I had beat them. Boy was I wrong! They came back, but were workable. I pushed through the pain and all my lovely side effects; light, sound and smell sensitivity, nausea and numbness. Doctors again could find no drug combination that would work. Even the Topamax didn't work.
Along comes August 2011 - It was shortly after my work day started, and I could feel the onset of another migraine. I took the meds I had to hopefully keep it at bay enough so that I could make it through the day. About 45 minutes later I experienced the scariest thing I had ever had - my whole right side went numb and I could barely talk. 911 was called and I was rushed to the hospital with what was being thought off as a stroke. I was terrified. An MRI was done and came back clear. No stroke! But I was told that I was experiencing a massive migraine. Up until this point I thought I had experienced the worst pain possible, and never thought it could get worse. That day showed I had been wrong.
I have been on medical leave ever since, and have had many attacks just like the one that day. I now get migraines more often than not. Doctors keep trying all they can, including Botox, but I still get no relief. I am a shell of what I once was. Even on my good days, which are few and far between, I live in fear of my next migraine. I have a 10 year old daughter who has had to suffer as well. She has had to miss out on school events and fun trips because I had a migraine.
Friends and family have tried to understand but how can they understand something I don't! I get tips all the time of them on things they read or saw on TV. As though I just sit not trying everything I can already.
My hope is that someday I can get to where I only get maybe one or two a month. It used to be that they were gone, but at this point any relief would help!
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