I literally feel your pain!

I am so sorry for everything you are going through but you are not alone. My migraines started in my 20's, no big deal 2-3 a year. As I got older, they slowly got more frequent with increase in pain and duration. Til finally in my early 40's they were every day, my son (age 10-12), called them "Bob" and knew exactly what to do when I would get home from work & it was bad. While I took my meds (Fiorinal w/codeine), changed my clothes, he would make me toast & lay down by me & gently rub my back. He is such a great kid, he has been through all of this with me and so has my husband, his job requires him to work long hours, so Luke & I spent alot of time just him & me.

Things progressed til I had to quit work and was fortunate enough to get my disability approved on my initial application which I did on my own. I was also fortunate to have an excellent Neurologist and an excellent Migraine specialist. It just seemed like everything they tried didn't work or made me loopy. I was always begging my Neuro to put me in a coma for a couple months and maybe the pain would stop when I awoke, he wouldn't try. That is how desperate this pain makes you.

I have tried thousands of med combinations, physical therapy, biofeedback, massage therapy and even have an Occipital nerve transmittor implanted. Finally they reffered me to a pain specialist after they used up all they're tricks. She has been wonderful but it still is not an easy road, I do see some improvement in pain and more so with some new self-injections when I notice my pain accelating and it seems to last for several days. I do still have bad days, but as she explains that will problably never stop, as I will probably never work again. My pain doc is a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), she can do anything as a MD but does use manipulations as a therapy option. When I asked about a chiropactor, which I have always been leery of, she said that there is really only one type of adjustment for migraines and not only does it rarely work, it is hard to find a chiropactor who knows how to do it correctly. And she would not reccomend it.

I am so grateful to have such a supportive husband & son to take care of me. I do have difficulty with my siblings understanding the situation. I wish you much luck in your migraine journey. Not know where you live, I would reccomend locating a Migraine specialist, on My Migraine Connection & MAGNUM, both sites list specialist all over the country. I might also recommend trying to find a pain specialist, some times listed as Physical Medicine and/or Pain Associate that will manage migraine patients, not all will. One pointer I can give you on your disablity paper work is not to list migraine as your primary diagnosis, use depression or any other mental disorder that has been documented on anyone of your md's charts. I have been told that a specific cause will probably never be found and I am in that 1% of patinets not responding to conventional therapy, sounds like you might fit into that category. If I can be of any assistance, even just a sounding board, please, please use me. Just remember YOU ARE NOT ALONE!