A Migraineur's life
I began having migraines in 1995. I was working as a tax manager in a very stressful corporate environment and decided to quit in 1996. However, even with less stress my migraines got worse and became daily. I began seeing a headache specialist and after numerous years moved on to different headache clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area. Unless you have had a migraine you can’t understand how it feels. On a pain scale of 1 to 10, my normal day would be between a 4 and 6. I went for almost 20 years without knowing what it felt like not to have a migraine. I missed many fun events with family and friends and got to the point that scheduling something was impossible. When the pain got to a 7 or greater I went to emergency room to bring the pain back down to my normal level, 4-6. I would try anything a doctor recommended out of desperation. I became severely depressed! I had no life. I tried all types of medications (abortive and preventative), Botox (before and after FDA approval), nerve block, in-patient hospital stays for DHE (2 times for 5 nights each time), alternative medicine, various diets, nutritional supplements, Chinese medicine, massage, chiropractic, bio-feedback, and a Cefaly device I purchased from Canada before it was FDA approved. I lived on pain and nausea meds for a long time but nothing helped the unimaginable pain keeping me in bed. I won’t even get in to the horrifying sides effects from medications I’ve experienced. After all this nothing helped but I kept reading more books about migraines and treatments and doing researching on the internet. Thankfully, (from my pets Veterinarian) in early 2013 I learned about neuro-stimulator implants at the Reed Migraine Center in Dallas Texas. I flew there for a seminar, came back for a one week trial and had the permanent implant put in July 18, 2013. I paid out of pocket for this since my insurance would not cover it. It was worth every penny! I got my life back! It’s not a cure but a way to manage my daily migraines. Now that I can function as a real person again I am volunteering my time as the accountant for the non-profit organization Miles for Migraines. I would like to give back to help raise money for migraine research to hopefully one day find a cure to the mystery. Migraines are not just a headache!
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