My Rollercoaster Ride!

I couldn’t tell you when my migraines started. I had what I thought were really bad headaches a couple times of the year when I was in my teens. My senior year I went to a chiropractor for the first time. I have classic scoliosis plus I had a few car minor accidents. Between Chiropractors and Licensed Massage Therapist the headaches were tolerable and I could live with it.

As the years progressed the migraines came a little more often and would hurt a little more. About 5 years ago, at the age of 35, I went back to school. I had always wanted to be a Licensed Massage Therapist. Even after all the massages and treatments from classmates and co-workers it just wasn’t helping.

My family doctor has been truly wonderful in trying to help. She has went beyond her call of duty when I could not get anyone else to listen. She instructed me about neurologist and headaches specialist. She even recommended rheumatologist. Like everyone I have had the CT’s, Xray’s, MRI’s, blood work, LP’s and even a Temporal Artery Biopsy. The biopsy was negative but the rheumatologist still treated me for Temporal Arteritis. After 6 months of steroids I still had migraines. As recommended, I got a second opinion.

Over the last year the migraines have surpassed everything! They last for days at a time instead of hours. Riding in a car, showers, actually laying my head down of a night hurts and putting on makeup can hurt at times.

About 3 weeks ago I had about 3 day break between a 9 day migraine. I had been on a high dose of steroids, anti- inflammatory, and finally pain meds because the triptans were not helping. I had worked the day before. Felt horrible but kept on going. By the time I came home my head felt like it was literally going to explode off the right side of my head. I noticed that my sense of taste was a little off as I tried to eat a little something. I decided to brush it off. The next day though I couldn’t. My sense of taste was gone and I started to have numbness on the right side of my face. I knew that an ER visit was in the works.

After a battery of test, everything came back normal except for a high white count. Which could have been caused by the steroids. It was decided I needed to stay the night just for observation. More test and more unanswered questions.

Since that day I have been off work. After a week I tried to go back and ended up all night with a migraine. I knew then that God was telling me something. Over the last 3 weeks I have had fewer migraines but they still come back. Just like today, I couldn’t stand the thought of getting in the shower to wash my hair. It is like a vague feeling lurking but hasn’t manifested into anything. I’m taking it day by day waiting on an appointment for my first Botox treatment and my short term disability insurance to come through. Hopefully I will soon be living a little better life with fewer migraines.