The Dizzy Life

I began having symptoms of migraine 2 years ago, right after I turned 25. At first there were subtle signs. I would feel this weird pressure behind my eyes. Not painful, just pressure but it was really annoying. I ignored this as I thought I maybe had eye strain from being on the computer too long every day at work. Then I started to feel light-headed too. After that I realized that I had this weird sensation where I felt like my brain couldn't keep up with what my eyes were seeing. Like I couldn't process information almost. I would also mix up words often. Then came the worst symptom of all: VERTIGO.

Finding words to explain my feelings

I had never felt vertigo in my life so I was really scared. It just got worse and worse and every day it would change. Some days I felt like I was rocking in a boat; but then other days I felt like I was spinning. All of this made me nauseous. I went to my PCP who diagnosed me with Vertigo. She said if I did the vertigo exercises and rested that it would all go away on its own. It didn't. It actually got worse. So I went back to her again. This time she diagnosed me with sinus issues due to past sinus infections. She also said anxiety could be making it worse. So she prescribed me an anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, and a medication for anxiety. These also did absolutely nothing. All my symptoms were just getting worse. Months of this and I was to the point where I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't go to work. My life had pretty much stopped and I was just "there". I went to my PCP a few more times, had a head CT done and they found nothing. So I took to the internet. Through some research of my own, I found out that a lot of my symptoms could be related to migraines.

Speaking up for yourself in the exam room

So I mentioned this to my doctor and she prescribed a migraine preventative medication. This seemed to help a little but not enough, so she referred me to a neurologist. After seeing my neurologist and getting a clear MRI, I finally got the diagnosis of Vestibular Migraines. This was a total of about 6 months after my initial migraine symptoms. With my neurologist, it took a combination of trying a number of different preventative medications, a birth control change(no estrogen now), and Botox injections all together to finally make a difference. I'm at about 80% normal now and I am so thankful that I found the right preventative combination and have a great neurologist! I still struggle sometimes and definitely have bad days, but I'm so much better now! I can't believe how much migraines can change one's life!