Migraine Senior-No More Ginny Pig

My name is Darlene Blair, I am 62 years old and I have had migraines since I was 13 years old. The following is the history of my life with migraines. There maybe gaps in the timeline due to the fact that I am trying to tell almost 50 years of experiences but believe that the information I am giving is true and correct, even though some of it may seem unbelievable.

When I started having migraines as a teen the term migraine was not a recognized medical term but migraines were considered to be mostly an exaggeration of just a normal headache. This was 1964, and the only subscribed remedy from doctors was to take an over the counter pain reliever. This consisted of either aspirin, bufferin or Excedrin. My choice was aspirin and due to school rules I was forced to take them without water. Needless to say I was taking them by the handfuls on most days when the headache was a 10+ in severity. The result of this treatment was the aspirin burned my stomach and eliminated most or all of my natural digestive enzymes used to digest food. For the next 10 years that was my only treatment and I was forced to live in a world where there were days of being restricted to bed.

In the mid 1970’s, I found a doctor who diagnosed me with migraine headaches. He prescribed cafergot and I thought I had finally found relief. Not the case, since this drug was not only extremely addictive but overtime I built up a resistance to it. One day in 1979 I awoke with one of my worst headaches and started to take the cafergot. By mid day, I realized I had taken over 12 of them, and fell asleep. Upon awakening, I looked up the drug in a medical book and found that each pill equaled drinking a full pot of coffee. That meant I had drank 12 pots of coffee and fallen asleep. Needless to say that scared me beyond belief. I immediately through the rest of my prescription away and thought that I had lost all hope of help and relief.

A few months later, a woman I knew told me she also had migraines and that she was seeing a chiropractor who had helped her tremendously. I immediately called and made an appointment to see him. I had never gone to a chiropractor before and thought it could not hurt. This doctor was a miracle worker and one of a kind. He took a full x-ray of my body, had me fill out a medical and physical history that consisted of approximately 20 pages and then we had an hour consultation. At the end of the consultation he informed me that I had a condition called scoliosis and that was part of the cause of my migraines. The other cause was my diet. He put me on a detox program consisting of herbs and supplements that he had helped develop and informed me that I had to stop eating all foods containing any sulfates, nitrates and foods that were processed or had preservatives in it. The detox program lasted for 6 weeks and when I returned I was given another herbal program to take on a daily basis. The other part of his treatment was a form of acupressure. He used a small metal air type hand tool that he would place behind my left ear and on my left hip. He would then gently “punch” me there and then run his fingers lightly down my spine. For the first 2 months, I visited him 2 times a week and then 1 time a week for the next 3 months. After that I only visited him to get refills on my supplements and when I needed an adjustment. It was a MIRACLE. Because of Dr. Paul, I only had a migraine 3 or 4 times in the next 4 years. Those were caused any action that would cause my back to be misaligned which would restrict my spinal fluid to not flow properly. Unfortunately I have never been able to find a doctor that practices this same type of treatment or medicine even though I have tried and visited doctors who claim to provide this type of treatment but were lying.

Since then I have been trying every medication that comes out and to no avail. The only thing that helps is fiorcet. I have found that a combination of calcium and magnesium helps and a new doctor has me taking 500 mg of B-2 everyday which has really helped. My headaches have now decreased in severity and occurrences due to the B-2.

At this point in my life I am so done with being a ginny pig for the medical society to find a treatment for my migraines. I take my Firoecet as needed, my vitamins and I try to avoid the triggers that I know are killers for me. The only trigger I can not avoid or prevent is the weather which in this time of my life is the worse trigger of all. Clouds, humidity, wind, cold are all things that bring on a migraine and short of living in a bubble I just deal with it. The fact that researchers are only focused on finding a treatment instead of a cause is not only related to migraines but most of the major illnesses in society is the most appalling fact to me.