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Can Someone Tell me what my Neurologist office is doing?

They want me on meds, and I hate meds and have been on many of these meds in past bc I had previous chronic pain issues. I get bad side effects from everything. Especially antidepressants. They insist on meds, but the second I email them about a side effect they are like you can discontinue this and we will try a new treatment. The last time I sent back nasty email asking don't you guys know there are side effect, why do you keep doing this to me then telling me to goof once the side effects I told you I would get happen. I don't understand why they keep putting me through this.

  1. Hi Ughhh,

    Thank you for reaching out to our discussion forum. I am sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time. Let's see what I can do to help.

    First thing that comes to mind is to mention that it can take up to 90 days before we see a reduction in our migraine attack frequency and severity. During this time potential side effects may lessen as our body adjusts to the new medication. It's important to note that if we don't give each medication a fair trial, we'll never know which one would have been the medication that worked. Does that make sense?

    Have you tried complementary/alternative/natural therapies to treat migraine? There are a number of these that have been shown to be effective for migraine prevention. When you get a chance take a look at this information: https://migraine.com/complimentary-and-alternative-therapies/ and https://migraine.com/migraine-treatment/natural-remedies/.

    I wonder if its time to seek out the expertise of a true migraine expert rather than a general neurologist? These expert doctors are board certified in headache medicine which is different than being certified in neurology. It's not that neurologists aren't good doctors, rather they have a difficult time being experts in one area because they treat so many other conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson's, MS, stroke and others. You can read more about this here; http://migraine.com/blog/how-are-migraine-specialists-different/ and https://migraine.com/blog/really-find-headache-specialist/.

    I hope this helps,
    Nancy

    1. I don't know I have thought about seeing a true migraine expert, but it will cost so much and I don't see that there are any options other than meds.

      I did just get a cefaly so I'm trying that. I've tried some vitamins that r supposed to help, but see no difference. I have oxygen machine, bc used for some headaches. I get allergy shots. I have humidifier in my bedroom that keeps things nice and tropical which in my case humidity seems to help. I have a MyPurMist to steam with.

      I've asked my neurologist about trying botox and she said it does not work for barometric related migraine, which isn't what I've read, but again the cost of doing this on my own is impossible.

      Thanks, I will give the headache specialist idea some thought again

      1. Hi Ughhh,

        By reading the reply from your neurologist about Botox indicates to me that it's time for a new one. Barometric pressure changes are triggers, not the official name of a type of migraine.

        I have Cefaly and it take a while to get used to. It has to be used EVERY day to get results. Here is more information on this device; https://migraine.com/blog/cefaly-questions-answered/
        https://migraine.com/blog/cefaly-migraineurs-review/

        https://migraine.com/blog/the-girl-tries-cefaly/
        https://migraine.com/blog/cefaly-video-post/.

        Let me know what you think,
        Nancy

    2. "I’ve asked my neurologist about trying botox and she said it does not work for barometric related migraine"

      What is barometric-related migraine? Isn't barometric pressure a trigger for lots of people with migraine? (including me)

      That's interesting that humidity helps you. Humidity makes my head worse. We carefully monitor the humidity levels in the house and use a separate dehumidifier to keep it down when the air conditioner can't handle it.

      I would see a headache specialist.

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