Case Histories - January 1997 (1/1)

I've been getting migraines since I was in 2nd grade. The Dr. told my mom that I was a hypochondriac. I am now 35 and still get them on a regualar basis. Everyone tells me that they will subside as I get older, yet I wonder how much older I need to get before I have some relief. My husband doesn't understand and thinks that I should be able to control them better. When I get a really bad headache that requires going to the hospital for a shot of demerol he gets angry with me for "waiting until it got that bad". My children are very good to me when I get a headache. They are 14 and 13. They are very sensitive about my condition and bring me cold clothes for my head, and a pillow to lay down on the couch. I sometimes resent the fact that my husband blames me for getting migraines. He thinks that I should just avoid the foods or stress that causes them. I wish he could understand that it's not that easy. I do know that processed foods cause them and cheeses, so I avoid those. Bananas will bring one on. Red wine is a definite no-no. Stress is the biggest factor, but then the headache usually comes on after the stressfull situation is resolved. I really wish that I could control these headaches. I'm glad that you have this site. I hope that it helps me. This is very frustrating for me. I take one Extra strength excedrin in the morning to keep one from coming on, if I start getting a headache of any kind I'll take another Excedrin or two, if that doesn't work I go to Fiorinol I take two, if that doesn't work I give myself a shot of Imitrex (the pills don't touch my headaches), then the last ditch effort is take some more Fiorinol, and my last resort is to go get a shot of Demerol. I've taken all kinds of drugs that are supposed to prevent migraines. None have worked. I've even been a test subject, but that stinks when you get the placebo and end up with a massive migraine! I've accepted migraines as a fact of my life, yet I can't help but wish that there would be a wonder drug or cure in the near future. Wishful thinking. smile.

---jnelson@grossmont.k12.ca.us

My mid-40's wife suffers from extreme migraine condition. Her history, and the difficulties it has caused our family, are far too extensive for me to describe in detail. Suffice it to say, I believe that she is in a very high percentile on the continuum of sufferers (frequency, intensity, inability to find effective medication).

Her condition profoundly affects our family life (one daughter, 2 1/2).

I woud like to find other spouses or companions of migraine victims with whom I can correspond by email. We would discuss the impact our spouse's migraine has on us, and our family.

I'd be happy to start with one correspondent, and expand from there.

I'm not at all comfortable with a newsgroup for this kind of discussion. The topic is too personal, and newsgroups are far too public.

Please email me at gesmer@lgu.com if you have any thoughts on this message.

---Lee

Hi Ronda

Boy I just love your page!!! I hate to say this but boy am I glad I'm not the only one out there with migraines, You poor people my heart goes out to all of you!!!! I've had migraines for 23 years (I'm 35) I have 3 kids ages 14,13 and 7, the best thing that happened to me was getting pregnant because for 9 months I was migraine free, as soon as the baby came out within 24 hours back they came and in full force I might add (9 months build up!!!!!!) I have tried everything and I mean everything under the sun, I was even the guinea pig for various studies, I had to quit work due the hedaches they completely ruined my whole life, I can't plan anything because I never know how I will be feeling!!! Finally I applied for "Canada Disability'" Because thats what MIGRAINES are there a big disability, I knew they wouldn't accept it but I thought I'd try anyways. Well I was right they declined me which I thought how could they my folder must have been 3 feet high with EVERY visit to Emerg. every pill I tried etc..... So I had 30 days to appeal, and appeal I did. with the help of my Dr. they finally approved it saying I was one of the youngest to recieve disability in Canada (for migraines) if not the first one!!!! So I encourage all of you APPLY APPLY APPLY it's about time that migraine was treated as such because it is a pain in the butt, I don't even go to emerg any more my Doctor supplies me with my own Demerol and Gravol injectable, so when I have one I inject my self, and if it has to be 3-4 times a week so be it!!!! I'm not going to suufer with migraines when I know there is pain relief and my finger tips, and I don't care anymore when people say "Oh boy your addicted!!!" or "just take 2 asprins" or "tough it out you'll come out much stronger in the end".They're not the ones with their heads in the toilet throwing up are they???? The chances of becoming addicted are very scarse if you are taking drugs for pain relief, and plus I would rather take my chances in becoming addicted than suffering through another migraine attack. Anyways I'd love to hear from anyone who suffers the same you can E mail me at SPetruzzel@aol.com. Take Care to all.

---Shelley SPetruzzel@aol.com

Dear Ronda,

My anem is Paula, and I have been a migraine sufferer since I was 8 years old. I am now 35, married, and have two kids (getting pregnant DID keep the migraines at bay for 9 months each time, but the pregnancies nearly killed me). During my 28-year sojourns with Migraines, I have been on a LOT of different regimens: Propanolol, amnitryptilin, various other beta blockers, cafergot, midrin, etc., etc. I had a weird response to the propanolol (a kind of "tunnel vision" along with tinnitus), the beta blocker actually CAUSED a headache within 25 minutes of taking it; the ergotamine medications did absolutely nothing for me, and the list goes on. I've even tried Imitrex injections, but after spending $70 three times and getting no relief from the headache, I decided that was also a "no go". I found out after a hysterectomy that I'm allergic to morphine (oh noooo!!!) I've also tried bio-feedback. I've gotten really good at lowering my bp, heart rate and respiration, but when I've got a headache, I can't concentrate enough to work on the pain. I am currently taking Stadol Nasal Spray as an intervention. It works fairly well, but I've been trying to decide whether or not the subsequent nausea and vomiting I sometimes get with it are as bad as the headaches. The Elavil worked for a while - almost a year - during which time I gained 40 pounds. My doctor seems bent on trying to get me to lose the weight by all the conventional means (which I have been trying ever since beginning to put on weight, with no luck at all).

Anyway, the headaches are back full-force now...sometimes two or three a week. I don't know whether or not my doctor believes that I have these headaches with frequency and severity I tell him I do. He's sending me to a neurologist three weeks from now. I saw him a year ago and he did nothing for me except document that I have "common migraines", which I suppose gives my GP license to prescribe narcotics for the pain. Why do doctors make you feel like a "drug seeker"? He always asks me questions that make me think that he wonders if it's all in my head (no pun intended), or strictly "stress-related tension headaches" (duh - who doesn't have stress?) I can pop four ibuprofen quicker than the blink of an eye - just so I can tell the er personnel "yes, I've done that...Just give me the **** shot!!! My doc has even seen me in the ER with a migraine - pale, shaking, unable to speak or open my eyes (guess I shoulda thrown up on him!) - yet I still feel he has doubts. But I also think that he's really trying to work with me to find me some relief. I don't know what the point of all this is, except to tell someone my experiences. It's great to have found this forum and know that I'm not alone. Doctors need to remember that not all things work for all people, and it may take time to find what works from person to person. I hope that someday, between my doctor and myself, we can find what will work for me.

---Paula Allen pallen@vax2.rainis.net

Hi Ronda,

This is my second time here but I wanted to inform eveyone about a WONDERFUL Dr. I met in Florida. I have been a migraine sufferer for 4 years and I had come to the end of my rope about six months ago. I sill had severe almost daily headaches and I knew the medication I was on wasn't helping but my doctor just increased my doseage but it still didn't help. One day I came to your page and found someone who was worse than me (I never thought that was possible ) and we talked about a Dr. he had seen in his state of Florida. He told me how wonderful she was and that she had a high success rate. Since I had nothing to loose, I called her office and made an appointment for January 8, 1997. My dad and I caught the train down to Fl from Baltimore, Md and had our finger, toes and eyes crossed hoping that she could help me. After 21 hours on Amtrack, we arrived in West Palm Beach. When we went to her office, I signed in and was seen by Dr. Vileshina less than 5 minutes later! We talked for almost two hours about my headaches, medications, side effects and lifestyle. She told me that the reason that I was still having problems was because my doctor was overdosing me on amitriptyline (210mg). He didn't do it on purpose, he just didn't know. She then gave me three new prescriptions and told me that I would loose the 70 LBS. I gained, get my memory back and be able to have a life again. She is the kindest doctor I have ever seen and she gave me hope for the future. I know that going from Maryland to Florida seems a bit much but it was worth it. If you would like to see if she can do this for you, her address is:

Dr. Galina Vileshina
3365 Burns Road
Suite 215
Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 33410
(561) 627-4640

Dr. Vileshina is a neurologist specializing in Headache Treatment & Acupunture. I also want to say that she did not ask me to let others know about her, it was MY choice to do so. If you have any questions you can reach me at:

Kterer@aol.com

---Toni

After 18 years of monthly migraines, each lasting 2 1/2 days, I went to an alternative healer in Connecticut. She had cured other migraine sufferers, and I took the trip across country with the desire to be forever done with these awful things. First, she tested me, using kinesiology. She discovered that my blood vessels were being destroyed by a virus that I probably have had for many years. I figure I either got it from immunizations as a child or from my Peace Corps days in Ethiopia. I believe this part of her diagnosis is very accurate--any surgery I have had has been blood-vessel related, from vein strippings to hemorrhoidectomy. She also told me (and I have no way of verifying this) that the virus has begun to attack my heart and major vessels.

When I walked into her clinic, it was after having flown and driven with a 2-day migraine. All I wanted to do was collapse and get to my hotel room. By the time she was done with sound wave and light therapy, I was a new person. I hadn't felt so well in years. She also prescribed many Standard Process supplements, including an antiviral agent and many nutrients to build up my blood vessels and heart. I have had 3 migraines since I visited her, but each one was one-half the intensity of the previous headache and I expect not to notice them at all by midyear. In fact, I'm just in the final stages of the third migraine and I was able to treat it with Bach Flower Remedies alone (I'm able to dowse appropriate remedies for myself). Like many other people, I find that narcotics and naproxyn sodium are losing their ability to dull the pain.

Philosophically, I'm starting to see that we are born with weak areas in our body. Those of us with migraines are born with weak blood vessels. A bad viral infection (don't overlook the danger of the immunizations we took as children and continue to take) attacks our weak areas and then it's just a matter of a trigger to send our vessels into spasm, causing the excruciating pain we undergo. I urge you all to find a nontraditional healer who uses kinesiology, Standard Process products, and the new sound and light therapies. Traditional medicine can only treat the symptoms. I believe my healer has gone to the source of the problem and that is why my migraines are only about 1/4 the intensity they were 3 months ago. Good luck!

---pls@frii.com

Hello to all, my name is Jerry Wilson I have been reading this page for a long time, thank's Ronda for your insight.Your an angel. I got my first migraine about three years ago when I was 27. I was a line forman working on a telephone pole and the line was hit with lightning, I was engulfed in blue static electricity for a few seconds, but the ground rod took the brunt of the hit, thank God. I had a awful,awful headache for about three week's after that and then they went away, no other real damage could be found. Then about six month's after that they started,and my old life ended.The headache's came about two or three a month and lasted for day's .The first one lasted nine day's ,I went to the E.R. and told them that if they did'nt stop this headache , they were going to have to kill me. So they injected me with something that put me into a panic attack, wow that was really wierd. After that the headaches started coming more and more, they can;t really say weather the jolt of static is causing my headaches or if it's just something that would of happened anyway. Since then I have been through the gambit of med's fourteen to be exact today I take Naproxyn daily this really does a number on your stomach if you don't eat first, and I take vicodin, just recently the vicodin isn't doing it anymore . I'm building up a tolerance,this is a real bummer ,this med has been very effective for my lifestyle. I am a fiber optic splicer so I need my wits about me for my work. My wife and I are concerned about the addictive side affects of migrain med's . But theres not much we can do I guess. It's the lesser of two evil's . Recently my M.D. suggested that I go to the Diamond Clinic in Chicago. If I can afford it I think I'll give it a try. If anyone has any first hand experience about this place please let me know. well that's all thank's everyone for posting your story it's helpful to know that I'm not alone. And thank's to you Ronda for this web site. ---Jerry Wilson wilson12@gnn.com

Ronda,

I was so excited when I found your migraine page and read things from other people who feel the same as I do. I'm 21 and have had migraines for almost 2 years, they started out as being 3 or 4 really bad headaches a month where all I could do for relief is try to sleep(at this point I did not know they were migraines) I went to an allergist, I saw an eye doctor, I went to an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and finally wound up at a neurologists office. He finally denounced that I had migraines. By this time a year had past and they had become so severe(3 a week,sometimes lasting 3 days)that I was missing a lot of school. My professors didn't understand how "headaches" could make me miss so much school.

Anyway...I started on Nortriptyline taking 3 a night, then 4 a night etc...I'm now up to 8 a night. I notice that if I forget to take them for 2 days in a row I wind up with a real bad migraine. I also take Midrin, Naporsyn, Imitrex injections, etc... I recently was put on propanol some type of blood pressure medication that I'm supposed to take every morning and lower my daily nortriptyline to 7 every night. I'm so sick of all this medication. When I first got the imitrex, I got the tablets and they made me 100 times worse, so I swore off the pills. The Dr. then suggested I try the injections, so I now give myself the shots. At first the side effects would last 45 minutes and then my headache would be completely gone. Lately, the side effects are so severe(heavy pressure across my face and my throat feels real tight like it's closing up, and sharp pains on the back of my head)and after all this the migraine is still there.

My fiance thinks that I bring them on myself, that I get too stressed out. It's hard for him because there is nothing he can do when I get one except to be there and massage my shoulders. My mother seems to find new advice everyday to tell me, some example....stop eating turkey(the nitrates cause migraines), stop drinking diet coke or anything with aspartame, no cheese, no chocolate, .......I have stopped drinking diet coke, and I've quit eating turkey(I don't eat red meat or pork, so the only thing I eat now is chicken!) and I quit smoking 3 months ago. I don't know what else to do. All the medications that I take to relieve the pain either make me sleep, or the side effects are so severe that I can only lie down on my back with an ice pack on the back of my neck and lots of blankets. Anyway, I'm glad that I found your page and can talk to other migraine sufferers.

Thanks,

---Leigh Howell Lhowell111@msn.com