Hi All, Since the last time I posted, I decided to contact the insurance
agency regarding them turning down the claim that my last visit was
not a Medical emergency. The lovely lady I spoke to was also a sufferer.
She asked me why I had gone to the ER & not to my doctors office. I explained
that it was 2:30 am and I was SURE that my doctor's office was not open.
She giggled & understood. She said that she would have it reviewed. After
all they had previously paid for the treatment.
So now my case is re-opened & under review. She was very kind when I
told her that my area was being Manditorily evacuated due to Hurricane
Georges, and said that I would hear something soon. I hope that
they agree to pay as it was quite an expensive visit. Today I am suffering
with ANOTHER migraine. It is not Full blown & is probably related to the
change in air pressure associated with a hurricane. Hopefully Georges
will not pack too strong of a punch as we have elected to stay. My prayers
are with you all. Be safe & pain free. BRIGHT BLESSINGS ~Dianna~
Dianna <ghost@gte.net>
HURRICANE CITY, FL USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 04:13:21 PM
I have noticed a recurrent theme in most of these posts, and have found it to be my own experience as well. It is doctors who insist on treating you with meds that do not work because they are afraid of addiction (ie. losing their license). I dont have an answer for that as there is no big public campaign to educate these doctors. There has been a trend towards treating cancer patients with enough drugs to make them comfortable, but even that has been a long time in coming. Chronic pain sufferers are just that----sufferers. There are a few docs out there who are gutsy enough to ignore the conventional wisdom and treat their migraine patients with campassion. They seem to be few and far between. I have had a couple docs who flat out refused to give me demerol in the ER because "migraine patients are notorious drug seekers". This was even after I gave him my own docs phone # for the OK. He just didnt care about anything other than protecting his own skin---and that is so misguided! So I sympathize with others who write about their frustrations with the medical profession. It is darn difficult to find a maverick doc who is willing to go to bat for you. If only they knew the pain and disruption of life migraines cause...
Mary Jo <mdaniels@ncn.net>
IA USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 02:26:33 PM
I really can't remember when I first began having what I am calling migraine headaches. But they were bad and always seemed to come on the weekend. They really didn't just come on weekends, they just seemed to. Imitrix has proven to be a sort of solution, but I am very fatigued by the cure. A student eventually clued me in to my cause, diet pop with aspertame. Eventually my wife and I figured out that red dye 30, chocolate, and something in beer and wine were additional causes.
Additionally, extreme cold to my head, fatigue, and bright sunlight, and dentists nitrous oxide have proven to be involved. There are still others that I have not been able to discover, and any suggestions would be a big help. My "headaches" include a total body involvement, and since I eliminated aspertame, the head part of it is not too painful, however the upset bowel continues to be a problem. If anyone has any suggestions as to other possible triggers, I would appreciate hearing about it via email, dalet@kirtland.cc.mi.us. Glad to discover this web site. tom
Tom Dale <dalet@kirtland.cc.mi.us>
Roscommon, MI USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 09:24:29 AM
Hi My name is Tay and I have migraines caused from Pseudotumor Cerebri. I have migraines five to seven times a week. My Dr has me taking Stadol NS and Stadol injections for these headaches. I have tried everything from bio-feedback to morphine(which I became addicted to for a year) My Dr understands what kind of pain I have since she also has frequent headaches and migraines. I am very carefully controled as to how much medicine I take in a month and I now have a life where I am a usefull person. I have lost my vision with pcptc and use a guidedog to get around. I have to work so Stadol is the best choice as it has no euphoric high and the headache goes away in a couple of minutes. Well thanks for listening I have a migraine now and must wait for the morning to get my refill of my Stadol.If any one want to E-mail me My addressis tayhodges@hotmail.com
Tay Hodges <tayhodges@hotmail.com>
Oroville, CA USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 03:35:58 AM
I have written many times in the past and read this page daily. I wanted to comment on the issue with Doctors perscribing meds. I had a Doctor who was totally sympathetic to my headache and we had a good realtionship, in fact when she decded to leave the state she wrote me a personal note wishing me luck. It took 5 interviews with different doctors until I found one that would keep me on my medications (the meds include promethazine, imitrex, inderal, fiornial w/codeine, Vicodin and paxil). To most of the doctors I saw this was too many meds and I even had one doctor tell me that I don't even have migraines (then what has been the problem for the last 12 years?). I finally had a bad headache and went to a walk in clinic. I found the best doctor there. He calls in meds for me, he calls me back within an hour when I call. Whenever there is a new med he calls. I am telling you this so you know there are wonderful kind compasionate doctors out there, it just might take a little time to find one. Please keep you spirits up, don't let the headaches win.
Kimberly Carter <carter-man@worldnert.att.net>
Renton, WA USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 01:06:19 AM
I have always suffered from headaches, as far back as I can remember. Over the last couple of years, I started getting these sharp pains in my head that would come on strong and extremely fast with no warning but would almost disapear just as fast as it came on. I always wrote it off as stress. About the time that all of this started, I was in the middle of a marriage that was falling apart. Just this week I woke up on Monday morning to go to work and I had a small bump on the back of my head, it seemed nothing more than a mosquito bite, and it was a little tender to the touch, I ignored it pretty much and went on about my normal routine. Once I got to work the bump seemed to be getting larger, and I started feeling a little strange, so I called to make an appointment at the doctors office to see what was going on, the ealriest appointment that I could get was about an hour away. As I sat at my desk, my vision seemed to get worse, realy blurry and I felt really light headed or dizzy, so I gathered my things and went on in to the doctors office anyway. The doctor told me that I had some sort of onsect bite, a spider possibly and gave me a cortizone shot, two different antihistamines and told me to put ice on the back of my neck, so I did. I had to have my husband come and pick me up and drive me home because I was so disoriented I couldn't drive. The pain got progressively worse and I began to have a tremendous burning sensation in my head also....this was a pain like I had never felt before, I was actually crying like a child that had fallen off a bicycle. I felt stupid, crying because I had a headache. Anyway, later that evening, my mother talked me into going to the emergency room, I didn't want to go because I felt stupid, going to the E.R. for a freaking headache. After the doctor saw me he immediately gave me a shot of Toradol for the pain and sent me over to have a cat scan just to make sure that everything was ok, everything checked out fine with that put the pain had not eased at all....he came back in and explained that I was suffering from a migraine and that he would give me another shot, but this time he gave me a morhpine injection. After about 30 to 45 minutes the pain eased enough for me to go home, but the burning sensation has not gone away yet, it has been almost four days. My family says that I need to go back to the doctor, but I really am hesistant I have never dealt with this before and I feel like I am whining. I tried to explain to the doctor on Monday when I went in the first time and I kind of feel like he just blew me off and wasn't very concerned with my pain....I guess that I will go back tomorrow anyway, this pain is not going away.
Leah <swate2@aol.com>
Deer Park, TX USA - Date: 09/25/98 (Fri)
Time: 12:49:18 AM
To anyone out there using household cleaning products(Lysol) or furniture polishes containing petroleum distillates. I had a migrane attack while using household cleaners to clean my new apartment before moving in; and another migrane a few days later when using a petroleum based funiture polish (Howard's Restore a Finish). I switched to using Citrus cleaners and haven't had a migrane headache from using them. I've been a migrane sufferer for 28 years. Thankfully I only get 2 migranes a year. I was diagnose with migranes at age 18 and have been able to get relief with Cafergot.
Joe
Thousand Oaks, Ca USA - Date: 09/24/98 (Thu)
Time: 11:29:09 PM
