Company’s calling - living with migraine pain
This week, Jeannette Davis from Fairbanks, Alaska, talks to us about her migraines.
Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
Headaches, and I’ve had them all my life as long as I can remember.
Did you seek help right away?
No, I didn’t seek any help with the pain for a number of years. I thought it was normal because my Mom always had headaches, too.
What did the doctors tell you when you did seek help?
I was 27 when I finally talked to my doctor about it. I knew by then that I had migraines. He took me seriously, discussed different migraine triggers, and initially prescribed pain killers and Imitrex.
What have you tried to help you with your pain?
Avoiding aged foods, wearing sunglasses, monitoring caffeine intake, avoiding florescent lighting, especially if I’m working on a computer, strict sleep schedule, migraine specific medications like Imitrex, meds developed for other illnesses like Topamax, general pain killers (barbiturates), OTC [over-the-counter] pain killers
Can you tell me a bit about what worked and what didn’t?
Works: Avoiding aged food, wearing sunglasses, avoiding florescent lighting, strict sleep schedule, taking Topamax, barbiturates, some OTC pain killers
Doesn’t Work: monitoring caffeine intake, some OTC pain killers
Makes Worse: Imitrex and similar migraine specific meds
How does having this pain affect you in terms of how you live your life?
I’ve missed work, functions and events because I haven’t been able to attend due to the pain. Before I was on medication, I was having headaches five out of seven days and migraines five to seven times a month. It was exhausting. I was always living with a headache.
When I was younger, I always knew that certain foods would give me a headache - hot dogs, the butter on movie theater popcorn, cheese, bacon, pizza. My friends would think I was weird because I’d make comments like, “Oh, I can’t eat that. I’ll get a headache.” But I thought they were weird because they couldn’t “taste” the headache in those foods. Strange, huh?
If you were to look back over what you have tried/haven’t tried, would you change anything? If so, what would you change?
I don’t know that I would change anything. The preventative medication that I’m currently taking wasn’t widely used when I first went to the doctor for the problem. I started on the preventative about two years into treatment. If I had gone to the doctor any sooner, I would’ve just had stronger doses of the barbiturate, and had to try more of the Imitrex type remedies.
What would you say to someone in a similar situation who is just starting to try to find treatment and relief?
Talk to you doctor, and go online and do some research. There is a ton of information out there for migraines and pain management. And don’t be afraid to take medication! If your pain can be controlled, or even reduced, it can make such a difference in your life.
Would you like to add anything?
It wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realized that this kind of pain wasn’t normal. I honestly thought everyone got headaches regularly, since my Mom did. It wasn’t until I talked with one of my brothers and my sister (both much older than me), that I realized it wasn’t a normal thing. They both get severe migraines. My brother has had to be hospitalized on more than one occasion because of them. My sister’s daughter suffers from them, too. I know that some studies have shown that there can be a genetic link.
Taking Topamax has been wonderful. I don’t have the daily headaches anymore, and the occurrence of migraines is reduced to about three a month, depending on stress, travel, food, and other triggers. Topamax is an interesting drug, too. It’s another one of those meds that was originally developed for one thing (seizures), but has found multiple uses, such as migraine prevention, and they use it in drug and alcohol rehab to help with cravings and withdrawal. There’s speculation that migraines and some seizures may be triggered in the same part of the brain.
Thank you Jeannette for sharing your story. I, too, found that Imitrex made my migraines worse. It’s interesting to hear that from someone else too.
Tags: daily-headaches, headaches, imitrex, migraine-triggers, migraines, topamaxRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Chronic Pain, Company's Calling, Headaches/Migraines, Pain Management
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