So, yep, I'm starting a blog

Day 2. 11:57a. Pain level: 5 1/2

So I've decided to start a blog to track my progress of my month without migraine abortives. Let me warn you before you read any further. I am an awful writer. My grammer skills will probably make most of you cringe but I really don't care. I'm doing this to keep my friends, family, and random people in the world up to date on my progress and because it's a hell of a lot cheaper than a therapist. So for those of you who want to criticize me, don't waste your time. Now that my disclaimer is out of the way I'll start from the beginning.

I have been suffering from migraines for about 7 years now. I can vividly remember the first one that I got. It was a Saturday morning and I was on my way to work when all of a sudden I lost vision in my left eye. My head started spinning uncontrollably and a wave of nausea came over me. I have never been so scared in my life. I sped the mile to work and by the time I got there I was violently vomiting. By the time I called Chris my head felt like it was going to explode. I was sure I was having an aneurysm and was going to die. He came to pick me up and took me home. After several OTC meds and some sleep the pain was gone. I felt hungover for about 48 hours afterwards but was relieved that it had passed. It was 6 months before I got another migraine and it took 4 more before I got diagnosed.

Over the last 2 years I have had a headache every single day. Over the last 6 months my quality of life has been greatly reduced. Within the last 3 months I have had migraines 80% of the time. I had a CT scan of my brain a few years ago but that came back clear. They did run a scan of my sinuses and found a deviated septum with a bone spur on top of the deviation. I have been to dentists, optometrists, allergists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists, physical therapists, you name it. Not a single one has been able to tell me anything more than I get migraines and I just have to deal with it. I have kept migraines journals, I have been on birth control, I have been off birth control, I have avoided my triggers. I don't mind getting migraines and I know that it is something I will have for the rest of my life. I can cope with that. What I refuse to cope with is having 4-8 migraines a week. There is no reason a perfectly healthy 29 year old woman should be getting that many. Especially since there is no history of migraines in my family.

I finally decided that it was time to see a neurologist so 4 months ago I started the process of getting in to see him. I asked several people and he is supposed to be one of the best neurologists in the state. Finally on Thursday I had my appointment. It wasn't really what I expected but I think I was expecting too much. He did some basic tests on me, some of which I passed, some I failed. Then he asked me about my meds that I take. Here's the list of everything that I'm on.

Topamax-100mg preventive
Frova-abortive
Zomig-abortive
Nubane-rescue

The Topamax I take every day to prevent my migraines from coming on. The Frova and Zomig I take if I get a migraine. I only take one or the other. The reason I take 2 different ones is because my insurance will only pay for 8 pills a month so with 2 different scripts I can get 16 pills. Yeah, it sucks, but without insurance it costs me $286 for Zomig. Gotta love those insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Nubane is my last resort rescue med. I don't keep that on me, I have to go to the doc or ER to get a shot of it. When all else fails Nubane usually work. Although the last 2 times I've had a Nubane shot the migraine was back within an hour and a half.

Okay, gotta pull this together. My doc thinks that I could be getting Analgesic Rebound Migraines from the Frova and Zomig. Basically the medicine that they gave me to make me feel better is actually making me feel worse, or that's what he thinks. So for the next 4 weeks I am not allowed to take any of my abortive medications. That means no Frova, no Zomig, no Nubane rescue shots. I have to live with the pain of the migraine without any medication.

For those of you who have never suffered from a migraine this is what I want you to do so you will understand the severity of this. Go to your kitchen and open your utensil drawer. Pull out your biggest knife or ice pic. Now heat it up in boiling water. Once you have it nice and hot give it to a friend and tell them to give you no warning at all before they stab you in the side of the head. Once they do that tell them to turn up all the tv's, radios, and lights in your house and find a marching band to play you a song. Repeat for 4-8 hours. No treatment allowed.

I'm going to try to update this everyday to let you all know how it's going. Don't expect another novel. I'm sure at some point I will have murdered my computer so this might not last that long.