Migraines ruining my life

[Stropzilla]

I'm really only posting to sound off, but if anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear it. It's going to be a long one.

I've always had migraines. They've been steadily getting worse, and nothing I do stops them. I've tried cutting out the usual suspects - chocolate, coffee, alcohol but to no affect. Some things will give me migraines like not sleeping, or seem to have some relationship to air pressure. I am a wreck right now as I am currently on day 13 of a seemingly never ending attack. Anyone with migraine will tell you it's not just the pain, but the paralysis, blindness, inability to speak and general confusion. I'm "between bouts" right now, and am doing something I hate myself for. I'm looking at employment and support allowance. I have lost 3 jobs over migraines and have tried self employment as a means to working, but the fact I seem to lose 2 weeks a month or so to migraines, and am generally confused and forgetful the rest of the time means my clients don't want someone unreliable. As if the actual migraine aren't bad enough, I have constant visual problems and memory problems. I can't keep up with things and get spaced out.

I am currently waiting to see a neurologist. I have seen one before however, and he basically said "It's migraine. Take painkillers". and that was the end of it. My uncle died of a brain tumor and he had migraine for years before they found it. I cannot convince my doctor to give me any allergy test, or scan. Botox is fairly new on the NHS but IS available with a 90% success rate. I have given my doctor my list of symptoms: no memory, tired all the time, no coordination, taking more painkillers than is good for me, marriage and husbands work is suffering, trouble recognising words and faces, lost 3 jobs, affects my confidence, I don't feel I can go out, constant visual disturbances, beginning to become depressed, poor appitite but she just gave me tramadol. I don't WANT painkillers, I NEED help!

Who will employ me like this? I've finally decided to try for the employment and support allowance but I don't have high hopes. What else can I do? I suffer migraine EVERY DAY and i can't get help. It affects everything I do, and I'm turning into a nasty irritable person. Doctors just brush it off as "just migraine" but please, this isn't right.

I'm scared. I know tonight will bring another migraine.

Amytriptaline (anti-depressant) was prescribed for me as a migraine preventative after I had an attack much like youare describing. Went from 5 or 6 a week to 2 a month!
Also , the tramadol you have been prescribed - have you been taking it regularly? It was only after I stopped it that I realised how spaced out, unco-ordinated and generally unwell it was making me feel! Try to use a different painkiller for a few days and it may make a difference. Tramadol was also giving me re-bound headaches because I was taking it so regularly (I was over-dosing as such just prolonged, constant use)
Take a look at this:
www.patient.co.uk/health/Headache-Medication-Induced.htm

sorry I WASN'T over-dosing I meant to say

Thank you all so much for your stories, they all give me something new to think about. Tho they have given me tramadol and dicloflex I'm taking it sparingly, and not at every opportunity as they seem to think I should be! I'm going to play the waiting game now, either for my symptoms to get worse, or for my scan whichever is quicker. Any bets? ;)

hi i had to answer you, you sound so low, i can give advice on migraines, but not so much with other things that you have going on, i have suffered badly from migraines for over 10 years, on several occasions havin ones that last for weeks at a time with triptans, diclofenic, and paracetamol doing hardly anything to break it, it left me desperate and unable to think straight at all , i have felt so so low at these times that i have even thought about doing 'something silly' to get away from the pain, so i can relate to how you feel,

at the moment i am havin some relief from them, i am on beta blockers, propranolol twice a day (40mg each dose) and amitriptyline, (50mg) once a day in the evening, i am havin really good results from this combination, i started this 18 months ago and so far havent taken any triptans at all, i was sceptical at first when the gp recommended this course of preventatives because everything else had done nothing, but within 24 hours of takin the first dose i had some relief from a 3 week killer migraine, i couldnt believe it,

they do make you more dopey, and dont get me started on weight gain!!! but it has given me most of my life back, ATM, and fingers crossed it will keep working for me, i still get headaches some are stinkers but they dont go on and on and on for days, hope this helps, oh and by the way change your gp if you can some are just not interested in migraine at all, as i learnt to my cost! keep us posted x

oh yes and cranial osteopathy once every 6 weeks has also helped, tried chiropractor, reflexology, acupuncture, diet, allergy testing, gum shield in case i grind my teeth, but none of them helped so i stick with the cranial for now, expensive but really helps,

Sympathy from me too. I hope your scan shows nothing. I can't believe you've been given tramadol to take on a regular basis - as other posters have suggested, I would look into avoiding it completely to see if it makes a difference.

Norky I was offered topiramate too but haven't taken it as the neuro thinks I'd have to give up work. How badly does it affect your thinking/concentration etc?

Stropzilla I suffered just like you, I promise you. I know only too well the hell you are going through and about 10 years ago a doctor friend of mine suggested I stop taking the pain killers AND IT WORKED.

Like you, I was so bad, it was debilitating, and I was taking far too many painkillers (strong prescriptive ones too).

I went cold turkey and after a couple of weeks I was fine. I very rarely get them now. Please, please try it - you do not need to live with this hell.

Chaotica - they start you on a low dosage and ramp you up on Topiramate. I worked up to 50mg twice a day for 2 months at which point I suffered lots of side-effects. Mental confusion, extreme weight loss due to lack of appetite, pins and needles, aches and pains... My neuro reduced my dosage to 25mg twice a day and pretty much all the side effects went away.

I still get migraines but they only last a couple of days whereas I used to be wiped out for 7 to 10 days at a time, every couple of weeks.

If my migraines weren't triggered by screen usage then I'd still be working, so i think Topiramate is definitely worth a try once you get the dosag right for you.

Thanks Norky. I have to weigh up whether the migraines or the side effects are worse. Maybe I should give it a try. (I mainly get confusion and visual and sensory problems rather than pain, so I've been avoiding longterm medication. Although these last for days.)

The symptoms last for days, I mean. (Justifies her need for treatment...)

cath476 is right. Anti-depressants in low doses (so that they don't act as anti-depressants) work on nerve pain "like magic" - that's a direct quote from my GP.

Worth asking about at the very least.

hi herbie no not all osteopaths do cranial i have to travel about 30 mins to get to mine as there were none local to me, it is a different sort of treatment, quite intense but works for me,

Amitriptyline is a anti dep used for migraines as it is good for nerve pain, (didnt do much on its own for me but when i added propranolol it seemed to do the trick) it is also used a s a sleeping aid, for bed wetting in adults, and for nerve pain in back injuries so its quite versatile,