After my ER visit on July 4, I continued to experience non-stop pain. I went to an emergency appointment with my doctor (rather than going to the ER) on July 11. That finally broke the 1.5+ week migraine - thank goodness!
Based on these two emergency visits in such a short period of time, my doctor moved my next appointment up from September to July 31. I don't really feel like it was a very productive appointment, though. Then, on August 2, I had to make another emergency appointment with him. They gave me a different cocktail of meds (because I'd had so many side effects with the previous visit), and it knocked me out. I felt significantly better the next day, though it was a day with waves of the horrible pain I'd been experiencing non-stop.
After never having gone to the ER (not to say that there weren't times that I should've gone) I had 3 emergency visits in a one month time-frame - Yikes! But, I've finally chilled back down to a mix of productive and non-productive migraines (about 3-4 of each, per week).
We tried to cut my night meds in half because of concern that it was affecting my vision. Well, that sent me right back into my insomnia problems. I was getting to sleep way too late, and sleeping late into the day. After a week or so, we increased it back up to a whole pill each night. I'm still not back on the improved sleep schedule I was on prior to the changes, but it's better than taking the decreased dose.
Anyway, that's some of what I've been dealing with over the last couple of months. I hope y'all are doing well - know that you're in my thoughts and prayers often.
I am SO sorry you are going through all of this. Praying for you.
ReplyDeleteSleep is so important, especially when dealing with so much pain and such. Glad you are back to your higher dose and getting some sleep.
ReplyDeleteI'll be praying for you.
Sounds miserable. :( I'm praying things will get better for you!
ReplyDeleteHi! My daughter has had a migraine every day since April 17, 2012. I believe she understands your pain. We have been to the ER, tried acupuncture and still trying to find anything to lesten the pain. I am taking pictures of her at different pain levels and going to make a poster like you see in inpatient rooms of the smiley faces chart for pain level. Trying to come up with other ideas of what to do or who to go to anymore or who to believe in.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'm so sorry to hear that your daughter is experiencing a long-term migraine. That certainly is miserable. If you don't mind me asking, how old is she? There are A LOT of different medications and treatment options out there for migraine.
DeleteYou may look into whether or not there is a headache specialist in your area. I'm having trouble finding the list of headache specialists that I like, but here's one that looks pretty good - http://www.headaches.org/physicians - you can search doctors that are certified in headache management. You may also want to take a look at the Migraine Links page on my blog (http://www.chronicmigrainewarrior.com/p/migraine-links.html). There are some excellent resources out there.
I think it's GREAT that you're taking pictures at different pain levels.
My chronic migraines were started due to an auto accident. I didn't even realize it, but I didn't look at myself in a mirror for quite some time. When my family expressed just how very concerned they were about my extreme loss of weight, we took a few pictures. I looked almost like a skeleton, and the pain was piercing through in my eyes. It frightened me to see that this is what others were seeing and what I'd become.
We know how badly we feel, but we don't always know how we appear to others. Living with an invisible illness is difficult, but it helps when our loved ones can tell based on how we look, how we might be feeling (some may only be subtle differences, but it can help with treatment and feeling better understood).
I truly hope some of this helps. If there's ever anything that I can do to help, please just let me know.
Blessings,
Jamie
Thank you all. I really appreciate your prayers, support, and understanding.
ReplyDelete