I have been living with migraines for at least 8 years and I am just referring to the disabling ones. I have had headaches since I was a young teen but they were controllable with over the counter meds. I was in a car accident at the age of 16 and was not wearing a seat belt. Well, as you can imagine, my face hit the windshield and my nose was broken. I had no other sever injuries at the time, but the headaches became more intense. The doctors at the time stated that I had chronic sinusitis and that I just had to live with it. I thought that was that and went on with my life until 8 years ago it all changed. Suddenly, I couldn't function. It was affecting everything in my life. I couldn't work, sleep, eat, or go anywhere. I started to see doctors again and as you all can relate I am sure have tried all the combinations of meds. None have worked for me. I finally have had to quite my job and now I am at a pain clinic and trying a new diet along with a daily pain patch to manage my headaches. I have hope that if this does not work that in about 3 1/2 years I will be moving out of Illinois and west to California were the weather is more stable and my headaches will also stabilize out too. I stated a blog migrainerx.net to share with other migrainers about my diet and get support while dealing with this condition. I have had a terrible time with it so far. I have lost all the post and comments one night while up with a headache. I have restarted it again now that I now have a computer (since again my luck has held and after losing all of my posts, then my computer crashed and I had to get a new laptop) to work with again. So my diet is a high protein low carb lean diet. The other thing is to make sure that everything is all natural so real you labels carefully. It has been difficult and the diet can take up to 1 year to work. The nice thing about this plan is that it is not really a "diet" but a lifestyle change. You are supposed to eat to 7-10 oz portions of lean protein two times a day and carbs should be all natural grains and vegetables. Bread, rice and pasta should be changed to whole grain. Sugar should be limited and no artificial sweetener should be used. Veggies should be fresh or frozen never from a can the same for fruits. Snacks should be changed to nuts or dried fruit instead of chips or candies. I have discovered sunflower kernels as my new favorite snack along with peanuts. This is just small start to what my new life and diet is about for more please email or blog me for questions. I would love to share with you and have the support along with long journey.
Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!
Before you make a drastic move across the country, you may want to see a Migraine specialist first. Migraine specialists are experts only treating people with Mgiraines and headache disorders. They devote their entire practice to this. Neurologists treat so many conditions, like stroke, MS and epilepsy, it is hard for them to concentrate in any one area like Migraine. Even those neurologists who say they are "headache specialists' may not be. We have some information you may be interested in reading: Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? Then you can look for a Migraine specialist on our list of patient recommended specialists HERE.
The weather changes in CA. differently than in IL., but changes none the less. You see, Migraine is thought to be a genetic neurologic disease. There are five parts to a good Migraine management plan: Diagnosis, trigger identification and management, preventing a Migraine attack, aborting an attack as quickly as possible and if need be using rescue medications when abortives fail.
Have you tried keeping a Migraine diary to see what other things may be triggering an attack? Interrupted sleep schedules, dehydration, and certain foods all can trigger a Migraine attack for some people. A diary is an easy way to see what medications, triggers, and other things are effecting your Migraines. We have a free downloadable Migraine diary you can find HERE. We also have good information on Migraine triggers: Migraine Triggers.
Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.
We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.
Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information and a spot to sign up for our free newsletter on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them to the forum or send me a message through my profile.
Welcome again,
Nancy BonkMyMigraineConnection.com Expert
Thank you for your comments and I guess that I did not make my self very clear. I have seen over half a dozen of the countries tops specialists in this area in the area of neurology, cardiology, psychology, and migraine. At this point there is nothing that hasn't been tried I even applied for a nerve stimulator implantation but was turned down by insurance. I am currently with pain specialists and doing alternative therapy to reduce stress and try to gear my self to life off of all drugs. That is why I look forward to moving in the future, that is what the doctors have resolved to as well. I have kept multiple diaries and my trigger is weather. I hope this is a little clearer as to why we are thinking of moving and not because I haven't tried medical help, but because medical help hasn't worked for me and I have found a new hope for my self with this move.
Hi,
I understand how frustrating it is to see so many doctors, try so many different drugs and not feel any better. One thing to consider is that all Migraine/headache "specialists" are not created equal, just like some GP's have better bedside manners than others, some Migraine specialists are more specialized than others. Does that make any sense? I went to one "headache" specialist - he had never heard of some of the medications used for Migraine/headache I was taking. I didn't go back to him. I guess my point here is there are too many options to give up. It may feel like you have tried every medication available for Migraines, but that really isn't possible because there are over 100 that can be used to treat Migraine disease.
Migraine Preventive Medications - Too Many Options To Give Up!
Here is some information on barometric weather changers and stackable triggers:
Migraines Often Triggered By Change In the Weather
Fay + Stackable Triggers = Migraines for Me!
Thank you for your concern. I don't in the least feel that I have given up. I am still seeking treatment with a pain doctor who had migraines himself and was able to treat his with this diet that I am currently trying. I still take topamax and prozac as well as have a daily fentanyl patch for pain control. For the first time in a very long time I am actually getting some decrease in the severity and duration of the headaches. The problem is I am a RN so as long as I am on pain medications, I can't work. My goal is to become drug free. I had lived out west before and it was the only time in my life that I didn't have headaches. I don't see our plans to move in the future as giving up on anything but instead keeping hope alive that some day I may have fewer headaches and no longer be disabled. I am currently fully disabled and filing for disability. This is not how I want the rest of my life or my kid's life to be. If there is a remote chance of getting of the drugs and living again for my family why wouldn't I take it? I have faith in God that he will work all of this out just as he wants to and if that include a new drug to come along now great or if that means we more west I am willing to go. I am leaving this all in his hands. I don't have anything against the medical field, I'm a nurse. So far they just haven't had any luck with me. I also have a heart issue so med combinations are a little trickery with me then with other so that doesn't help. I will just keep plugging along with my new diet and my current medications for now and see how the next few years plays out. Maybe this diet will be the answer that many of us have been looking for.