Dear Dr. Haplea,
I was working at a State Prison and was attacked by an inmate. He hit me on the back of my head and I have had migraines ever since. I have seen many doctors but nobody can help me; they put me on morphine for 3 years but it did not help, and now I am on Relafen 500mg but it does nothing. I go to bed with headaches and wake up with headaches. What other alternatives are out there? Should I be taking a different course of action since my migraines seemed to start with this trauma?
Post-traumatic migraine headaches may be difficult to treat; however, many of the same preventive migraine medications that are used for common or classic migraine headaches may reduce the frequency and intensity of post traumatic migraine headaches. I would recommend an evaluation with a neurologist and a trial of a preventive medication (anti-seizure medications, antidepressant medications, and/or antihypertensive medications) as opposed to treating with abortive medications alone such as Relafen and morphine. When one of my patients has more than one migraine headache a week, I recommended a preventive medication in addition to an abortive medication.
Important: We hope you find this general medical and health information useful, but this Q&A is meant to support not replace the professional medical advice you receive from your doctor. For all personal medical and health matters, including decisions about diagnoses, medications and other treatment options, you should always consult your doctor. See full Disclaimer.
I was working at a State Prison and was attacked by an inmate. He hit me on the back of my head and I have had migraines ever since. I have seen many doctors but nobody can help me; they put me on morphine for 3 years but it did not help, and now I am on Relafen 500mg but it does nothing. I go to bed with headaches and wake up with headaches. What other alternatives are out there? Should I be taking a different course of action since my migraines seemed to start with this trauma?
Post-traumatic migraine headaches may be difficult to treat; however, many of the same preventive migraine medications that are used for common or classic migraine headaches may reduce the frequency and intensity of post traumatic migraine headaches. I would recommend an evaluation with a neurologist and a trial of a preventive medication (anti-seizure medications, antidepressant medications, and/or antihypertensive medications) as opposed to treating with abortive medications alone such as Relafen and morphine. When one of my patients has more than one migraine headache a week, I recommended a preventive medication in addition to an abortive medication.
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Important: We hope you find this general medical and health information useful, but this Q&A is meant to support not replace the professional medical advice you receive from your doctor. For all personal medical and health matters, including decisions about diagnoses, medications and other treatment options, you should always consult your doctor. See full Disclaimer.
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