Wife and mother of 4 living with migraines

By Katiesmom Tuesday, October 07, 2008

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I have been reading lots of posts and just wanted to share my story.

I am a wife and a mother of 4 wonderful kids. I never suffered from migranes until my last pregnancy and I have had them almost daily since. At 1st not knowing I was pregnant I was sure I had a brain tumor, I had never felt so much pain, 2 days in a row I was in the ER, they did the cat scans, and MRI's etc and all was clear, they set me up with specialists, finally they had me go see my gyn as my cycles were still not regular from my previous pregnancy, my son was 20 months old. This is when they told me I was 11 weeks pregnant with my 4th child!!! So, happy day, no brain tumor, but still had terrible headaches, and now the added concern that all the drugs I had taken and the MRI and CAT scan I was going to have a baby with 2 heads or worse! So I went through my pregnancy as drug free as I could be, getting nerve block injections into my head to stop the pain, as this would not harm the baby, just so I could get out of bed and function as a mother to my 3 children, all the time they kept telling me the headaches would stop once I had the baby. Then my beautiful baby girl was born (with only one head, and perfect in every way) but the headaches did not go away. So then the doctors tell me its because I am breastfeeding, so I stop nursing way sooner than I had wanted to, and here we are, my baby girl is now 3 years old, and I still have the daily headaches. I am 40 years old in good health, other than controlled asthma and daily headaches. I have tried so many different drugs. My current list includes topamax, soma, maxalt, and a painkiller.

I do get shots every 3 months, that seems to help more than anything else, but I have not seen anyone else talk of them. My doctor prescribes Botox shots ~ I get them accross my shoulders, the back of my neck and across the top of my head and forehead. They dont stop completely but the degree of pain is reduced alot for approx 6 weeks. Has anyone else tried this?

This looks like a great place for support ~ my husband tries, but his patience runs thin at times. Its hard for him to understand, especially when he has so much else on his mind.

Comments (4) | Add comment

Nancy Harris Bonk, Health Guide

10/ 8/08 5:15pm

Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!

Migraine is a genetic neurologic disease best treated by a Migraine/headache specialist. Neurologists may be fine doctors, but they treat so many different conditions it is hard for them to be experts in any one area. Migraine/headache specialists devote their entire practice treating patients with headaches and Migraines and are experts, taking extra classes and attending scientific conferences to learn about the new advances in Migraine and headaches. You can find our patient recommended specialist list HERE.

While topamax may not be the best Migraine prevention medication out there, it is the one we hear the most about because it is heavily marketed to doctors and patients alike. There are many other medications, over 100 in fact, that can be used for Migraine prevention. Migraine Preventive Medications - Too Many Options To Give Up! has information you can share with your doctor if you feel topamax isn't working for you.

Recent evidence confirms having a long history and/or frequent Migraine attacks can cause silent brain damage. It is more important now than ever to reduce our attacks and get on a good preventive plan. Yes, Migraine Can Cause Brain Damage is an important article to read.

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. We hope to see you there. There is even a spot for Significant Others (SO's) so they have somewhere to go for support. Members are not able to read that folder, just other SO's and Teri and I - period! 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 Bonk
MyMigraineConnection.com Expert

Christine

10/ 9/08 8:38pm

I have had migraines since I was 10 yrs. old. It runs in my family. After I had my first child my migraines were worse. part of the problem is hormones and just daily life. Whether it be good or bad stress. I went through all of the triptans out there. The best one I have found is Frova. It has a longer half life than other triptans, meaning you don't need 2 or three before your pain is resolved. It does however take about 45-60 minutes before you start to feel human again. I have never tried botox. You sound like I was. I was stuck in a headache forever. It is so depressing not to mention annoying. Ask your doctor if you can try Frova. You may need to take your first one and then follow up with a second to break the cycle and pain. Also if you are able to take an NSAID ie: Ibuprofen, then take this with the Frova. Get some sleep as much as you are able,LOL, you know what with kids and all! It may take you a week or so to start to notice the difference. Then when you are able to recognize your pre headache symptoms take the ibuprofen and Frova right from the start. You may sitll get a headache but it will be so much less and will go away faster. I use Excedrin the one without aspirin. It really works, and if your house is like mine, there is no downtime for mom.

Katiesmom

10/24/08 11:45am

Thanks for the advise, I will ask my doctor about the Frova.

At my last visit, he took me off Topamax, that was on the Tuesday, Thursday I was back in the ER with so much head pain, and the strangest pain in my leg, I thought I was having a blood clot Turned out to be superficial veins, so all was good. But it took 2 shots of Demerol and 5 hours to break the headache, so that I could walk out of there.

You are right about there not being any down time for mum

Christine

10/26/08 7:33pm

There are other things to help ward off the next migraine. Diet is one. I am a label reader. MSG is one of the offenders. Another is soy. Soy dilates those migraine arteries. Any kind of artificial sweetner including the natural sugar alcohol. Nitrates which are in cold cuts and cheese and any kind of nuts. If you take vitamins naicin is a natural vasodilator even in a small amount. I know, there is nothing left to eat. once you break the cycle you're in then you can go back and try these foods. I still don't eat soy, msg or use naicin. I do however eat cheese and almonds and peanuts, in small amounts. If the topomax works then maybe staying on it would be helpful. When you discontinue any medicine you will get a rebound headache like the one you just got over. They are harder to break. Diflucan can give people who are prone to migraines a headache. Always ask the pharmacist for the drug insert and check the percentage of people who get side effects. Even if its a low percent you may be that 1% that gets the headache. Lastly, any kind of birth control pill can give you a headache. Did your MD check your thyroid and hormone levels? Perhaps these may be off, triggering the migraine. I'm sorry about the ER visit. I hate those.

Wife and mother of 4 living with migraines

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