Since my last share post, I have seen a different Migraine specialist in the same clinic and have seen the neuropsychologist two more times. I’ll start with my visit with the new Migraine specialist. For simplicity sake, I’m going to refer to this new doctor as Dr. B. I will refer to the nueropychologist as Dr. C.
Dr. B asked me a lot of questions and said repeatedly that I do meet the criteria for chronic Migraine. I knew that, but I guess he was talking out loud. I wanted to say, “YES, I have chronic Migraine.” But of course, I didn’t. Not a big deal really. I just kind of got tired of hearing him say that over and over. It was like he was surprised! So, after he was convinced that I have chronic Migraine, he did say I am a candidate for Botox. He said his office would be in touch with my insurance company and that it may take four to six weeks to get it approved. It’s been three weeks, and I haven’t heard anything yet. I have touched base with the doctor’s office, and they said that my insurance required some kind of proof of condition or reason for needing it or something? Dr. B had told me that was a possibility, so I guess it will be more like six weeks before it gets approved.
Dr. B wanted to add a new drug to help me reach a deeper sleep. He said it’s important to get to stage three and stage four of sleep. The drug he added is called gabapentin (brand name Neurontin).
I asked Dr. B about exercising. He said I could get back to exercising, but to keep it at a low intensity. He also said just be consistent. Even if I am not exercising at a high intensity, it is very important to exercise consistently. I shared with him my experience after walking a 5K with some jogging intervals and my Migraines changing and getting worse. He said it could be exercise-induced Migraines. He asked me to be very aware of how my head feels during and after exercising.
After that appointment, I inadvertently tested the exercise-induced Migraine issue. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling pretty well, so I decided that my daughter and I would take our dog for a walk in the woods. Well, it was warmer than I realized, and before long I, was sweating. Not too far into the walk, my head started pounding. By that evening, it was a full blown severe Migraine. The next day, I called Dr. B’s office and asked if I could have that medication for exercise-induced Migraines. He prescribed amlodipine besylate.
I don’t have another appointment scheduled with Dr. B. Once they get the Botox approved, they will call and set up an appointment for me to come in and have my first Botox injections.
I have seen Dr. C two times. I would have seen her three times, but she had to cancel one of my appointments because she was sick. I will see her again this week. I don’t have another appointment scheduled with her so I guess we will discuss that at this week’s appointment.
