It has been almost four years since my struggle with chronic Migraines began. I had Migraines as a teenager. Looking back, now I know that they were episodic Migraines. Chronic Migraines are somewhat of a different animal it seems. It was the first weekend in August 2007. I had been struggling with what I thought were severe sinus headaches for several months. I later found out they were most likely Migraines. I had a bad headache (again, later found out it was most likely a Migraine) that lasted most of the weekend. But unlike my previous “bad” headaches, this one didn’t go away. I guess you could say it hasn’t gone away yet! I have not had a pain-free day since that weekend. It’s been quite a journey. I write these monthly shareposts to update others on how I am doing. It's therapeutic for me to stop once a month and write down where I am on this journey. It is also a hope of mine that by sharing my journey, I am helping others who are also struggling with Migraine disease.

This past month, I had an appointment with my Migraine specialist. I received my second round of Botox injections at this visit. Before the injections, I filled out a questionnaire about how I have been doing since my last visit. Then, he came in to talk with me about how I was doing. The first thing I wanted to discuss was caffeine. I told him that I had gotten “addicted” again and was drinking caffeine daily. He very quickly told me that I had to get off of caffeine. Not only did I have to get off of it, I had to also quit drinking all decaf products! He did tell me I could still have chocolate occasionally. Well, thank goodness!!!  So, the good news is I can still have chocolate. I have gone “off” of caffeine several times before but I have never gone off of decaf. None of my previous doctors had a problem with decaf, but it was clear that my current doctor has a big problem with it. So next comes the, “how do I do that?”

My husband and I told my doctor the story of a previous time that I had gone off of caffeine. I thought I would just go cold turkey and tough it out. I had my last caffeine on Friday. By Sunday morning my head felt like it was going to explode. I remember going through this thought process in my head:  Hmm, if it gets any worse, I’m going to have to go the hospital. I can’t stand the pain. Hmm, what am I going to tell them? That I went off caffeine cold turkey! Yeah, that would be pretty silly. So, I fixed myself a cup of coffee and waited for my head to calm down.  My doctor laughed with us at this silly scenario. He even joked that he could imagine the ER doctor calling out the orders to bring a Diet Coke stat!!

So, my doctor told me he could give me some medication to help with the caffeine withdrawal. I was hesitant, but decided I would trust him. After all, this is the same man that I am trusting to give me shots all over my head and neck!