I cannot say I'm living with Migraine, as my quality of life is NIL. I don't leave the house for more than 2-3 hours at a time. If I do I have to load my puse chock full of meds and everyone I'm with is always wondering if I am going to get an "ATTACK" I have to live with my parents as I get migraines suddenly, lose my vision, cannot drive, etc..
I have been going to the VA neurologist. He's not taking me seriously and does not realize how this has impacted my life. He tells me that With the triptans I should have no need for rescue medication. Well..that didn't work. my BP went up to 288/196. I went to my old family doctor, who about flipped out when he saw my BP. In no less than 30 seconds he ushers mom out to the waiting room and proceeds to give me Demerol/ Vistaril/ Compazine. Great. My BP went down Immediately. I stopped vomiting within 10 minutes and the excruciating pain was gone within 15 minutes. I have been there at least once a month "for Help"
How high of BP is too high and how many days can I go before this becomes a Medical Emergency. When I head to the family physician he acts as though I am already in trouble but the VA doc says it is nothing to worry about. He gave me Verapamil for my BP. And said that should be enough. It does not help me when pain is causing my BP to rise.
My family thinks I am going to die. Of course I would not be that lucky. I just go into the basement and scream. The Amerge and Imitrex help for a short period. Then it comes back. And I can rely, or well, expect this. Migraine should not be ending my life and livelyhood. But it has. With no medical insurance My pcp can only give me shots and send me home. He has done alot of testing for free and I do not want to abuse the help he gives me. But is there no other way to get emergency help but go to an outside the VA doctor at 114.00 a visit just for shots?
The VA says to come to their ER for Morphine. yeah right morphine makes everything 100 times worse. As if I don't already look the the little girl off the exorcist. And the VA goes on a disability rating for giving help. I got 20%. I have to wait a while. And it's over 40 miles away.
I had a husband with health insurance but he did'nt know how to handle what I was going thru and decided he would just leave rather than deal with it. So I'm on my own now. And I scare my Neices and nephew often and I don't want them to see any of this.
If I can get myself to an almost hypothermic state I can handle my head pain. But I know this is not healthy for me either.
Does anyone have any suggestions on who or where to go to for help?
I have been taking donations from friends to raise enough money to send me to a specialist and they are supportive. I need to find a really good specialist as I can afford maybe 1-2 appointments.
I am afraid if I don't get help soon I am going to have more issues arise from this. I really don't want to have a stroke or something serious come from the lack of attention from someone who is supposed to be a headache doctor. The VA is the worst place I can go.
Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!
I know you are having a rough time now, and I am sorry. Is the VA your only option? It would be great to see a Migraine specialist to come up with a plan, then implement it at home. We do have one in WA and OR and they are on are patient recommended Migraine specialists list you can see HERE. There are also prescription plans that help people without insurance like http://www.pparx.org/
Email me if you'd like to talk more, ok?
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
Hi Whogirl,
I'm sorry to hear all of that. This post reminds me of the exact way that I was feeling around this time last year. I would definitey recommend finding a headache or migraine specialist. They are usually much more knowledgable than neurologists in my experience.
You mention imitrex- and if you are taking too much imitrex you may be in a very bad rebound pattern. For almost two years I got migraines almost daily and taking way too much imitrex. I ended up having to detox myself of medication for 6 months...not able to take anything if I got a migraine. It was hard, but really worth it.
During my detox time I tried a lot of holistic and homeopathic treatments. I'm doing much better now, getting a migraine no more than once a week if not more. Holistic treatments are usually expensive, but the people who practice them are more likely to negotiate something with you if you aren't well off right now. Again - I really feel for you. Just message me if you would like to hear more about the things I've tried.