Full Question:
I have had migraines since I was 13 years old. I will be 58 this month. I have went for a year or more without them or I can have them for months at a time. In Nov. last year I started have some numbness, tingling, dizziness, and had trouble remembering things, plus the migraines started back up. Had a MRI and it showed that I had multiple lesions in the white matter of my brain. (three years before that I had a couple of lesions) My family doctor sent me to a neurologist, I had every test for MS, Lupus, etc., and everything came back normal. Headaches were getting closer and closer together and were a little different than I have ever had them before and the neurologist didn't seem concerned so I went to see another doctor, nothing happened and finally went to see another one and he told me to stop having headaches. He changed one of my medicines which takes around three to four weeks to work. I have been on just about everything. About 28 years ago while I was living in Chicago I went to the Diamond Headache Clinic and I have practiced most of the ideas they gave me. My systems come and go but know my headaches are everyday, I usually wake up with one but it will go way once I am up for a little while, then around 12:30 I get another one if I am lucky it goes away around 4 in the afternoon if not I go home from work eat and then have to lay down for an hour or two. Can you help? What will happen with these lesions? Doctors will not say anything about them to me now that it's not MS. Clara.
Answer:
Dear Clara;
There has been some research regarding white matter lesions on the brains of Migraineurs. Researchers think they may be an indication that Migraine is a progressive brain disease and recommend preventing as many Migraines as possible. (See Is Migraine a Progressive Brain Disease? for more information.)
It's easy to feel as if you've tried everything, but there are so many medications in use for Migraine prevention today that it's impossible to have tried them all. You can find a list of over 100 of them in Migraine Preventive Medications: Too Many Options To Give Up! It can take some preventives up to three months to make a difference, so be sure you're not giving up too soon.
It's good that you still practice the advice you received at the Diamond, but your body has changed with time. The best thing you can do for yourself is get back to the care of a Migraine specialist. Neurologists are not necessarily Migraine specialists, and it's impossible to give you more specific advice via the Internet. If you need help finding a specialist, there's a link to a directory of patient-recommended specialists below.
Good luck,
John Claude Krusz and Teri Robert
If you need to find a headache and Migraine specialist, please see our listing of patient recommended specialists.
Another good source of information and support is our forum. To post to the forum, you'll need to register, even if you're already registered on the main section of our site. You can use the same email address and password for both registrations.
