05/21/07 #8 - Severe Migraines, nothing works, where to turn?

Full Question:
My husband has suffered from migraines for years and nothing has seemed to help him. He has tried all of the abortives that are non narcotic and they don't work. We have gone to 3 new doctors this month to no avail. The hospital did a CAT scan when he was in the emergency room but none of the doctors have run any other kinds of test. They just keep prescribing medications that don't work. One neurologist told him right out "it looks like the only thing that works for your migraines in narcotics but I'm not going to give you any." What he is just suppose to live in this horrible debilitating pain. I don’t understand aren’t doctors supposed to help alleviate suffering. We don’t know were to turn to. Concerned Wife.

Answer:

Dear Concerned Wife;

You need to turn to a true Migraine specialist. Many family doctors and general practice neurologists simply don’t have the experience or advanced training to handle severe Migraine cases. Your husband probably needs to be reassessed and his Migraine diagnosis confirmed. Then, a specialist would begin working to set up a regimen of both preventive and abortive medications for him. Effective preventive and abortive regimens can be found for 95-98% of Migraineurs, so the odds are definitely in his favor.

Good luck,
John Claude Krusz and Teri Robert

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Dr. Krusz is a recognized expert in the fields of headache and migraine treatment and pain treatment. Each week, he and Lead Expert Teri Robert, team up to answer your questions about headaches and Migraines. You can read more about Dr. Krusz or more about Teri Robert. If you have a question for this section of our site, please click HERE. Accepted questions will be answered by publishing the answers here. No questions will be answered privately.

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