Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Marilyn asks

Q: My 24 year old son has migrains 24/7. He also has tinitus and extreme pain in his ears.

We've been everywhere, from the UCSF Headpain Clinic to the Headpain Clinic in Michigan.  This began almost 6 years ago and keeps getting progressivly worse.  Don't know where to turn. He has been on all types of meds, gone to ENT's, Nerologists, had botox therapy.  His ears hurt in conjunction to the side of his head that the migrains are.  We don't know where to turn.  He is miserable.

Answer This
Answers (1)
11/15/09 11:55pm

Marilyn,

 

-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-•*Welcome to MyMigraineConnection!*•-:¦:-•:*'""*:•.-:¦:-

 

I'm so sorry to read of the trouble your son is having.

 

How many days a week is he taking medications to relieve the Migraines? If we take Migraine abortive meds such as triptans or any kind of pain med more than two days a week, a big part of your problem may well be medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this. If you're in an MOH situation, nothing you take is going work, neither prescription nor "natural" medications nor over-the-counter. If that's the case, you need to work with your doctor to stop the medications causing the problem.

 

I have to admit that I'm stumped. You've done what I'd advise, which would be to take him to actual Migraine specialists at places such as UCSF. Of course, it's the doctor that counts, not the facility, so it certainly couldn't hurt to keep trying doctors. Dr. Peter Goadsby at UCSF is one of the most dedicated specialists I've ever met.

 

I have children and grandchildren with Migraines, so I can imagine how very difficult this is. What I would do is what I suggested above. Keep trying until you find the doctor who can help. It can take a lot of time and patience. When I started seeing a Migraine specialist, I was desperate. We made some small progress within the first six months or so, but it took four years to really bring my Migraines under control. If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.

 

If you'd like to talk with other Migraineurs and get some additional information and support, come join our discussion forum. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.

 

Please keep me posted?

 

Welcome again,

Teri

Reply
Answer This

Important:
We hope you find this general health information helpful. Please note however, that this Q&A is meant to support not replace the professional medical advice you receive from your doctor. No information in the Answers above is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The views expressed in the Answers above belong to the individuals who posted them and do not necessarily reflect the views of The HealthCentral Network. The HealthCentral Network does not review or edit content posted by our community members, but reserves the right to remove any material it deems inappropriate.