Welcome to Migraine City, I'm your Mayor

Wow. Long time, huh? I guess the most recent and probably ONLY thing that has really been going on with me lately is a bunch of migraines. And by bunch, I mean like 1 a day. Which is insane. In the big scheme of things, I should get about 2 a month. Not 30.

Two weeks ago, I had a migraine for 6 days. 6 days. That's almost a whole week, ladies and gents. I ended up going to the ER that week to get a shot to try and break the cycle. It helped, but mostly for that day and the next. I had a few headaches after that, and have basically had a headache every day since.

Here are a few answers to your most obvious questions:

1. Is it a brain tumor?
1. No. Not that they can tell. Nothing shows up on the CT scan
2. Is there something wrong with your sinuses?
1. Nope. Not since the tonsillectomy is there something wrong with those.
3. Are you sure they're migraines?
1. Yep. Once you have one, you'll know. And once the only thing that works is stabbing a needle pen into your leg, you'll know they're migraines.
4. What are you doing to help?
1. Well, for starters, I recruited the help of a new neurologist who happens to specialize in headaches.
1. She's given me a preventative medication which seems to be helping most of the time. Except that whole week that I now refer to as "migraine-gate."  However, with her help, I've gotten to part 2 of this equation which is..
2. I've recruited the help of a pain management doctor.
1. He gives me steroid shots and nerve blocks in the back of my head and neck to help break up some of the tension. The first time I had them done, it worked like a charm, until I got that first migraine (that led into the 6 day migraine-gate).
2. The second time he did the injections, he put me to sleep and used XRay guidance to get more to the heart of the nerve. The first day was poop and the second day was worst. Today is the 3rd day and I feel good. I think the steroids are starting to absorb into my body and alleviate the tension/pain. Could partly be because it's Friday. We will see.

So, those are the obvious questions. The less obvious questions are is there something wrong with your nerves or your arteries leading to/from your brain? Don't know yet. Haven't had a chance to ask the neurologist that. I do know that according to the FDA's standards, I qualify for Botox injections. But, given the fact that I haven't had a child yet (and desperately want to) she's not comfortable giving me the Botox until we settle on that. So, I'm taking these last few months of the year to fully exhaust all resources (since I've met my deductible and all) and am trying anything and everything in hopes that I'll find the cure to the migraines. If it was just migraines, or just headaches, I think it'd be easier to deal with. It's the combination of a headache one day and then a migraine the next that is throwing me off the most. Here's hoping that the next few months will lead to the promise land of the brain and we'll get it all figured out.

Anyway, that's why I've been absent from the blogosphere and have had nothing interesting to contribute.

For shits and giggles, here's a picture of a brain.

 

until next time blogospehere, until next time.