Living with Migraines
I've been a migraine headache sufferer for about twenty years. The first four years I endured with no effective treatment whatsoever. As most migraine sufferers do, I swallowed handfuls of Excedrin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Sudafed and combinations of whatever I thought would relieve the pain. Most of the time I would be nauseous from the headache, but the pills would also make me throw-up, so I would take more to replace what thought I had lost. There's no telling how much damage I caused my liver and kidneys with these over the counter medicines and can honestly say none of them worked.
I went to the doctor and complained of the headache problem and, for whatever reason, the doctor was hesitant to diagnose them as migraines. He would provide me with two or three prescriptions to try each visit; Bidrin, Midrin, god-awful speckled things that certainly looked like they should work, Esgesic, etc. Nothing helped. To make matters worse, during this time in my career I was traveling a lot and would get massive headaches every time I flew. I remember one particular flight that ended up lasting thirteen hours. During the last four or five hours, I wished I would lose consciousness.
Obviously convinced he couldn't fix my problem, the doctor sent me to a neurologist. I had one visit with the neurologist and spent about five minutes with him before he proclaimed that I was suffering from migraine headaches. He had me take my shoes and socks off then walk across the floor, took one look and said, "Yep, you've get migraines." I didn't care how he figured it out, all I wanted was some effective pain relief. I left his office with a prescription for Imitrex injections and went straight to the pharmacy. $150.00 later I had two syringes containing 5 mg of Imitrex each, an injection gun and a little plastic pouch to carry them. It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out this was $75.00 per headache and, at that time, my insurance wouldn't cover one penny of it, claiming it was experimental. So be it.
I believe it was the next day when I experienced my next migraine and, believe it or not, I was hesitant to use the new prescription. First, the pharmacist had told me that for some people Imitrex "simulates a heart attack". Second, I wasn't wild about self-injecting. Third, using one injection would mean that I only had one left. But like most migraine sufferers, I was pretty sure those weren't good enough reasons to experience a migraine if relief was at all possible. I took an injection. About ten minutes later I had tightness in my neck and shoulders. Within thirty minutes the headache was virtually gone. Without a doubt I had just experienced a miracle.
Fortunately I now had a cure for migraines. Unfortunately the frequency of the headaches didn't recede. I was spending at least $150.00 every couple of weeks and listening to the pharmacist lecture about taking too much Imitrex. It was obvious he wasn't a migraine sufferer and oblivious to the fact that standing between me and a dose of my miracle cure was akin to suicide. Migraine headache patients have all thought about the possibility of running out of medicine and resorting to, with no remorse, robbing a drug store, if need be.
In the past fourteen years I have tried other migraine medications and medical protocols to reduce the frequency of headaches, but to little or no avail. I moved to 25 mg Imitrex tablets, then to 50 mg and now to 100 mg. A recent change in preventive medication resulted in 16 migraines in 30 days. I had a migraine last night and another today. It is always a balancing act. I try to avoid taking the medication because if I do, then that means I'll have one less tablet available. Then the headache gets worse and I end up taking one anyway. Stupid, I know, but I can't explain it. Insurance allows me 9 tablets every 25 days. If I run out, I pay the full price of $260.00. If I have an extended period of with no headaches, I stock pile Imitrex. That way I don't have to throw a brick through the drug store window.
I went to the doctor and complained of the headache problem and, for whatever reason, the doctor was hesitant to diagnose them as migraines. He would provide me with two or three prescriptions to try each visit; Bidrin, Midrin, god-awful speckled things that certainly looked like they should work, Esgesic, etc. Nothing helped. To make matters worse, during this time in my career I was traveling a lot and would get massive headaches every time I flew. I remember one particular flight that ended up lasting thirteen hours. During the last four or five hours, I wished I would lose consciousness.
Obviously convinced he couldn't fix my problem, the doctor sent me to a neurologist. I had one visit with the neurologist and spent about five minutes with him before he proclaimed that I was suffering from migraine headaches. He had me take my shoes and socks off then walk across the floor, took one look and said, "Yep, you've get migraines." I didn't care how he figured it out, all I wanted was some effective pain relief. I left his office with a prescription for Imitrex injections and went straight to the pharmacy. $150.00 later I had two syringes containing 5 mg of Imitrex each, an injection gun and a little plastic pouch to carry them. It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out this was $75.00 per headache and, at that time, my insurance wouldn't cover one penny of it, claiming it was experimental. So be it.
I believe it was the next day when I experienced my next migraine and, believe it or not, I was hesitant to use the new prescription. First, the pharmacist had told me that for some people Imitrex "simulates a heart attack". Second, I wasn't wild about self-injecting. Third, using one injection would mean that I only had one left. But like most migraine sufferers, I was pretty sure those weren't good enough reasons to experience a migraine if relief was at all possible. I took an injection. About ten minutes later I had tightness in my neck and shoulders. Within thirty minutes the headache was virtually gone. Without a doubt I had just experienced a miracle.
Fortunately I now had a cure for migraines. Unfortunately the frequency of the headaches didn't recede. I was spending at least $150.00 every couple of weeks and listening to the pharmacist lecture about taking too much Imitrex. It was obvious he wasn't a migraine sufferer and oblivious to the fact that standing between me and a dose of my miracle cure was akin to suicide. Migraine headache patients have all thought about the possibility of running out of medicine and resorting to, with no remorse, robbing a drug store, if need be.
In the past fourteen years I have tried other migraine medications and medical protocols to reduce the frequency of headaches, but to little or no avail. I moved to 25 mg Imitrex tablets, then to 50 mg and now to 100 mg. A recent change in preventive medication resulted in 16 migraines in 30 days. I had a migraine last night and another today. It is always a balancing act. I try to avoid taking the medication because if I do, then that means I'll have one less tablet available. Then the headache gets worse and I end up taking one anyway. Stupid, I know, but I can't explain it. Insurance allows me 9 tablets every 25 days. If I run out, I pay the full price of $260.00. If I have an extended period of with no headaches, I stock pile Imitrex. That way I don't have to throw a brick through the drug store window.
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