Would somebody just put me out of my misery!

Moving into the 6th week of Monster Migraine hell almost daily....Have you ever been so tempted just to end it all? The pain is horrendous and constant...ugh.

This isn't living, this is just "auto pilot" survival mode and nothing more. I hate my life and wish GOD would take me out of here to where HE is, or allow JESUS to perform a modern day miracle and HEAL me.

Either works for me.

Trinity

Trinity,

Im so sorry to hear you are hurting that much! It is horrible. I know the feeling, though I really wish I didn't. My migraines became chronic at age 17 and my parents always told me to tell somebody when I got to the point where "the window was looking good." I am glad you told us though.

I know you mentioned medications for sleep in an earlier post, but I am not sure if you take something for that or not. If so, you could try a small dose and see if that will help.

I don't have a lot of advice- but will give you what I have. I know it is the weekend, but if the headache is this bad-you might want to call your doctor's office and speak with the on call neurologist. Even if your doctor is away, someone will be covering for him. (Note- I am the child of two physicians and they never minded taking call. So don't worry about that.) It sounds like you are in a really bad way so please call them.

I hate to mention the ER, but it sounds like it might be time for that. At the very least, they can get some meds and fluids. And possibly call your dr for suggestions.

Feel better.

Pain free days,
sconesail

Sorry you are suffering. I agree that it sounds like its time to do something -- call your doctor, go to the ER (or urgent care, I have found them more helpful, plus often less wait time), etc. I hope something changes for the better for you soon. There has got to be something that can be done. Hang in there! Best wishes.

Thanks Scone and Tgirl:
I went to the ER 1 year ago this month for the same thing (climate/weather?) the ER doctor said I was an addict and to never come back to his ER again. We gave him a full medical history, neuro surgeries etc. Made no difference. He wanted to send me out the door with Toradol and a muscle relaxer. When I said that wasn't going to kill it after 17 days straight of hell, he started with the accusations. Finally he gave me a shot of Morphine and Phenergren and then told me to "never come back looking for drugs in his ER again.". I was suicidal at that point, he didn't help much.

It was my frist time to that ER for migraine and only the 3rd time to any ER for migraine over a 5 year period. I wrote to the Medical Board, who responded there wasn't enough evidence to do anything to him. I wrote to the Administrator of the hospital, he never even responded.

So the ER is out. The next hospital is several miles away. The neuro doctor I saw a few months back said he couldn't help me. I need to find a new Neuro.

I'm sorry the ER treated you that way. It wasn't right of them, and that doctor was an @$$hole (sorry if the language bothers anybody).

Someone with your primary doctor should be taking call. If you don't have a neuro, and you and your primary have a treatment plan for the Colt-45 migraines, he should be able to get it for you.

The Colt-45 thing is a reference I've heard someone else use for those migraines so bad that death doesn't sound bad at all. It stuck in my head, and I use it now, since it's so fitting.

Thanks Sara

Were they able to get you anything when you called?

Sent you a PM.
Cindy

Got it! Thanks Cindy, for reaching out.
Trinity

How is today treating you? I'm hoping that it's back to a controllable point. Take care

Sara: I appreciate that you reached out, thank you. Today my brain feels as though it has been bashed in. I am lightheaded and dizzy and physically feel pretty bad. My eyes hurt too. Not a great day... Big thunderstorm here now, low pressure and my head are a bad mix

Trinity

I had an MRI today of what's left of my brain I am actually hoping they will find something they can treat. I had two ANA blood tests come back positive for audio immune disease last year but no one ever pin pointed the cause.

I went to my eye doctor because my eyes were aching horribly and I was having problems tracking things that move, like on tv etc. My eye doctor said he wanted to rule out MS...

What I didn't know is that 50% of people with MS have chronic migraines. So maybe they are tied together and the migraines might be treated more "fairly" if MS is actually part of the cause. They said I would have results in about 3 days which means Monday because of the weekend.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and kindness, it means everything knowing I am not alone.
Trinity

Trinity,

Sorry for rough patch. IIRC, you were on Inderal LA--looks like it's entirely lost its punch. Did they keep you on it, or raise the dose? If you've had a rapid then the docs should start thinking about changes on vascular side. Again, IIRC you had some underlying problems. Often I've found that migraines and vascular (for me, an increase in migraine is iron-clad warning of a brewing cardiac issue).

That doctor was a schmuck.

I hope you can get some relief soon.

Take care,
PF

Trinity,

So sorry you are dealing w/ so much pain. That ER doctor is an ignorant twit. It's good that you followed up w/ the hospital. What I've always tried to do is work w/ a neuro who has practicing privileges at a local hospital. Then I can go to their ER and when they see who my neuro is I get treated well. You can even have your neuro put instructions in your file for the treatment you should receive at the ER.

IMO you need to retrace your steps either w/ your current neuro or another one. Depakote was working so well for you. Maybe you can find a medium dose that will be safe and give some relief in conjunction w/ Neurontin. A lot of people use that cocktail. And do you have an abortive now? If morphine works I would press for an Rx for that. With the level of chronic pain you are experiencing you should not have a problem obtaining an Rx for morphine or any of the other short acting opioids in 2013. You might try posting for a doctor referral on the NDPH board at mdjunction.com.

-Platy

PF and Platy:

Inderal never worked and Lisinopril didn't last. I am on an abortive, Relpax 40mg, but it is losing its punch and takes 3 hours to kick in if it does at all now. I use Stadol NS with it, but that has its own issues.

Tried Neurontin and within 2 weeks I had thoughts of "hurting" myself, so I stopped that medication.

We did reduce the Depakote but it no longer worked at the lower does. As for Morphine, it gives me horrible headaches and can trigger migraine.

I wish I could get a local Neuro, however we are in a rural area in Kentucky, the one in my town is a hack. Medication is a serious issue here, over half the population are Meth addicts, Adderall addicts and pain med addicts. This makes all the doctors stereotype anyone actually needing pain relief.

I am going to get an appointment with the Pain Management doctor I used to see when we lived in Lexington. He is 3 1/2 hours away from us but it would be worth the drive to get a new plan in place. Maybe I could see him twice a year?

Thanks for the input, it is appreciated. I am almost normal today
Trinity

I hope the pain management doctor is helpful.  Once I finally found a good one, it has got my pain under much better control.  A lot of the non-narcotic meds used in general pain management are the same ones they used for headache/migraine too.

Hopefully they have some new ideas, and may be more opiate friendly.  If they prescribe you opiates they would likely need to see you every month.  If they give you a treatment plan for a local doctor to follow, then you could see them much less often.

You might also ask your doctor if you can take two of the 40mg Relpax at once, or at least another one if the first one doesn't help after 2 hours. The prescribing info says up to 80mg/day is ok. My doctor wrote only 1 pill in 24 hours on mine, but I haven't specifically asked. Of course that uses up the pills faster and may increase side effects though.

Although if your doctor would prescribe Stadol, why not something else?  For example, Hydromorphine/Dilaudid typically kicks in faster than some of the other meds (although its shorter lasting).  It comes in suppository or injection too.

What about Zomig nasal spray, Zomig or Maxalt melt tabs, or one of the forms of Imitrex?  I too find the pills take forever to work.  I also keep a Torodal nasal spray (Sprix) on hand, which I found works better than the injections oddly enough.  Is your doctor open to suggestions?  Best wishes.

Yeah I have read about the epidemic of pain killer prescriptions written in the rural south in Chris Hedges' book Days of Destruction Days of Revolt. Mostly Vicodin and Oxycontin, and people resell them.

As tortoisegirl wrote, there are many alternatives to Morphine and Stadol -- neither of those touch my headaches, though I do get relief from Dilaudid and Demerol, and there are other options in the opiate family. You won't necessarily be required to be seen once a month -- my doctor does not require that.

If Relpax works for you I also agree on advice given to double the dosage. When I was using Amerge and later Sumavel I always doubled the dose -- it was the only way it was ever effective. Try it, and if it works you could talk to the new neuro about it.

Sorry the preventatives have all kinda struck out. It's so hard to control headaches with just abortives. Hope you can find something to cut down the pain level or frequency to give the abortives more of a fighting chance.

-Platy