Migraine Timeline

“This is a soul under perpetual migraine attack” - Richard Schickel

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Dear readers,

This post will be about the timeline of my migraines. I did promise to go into further details in my last post, so here I am.

So when I was in grade 8, that was the first time my migraines made an appearance in my life. It was also every day; if not, it was persistent; however, the pain level was like nothing I feel now. It lasted maybe a couple of months, then it faded away, and I only got a few headaches. It also didn’t last as long as it does now. Maybe for an hour or half a day max. I don’t know how my headache went away, but it did. I didn’t take any prescription medication then, just Tylenol and Advil.

Fast forward to the second semester of grade 10, my migraines came back, except this time with “friends.” It came back with such force that I thought I was dying. Maybe I was exaggerating, but either way, the pain was horrible. At first, I thought it was just stress because I had my first physics test in two days, but it did not go away after the test. The headache remained there for a month. Every single day it annoyed me and stayed at the same intensity. It did suck.

When I finally did go to the doctor about it, I found out I had a concussion; however, this is the part that does not make sense. Everything about my health doesn’t make sense, but that’s not the point. How I got the concussion is confusing because the events leading up to a concussion don’t match the timeline. The first event would be when I was snowboarding, and I tumbled down the hill. It was a little over a month before my headaches started. The next event happened a couple of days later when I got kneed in the head (not in a fight, just during work). So everything is fine, no minor headache or anything after those two events. Then when the headache started a month later, a couple of days before I went to the doctor, I had to crawl underneath a table to plug something in. I didn’t crawl out far enough because when I went to stand up, I banged the back of my head on the table. The last situation probably gave me a concussion, but I do not know what triggered my headaches that month before the event.

After that, the headaches worsened, and thus my migraine journey began. I saw a neurologist, then a headache specialist, then another specialist, and tried many medications and an injection. So far, nothing has worked. It’s been probably three and half years now. I have not gone through one day without a headache, and I honestly can’t remember what a day without a headache feels like if I am honest. Hopefully, I can have a headache-free day, but I don’t know. We will have to wait and see.
It was also never headaches alone; it was nausea, dizziness, near fainting episodes, visual auras, static or ringing in the ears, light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, smell sensitivity, poor memory, poor concentration, poor comprehension, and migraines so intense I felt like my mind was going to explode. I don’t feel migraines the way the “textbook” says what migraines are. I get them all over my head, mainly in the back and around the temples; now, they have migrated to the front of my head and the top. Sometimes I feel like someone is trying to juice my brain, while others, I feel like my brain is trying to grow another brain, but the lack of space in my skull stops it. Sometimes it feels like a pole is going through my head; others, it’s like someone is trying to flatten my brain. It’s all scattered, but one thing is consistent: it fucking hurts. I’m using the stop sign method to measure my pain, with green no headache. Yellow being there’s a headache, but it isn’t as bad as stopping me; it might be a slower day. Red means the headache is so bad I’m in my bed, hiding under my blanket, and can’t move. Or how I like to describe it, alive, half-dead, dead. I am always in yellow (half-dead), and three to four times a week, I’m red (dead). Sometimes I wonder how I even got through high school, let alone a year at university.

At first, my treatment course was lifestyle changes. I took Magnesium Citrate every night and tried to create a proper sleep routine, exercise, fewer screens, etc. It didn’t help. Two months later, I started Topiramate while increasing my Magnesium Citrate dosage. That didn’t help either; two months later, both got raised. When that didn’t help either, I got transferred to a headache specialist, and she took me off Topiramate and then put me on Amitriptyline. I started taking Naproxen SOD (this was a prescribed pain killer). Surprise, it didn’t help. We played with the dosage for Amitriptyline for four months before weaning off the medication, and I started with a new one, Gabapentin. These headaches began affecting my sleep because my head was so sensitive at this point; laying down and resting my head on a pillow hurt. I got put on Melatonin to help me sleep and switched to another headache specialist again. This new headache specialist took me off Naproxen SOD and put me on Mefenamic Acid and APO-Rizatriptan. Both are prescribed pain killers, but Rizatriptan is one specifically for migraines. I noticed a slight difference when I took my as-needed medication (the prescribed pain killers) but not enough that it helped me get through my day. I got off of Gabapentin and then put onto Venlafaxine since I was starting to get depressed and anxious; my dosage increased, and then I got off of Venlafaxine and put onto Sertraline because my depression and anxiety were getting too serious. Later I got off Mefenamic Acid and Rizatriptan and put onto Diclofenac SOD EC, Prochlorperazine, and Eletriptan, as my as-needed medication, and here I am, three and a half years later. Currently, on Magnesium Citrate, Melatonin, and Sertraline. These three I take daily, and Diclofenac SOD EC, Prochlorperazine, and Eletriptan as my as-needed medication.

My medication played around a lot, and it took three and a half years and three doctors. I feel like this is the part where I say, “to find the perfect combination to help my migraines,” but in all honesty, it doesn’t help. Well, I think it helps a bit, but because my migraines have been so intense, I feel them every day, and they are still terrible; I don’t notice a big difference. We are moving on from the medication and trying injections, and I will keep you guys updated. Also, I will write about my experience doing Nerve Blocking in a later post.

Remember, I’m not a doctor or any medical professional, I’m just a girl struggling with migraines, and this was my experience. Everyone’s migraine experience is different; some treatments may work for me but not others and vice versa.

Thank you for reading; I hope you have a fantastic day or night or whenever you’re reading.

A.B💜

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The reasonings for the bow and arrow emojis are because I found this explanation of the bow and arrow and fell in love. One can take any symbol to mean whatever they want, so your meaning of a bow and arrow might differ from mine, and that’s okay. A bow and arrow help me keep my hope and determination in my future. An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it will launch you into something extraordinary. Just remember to focus and keep your aim.