New member

Hi everyone

I am new to the forum and live in Perth, Western Australia. I started getting chronic migraines since February this year and have become desperate to talk to someone who understands!!!! Obviously my family has sympathy but to be honest, they really have no idea what's it like living with this day in day out. I figure I'm in pretty good company coming to a forum like this. I've also tried to see if there are any support groups in WA but so far no luck. Prior to the migraines starting, I had about 2 years of chronic neck / shoulder pain (which I still have) and I think this pain and tension is the resulting cause of my migraines. Initially I was getting 2-3 migraines a week and they have no reduced to about 1-2 a week, although the neck pain is still as bad. I tried so many different drug related therapies, physio, hydrotherapy, saw pain specialists and neuro's, neither of which helped. I've also had bone scans, xrays, MRIs and blood tests to rule anything else out. I've been seeing a Naturopath for a while now and although his treatment relieves the pain, its only temporary. He practices Bowen Therapy & Acupuncture primarily although he's recently started using a Scenar device on me which seems to help. I'm currently on leave from work and going through a system detox as I also have a lot of heavy metals in my body that we can't seem to get rid of. Not sure if these are adding to the migraines but hoping at least if I can get rid of these, its one less thing to worry about. Has anyone else experienced issues with heavy metals? I have toxic levels of Copper in my system as well as lead, xeno estrogens, lead, aluminium and few others that I can't remember.

The Naturopath I see also has a physchologist working at the clinic and I saw him for the first time last week. I guess he could see my desperation and the fact I'm struggling to cope with all of this. I don't have someone I can really talk to so helping this physchologist will help - even just to identify some coping strategies or something. Anyway time will tell and i'm at the stage where its worth trying anything!!!!

Anyway its been good just typing this and reading some of the discussions.

Thanks,
Lissy

welcome lissy, most on here have chronic migraine. be careful with all the nature people as they will be ready to take as much money as you give them and youll find youre no better.

weve all been there.

best advice is get a good neurologist and work with him to find a good treatment for your migraines but be patient it can take a while!! x

lissy, welcome. but it's very very hard for those of us with head pain to read big blocks of print. so more people are able to read your post (i just skimmed it) please break it up into short paragraphs, as you will see most posters do here.

hit enter after every couple of sentences. you can edit your post by doing this.

as dawn said, above, we've all been through all the (sorry) crap treatments. they never work. most of us have lost/wasted thousands upon thousands of dollars, because we were gullible, and they did sound like plausible answers. not.

me.....i've had bad M's for 41 years. i've found a few drugs which do help. neurololgists are usually arrogant, even nasty people, but i have found a few nice/helpful ones. your primary doc may be willing to try reasonable things, also. let us know! dianne

p.s. i've been tested numerous times for "heavy metals" and have had the so-called remedies to get rid of them. it didn't help even one tiny little bit and now i'm a disbeliever in that theory. and many many others.......

Hi Lissy,
I can only concur with Dianne.

It would be quicker to list what I haven't tried in the way of "alternatives".
We spent money we didnt have and none helped even one little bit.
My migraines have continued to worsen...

I would not give a moment's credence to the metal stuff.
Heard it all before and have as yet to meet anyone who has gotten any relief from these expensive ideas.

Now the psychologist. If you feel you have no one to talk to, then this might be worth a go.
Depending on what he has in mind. I did train myself, but am WAY out of practice.

You might find spending a few weeks exploring this forum might be just as useful, but having just "met"....well its' your call.

So anyway, welcome, and hope you find some comfort here.

pen

yeah, i forgot to mention the "shrink connection". we are not nuts! we are in hideous pain. sure, it can be helpful to learn to "cope". if you have a shrink, that is, who is well-versed in chronic pain issues.

pen's suggestion is great; read read read here. read tons of posts, and you will be more educated than most doctors. dianne

Hi Lissy - You mention that you are in Australia. There is a Doctor Leonard Rose who works out of the Melbourne Pain Clinic who has written and lectured extensively on the management and control of chronic pain, including migraines. I first met him in the 1980's and he is sympathetic and charming and gives helpful and practical advice. He also has an interest in self-hypnosis.

You may like to ''goggle'' him and see if you can find any help for your pain issues. You may be even able to contact him to see if he still gives lecture tours.

Just a thought

Hi Lizzy,

welcome to the forum.

I agree with all the previous posts. Migraine can't be cured, but your best bet is to work together with a neuro/GP to get the best possible treatment to deal with the pain.

PLEASE forget all about alternative treatments. They do not work, no matter how convincingly they are being sold to you. Save your money and spend it on a treat for yourself instead.

For further information on dubious alternative treatments see www.quackwatch.com

It is a website dedicated to health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies and misconduct.

Love

P.

Hi Lissy

Welcome. I hope you find this a useful forum. You story sounds a lot like mine, and many others here. I went through 3-1/2 years of chronic daily migraine and tried just about everything. (although no one ever tested me for metals, so no opinion there.) I finally got good relief from natural progesterone and vitamins. At least the headaches went from everyday to 1-2 per month. If you are peri-menopausal or have been on hormones for birth control or HRT you might want to look into this.

Other people seem to finally find a drug or a supplement that works, so you have to keep trying things and not give up. I hope you find something that works for you.

Thanks for your replies everyone. Sorry about the blocks of text, I got carried away typing!!

The Neuro I saw was definitely arrogant and had no real interest in helping - same goes for the Pain Specialist that I saw. I've tried so many different drugs, none of which helped which is why I've gone down the natural path for a while.

The Naturopath that I see is very good and has certainly had more interest in helping me than anyone else I've seen. He has been very supportive and quite generous in terms of his time and treatment. I certainly don't think he is out to make money from me given the time he has spent trying to help me. He came highly recommended by several different people and its worth a go.

The biggest thing I struggle with is accepting this which is why I've started seeing the psychologist. Anyway I'm covered for a certain number of sessions with him so guess I'll just see if it helps over the next few weeks.

Thanks,
Lissy

Hi Migrainegirl

What was the natural progesterone and vitamins you had success on? Interested to know if its anything I've tried.

I get to attend a pain clinic in January.
The first thing they did is send me an apointment for 9am......
I called and reminded them they promised me afternoon....cant di mornings...

So I was told I would get a call back Thursday.
Its noon Tuesday and so far nothing...

Best of all is if I miss ONE appointment, I am off the programme..
These people have no understanding of pain....

I have been told I have to go with my pain.
They have no understanding of migraine...

What is the point.....

Was your experience like that lissy?

pen do they mean if you miss an appointment by not cancelling the appointment??

Lissy

I am taking each day:
250 mg of natural projesterine (start at 100 mg and go up as needed)
400 mg magnesium
5000 mg vitamin D
12.5 mg iodide
4 omega3 pills

This is the plan recommended by Dr Andrew Jones.
See www.migraine-headaches-Information.com for more info.
So far it has worked much better than any meds I tried, which was most of them.

dawn.binks wrote:pen do they mean if you miss an appointment by not cancelling the appointment??

No Dawn I would never do that. I hate that. It seems if I miss an appointment for any reason, I am on the naughty step.
If I miss another, for any reason, I am off he programme..(they had said one strike and you are out, I spoke today and it might run to two, depending).

I start (or do I?) January 10.....

Hi Pen

When I saw the pain specialist, he told me I just had to live with it. And in his words "there's nothing I can do to help you". All he was looking for was something he could inject into because of the neck pain I have with the migraines. My bone scan came up clear so after 2 sessions and $$$$ he said he couldn't inject anywhere and nothing he could do. Maybe call them again and explain you can't get there in a morning - maybe you'll get a different receptionist who is more understanding. good luck.

Thanks for the info migrainegirl. I've taken Magnesium and Vit D for a while but not in combination with the other stuff. I'll look into that.

It might help. I was particularly surprised to find that my neck pain, that had been with me for years, disappeared too.