Just happy about neuro visit

I have just returned from my six-monthly visit to see my neurologist and I just wanted to share with you a happy feeling.
There was nothing particulary dramatic in terms of my treatment today, since my M has stabilised and in fact, it has been slightly better in the last two month's, or so, so in a way this visit was quite routine.

But what makes me happy is that I can trust him, and that he seems to trust me too.
These are my reasons: when I see himt he never hurries me, or dismisses my suggestions (even if they are not always best he still pays attention and responds to them).
He always looks me straight in the eyes instead of glancing at the computer (a habit of so many docotrs).
He never "talks down" to you, or sounds impatient, even when he is very tired, like today, so I know that I can always ask him questions, and that he will treat them seriously.

He is also aproachable and his secretary gets back to me within 24 hours (like she did recently when I was unhappy about Topomax s/e andh his decision that I should stop it immediately. Or when I want to book occipital injections I can get them within a week, or so.)

We don't ask much of our doctors, and this is why I am grateful to him that he does his job properly, and this is how I know that I can I trust him.
No, he does not have answer to my every question, and he does not perform miracles, but I am wise enough not to expect that any more, since M is a mysterious condition.

It is a shame that I need to travel to central London to see him, which means a tiring journey, but it is worth it.
I only wish, some of my other doctors were like him.

There is not much happy news here lately, so I thought I will mention, that not all is gloom in the M world.

Good to hear of your experience. It is nice to be reminded that there is hope for a reasonably good relationship with one's doc. I've seen a string of neurologists including headache specialists and have had experiences ranging from dismissive to uncommunicative to paternal. I made an appointment with a new neurologist and headache specialist last week. Maybe her bookings are indicative of her expertise and bedside manner - the soonest appointment i could get is late July. I do hope the appointment goes well since I too will have to travel to see this doctor - she's a 3.5 to 4 hour drive from my home.

I am so sorry Laura, that you had such a poor experince with your neurologist, so far. I know how frustrating this can be. At the moment I am not happy about my own GP, who is patronising and ineffective, just lazy I think. He never reads letters sent to him by various specialists, so he does not have a full grasp of patient's condition, does not bother to read his own notes before the visit, he annoys me so much.

I live in a small town it is difficult to look for alrenatives, and also I must admit that I worry in case I will make another mistake. A times another woman Dr in the same practice, but she only works part time and is very popular, so it is difficult to get an appointment with her.

BTW my neuro is a headache specialist, this is all he does within a big teaching Hospital, where they have a whole clinic devoted to headache and migraine, and they also do extensive research into this condition.

I did have to wait for the original appointemnt with him, but now I am his patient and this makes it easy to contact him.
I am sorry you need to travel so far, living in UK we complain about travelling comparatively short distances becasue
a/trains are outragesously expnesive,
b/roads are very congested
c/our petrol/gas price would make you faint (it is currently $2.20 a litre), it is shocking, even for us and makes it nearly $10 a gallon

I hope that your new neuro will be able to take care of your poor head properly - we live in hope. Sometimes things work out and then we are pathetically grateful.
BTW is this your picture? It looks wonedrful and so hopeful!

I'm glad your migraines have stabilized and are even slightly better. Funny how we are so grateful for the slightest improvements. Relief of any magnitude or duration is so wonderful.

But I do worry about the effect the migs has on my job performance - I like what I do and want to keep the job.

You said your new migraine doctor is in Central London. Are you near London? Does that mean you take a train or drive? The reason I ask is because I work in transportation planning and am interested in the travel options available to people and the choices they make. This new doctor I'll see is in Houston and passenger train service is very limited in this part of the U.S. Driving or flying is the only real choice.

Thank you. Yes - that is a photo of me.

Despite these migraines I have much to be grateful for. Well - off to that job I like.

Mini, so glad to hear that your migraines are getting better and that you have a good neurologist! You are one of the lucky ones!
Unfortunately, like you, Laura, I have not been as lucky! I have seen several neurologists and traveled several miles to a headache specialist who did not help me, but actually, made me worse! I have a new neurologist now but I thinking of switching again b/c, like the others, he doesn't listen to me, doesn't pay attention when I tell him that the meds aren't working and keeps trying to force Botox on me, even though I had it done once and it did NOTHING for the migraines! Ugh! So frustrating!

Michelle

I am not sure what aspect of travelling you want to kinow about Laura?
But we have reasonably good and very extensive public transport system both rails and roads, especilaly in the South East of England, but train journeys, car parking and petrol/gas make any travelling here terribly expensive, even atshort distance.
I live not far from London, about an hour by train, but the train tickets, if you need to travel in "rush hour" or to work can cost about $160.00 return. Many people do travel to work this way every day.
Parking your car at the station car park is another $16.00 a day.

You can buy season tickets but, the difference is not all that great and if you miss a day, or two, of work it cancels itself out.
Buses are much cheaper, but take much longer and if roads are congested (which they always are around London) you cannot guarantee times of arrival.
If you travel by car to London parking is outrageously expensive (if you can find it at all) and you also pay Congestion Charge for driving your car into Central London regardless if you stop or, not.

I usuall travel by train if I go to see my Dr, as it is less stresful. If you book well in advance, or on the net, you can get much cheaper tickets.

I am sorry M is affecting your work, it must be very difficult if you need to concentrate.
I am retired now, and I think much of improvement to my M is due to much less stress and there are fewer environmental triggers. It has been slow progress over the years, and also a question of "fine tuning" my preventatives and altering my lifestyle considerably etc which helped me, bit by bit.

I am so sorry your neuro is not listening to you Michelle. It makes me so cross.
Some of doctors (like my GP) feel that they know better then we do, what we need. It is so annoying and disrespectful.
It is a shame that Botox did noto work for you. I spoke to my neuro about it, and he said that I can have it if my M gets worse, that their research shows quite good results, but that sometimes it works for some people, at other times it does not. The success is not assured, but it is worth trying as it can bring good relief for some people.

I also had 2 Occipital Nerve injection in the past, and one of them worked very well, for about 2/3 months reducing my H/A considerably, but the other did not work so well.
I personally think that it greatly depends who does the injections, you really need an experinced DR who does lots of them and teh second dr who gave it to me was inexperinced, I could tell straigh away it did not feel right. IF my M gets worse I might give Botox a try, we shall see.

Whatever you decide Michelle, you definitely need a Dr who will be on your side. Don't give up hope.

Thanks, Mini.

I hate doctors like that. Time to find a new one.