Neurologist Gives Up

Kloos,

So sorry you were disappointed in the pain doc.  Unfortunately at present there just aren't any magic silver bullets out there. If you have tried all the meds, to no avail like most of us here, then you are down to alternative therapies ( Chiro, supplements, acupuncture) which you have apparently tried, or the newer treatments like Botox or Cefaly.   Unfortunately, the same things seem to effect everyone differently, so it is a lot of trial and error.

Several of us have done very well with the Cefaly.  I certainly recommend giving it a try.  

Also you really should try keeping a food journal.  I know it seems difficult when you get them so often.  If you really want to get serious about finding triggers, they recommend you start with only a very limited diet and then add foods one at a time to find the culprits.  It can take 6-48 hours for the migraine to hit after eating something, so this is a slow process, but certainly worth doing given the severity of your problem.

https://www.fammed.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/webfm-uploads/documents/outreach/im/handout_ha_elim_diet_patient.pdf

http://www.healthcommunities.com/migraine/elimination-challenge.shtml

Look carefully at what is in what you are eating.  If I had not tracked my diet I never would have realized that nitrates ( in most sausage, ham, bacon, lunch meats) were a major trigger for me , as is lemonade and wine.

Hi Migrainegirl,

Thanks for the suggestions. I did the York Test for food allergies. They stripped quite a lot from my diet and I kept it to the letter. I didn't notice any difference in my life either migs or otherwise. As you say, the problem with a food diary is the high frequency of my migs, so triggers would merge into each other. How can you tell what is and isn't causing them other than by cutting things out one at a time?

I am this close to buying the Cefaly machine (that is quite close btw).

I had issues with panic attacks too, mine took about 2 weeks yo fully hit me, but failing a college level anatomy test in that time also contributed (imagine that, I can't memorize after tougher killed my sorry turn memory). I still have Atavan for the bad days and it's been years since I've had topamax

So sorry, my phone was acting up, and I didn't see the other the pages, within one, I put the exact information I just reposted in.

I think I'm up for buying a cefaly now. The botox appointment was this afternoon...let's say I left the office crying, with NO new meds.

I had inquired about the cost, and had gotten an estimate. I'd then called my insurance, and gotten the maximum charge allowed. The doctor's office never mentioned that, oh, by the way, we can only get vials of 100 units, so you have to pay for 2 full vials of injections. That raised the cost exponentially.

I got to the office, and had some paperwork to fill out. Page three stated that the cost was going to be 4 times as much as we'd budgeted. I stopped signing, and immediately questioned the office staff. After the whole process got me in tears, they managed to call insurance, and get things down to slightly more than a mortgage payment.

This was still a couple hundred more than the maximum we'd budgeted, so we walked out.

If anyone is in the Kansas city metro, and wants don't use these people info, ask away, because I'm frustrated and willing to share my info.