I failed my neurology appointment...

I am usually upbeat and cheerful but I saw a new neuro last week and I am demeaned, diminished, distraught, disheartened, discouraged, and dismayed. Perhaps I couldn't hear or understand what he was saying but I came away with...take more neurontin, have a headache for 5 more years and they will diminish due to my age, and he is a realist and my headaches are typical whatever that means.
I didn't get new prescriptions for the drugs I take and didn't discuss pain control...now I need to figure how to go off neurontin and amitriptyline and my choice for pain control will be back to my primary (who I love and trust) or the ER.
I made my mistake when I thought not treating my headache the morning of the appointment would better enable me to explain my symptoms but it left me at a disadvantage in what I perceived to be a verbal game without good will.
How do you all answer questions like do you have an aura with migraine if they want a yes or no answer and you have been told to answer yes or no. An answer of "sometimes" brings a sarcastic look.
I carefully copied my headache log because it was months long and coffee drenched and when anyone bothered to look at it no care was taken to even be accurate in reading the drug key. When I couldn't remember how long I had taken one preventative under the care of a different physician (fantastic guy) in the same practice, the assumption was made that I didn't take it long enough rather than look it up in my chart.
I am so done with neurology appointments and want to be off any drugs that my primary doesn't manage.
I just burned my brussel sprouts while I was writing this. Have any of you smelled burned brussel sprouts. And I thought life this week couldn't get any worse.
I usually manage life well, have a great husband and child and a KITTEN and a garden that keep me happy between headaches. Now I feel like "sucks to be me" with a sentence of five more years of headache.
Please give me a present of one little positive thing for me to do in the next few weeks that has nothing to do with Headache.. I love you all, Flowerchild

Grab a hot cup of over priced coffee or tea and get a pedicure.
Jessica

Light a scented candle and hibernate in bed with trashy weekly Tabloid magazines.

Charlotte

Thanks Jessica, I will go to my favorite coffee shop and see if one of the baristas will give me a pedicure. Flowerchild

All day in bed with gardening magazines that offer giant tomatoes and world record squash?! Sounds like the missing cure for migraine. The candle is lit. Flowerchild

I'm sorry, Flowerchild.

I was also told at my last appointment (late Oct.) that I could expect it to be 3-5 years before I see any significant improvement in my condition. He said I'm doing everything right--attacking the migraines from various angles: PT, psych, meds, vitamins/supplements, exercise etc. Honestly, I don't know if I can endure 3-5 more years of this.

I would suggest to watch Christmas movies on television (that's what I've been doing), but almost every one of them has had me crying. Good grief!

Hope it helps to know I understand and I'm right there with you.

Becky

You sound like you are in control of the uncontrollable. I walked 2 miles in the snow after I wrote this and that helped as well. I think I was counting on the meds working after the last 5 years of trying. Maybe it is all for naught and the best treatment for migraine has nothing to do with seeing a neurologist. After all, he said that there is no letter on my forehead that tells him which drug to use. Plow through says Flowerchild.

Oh, Flowerchild, I am in no way in control of the uncontrollable. Wish I did have better control (I'm a weepy mess today).

I'm just disappointed and frustrated at not being able to be free of the pain and all the emotional baggage that comes with it. We "plow through" together, okay?

Becky

I understand how those types of office visits can make you feel. I had one as a review for soc sec disability, and the doctor pretty much stated I won't get any better. To hear her actually come out and say that was heartbreaking. It was like taking all hope away.

But, we do have our good days and our bad days, so rejoice on the good days.

AZgirl, Thanks for following the thread. Hopefully you have free time now to do the things you enjoy...like catching rattlesnakes? Or painting gila monsters. I'm feeling better and I haven't troubled my other friends or husband...just you guys on the forum. Take care. You never know...you just might get better! Flowerchild

My wife burned broccoli... twice. We threw the pan away... twice.

I like the phrase "plowing thru"! If you don't mind, I think I'd like to plow through with you all! Flowerchild are your headaches daily? After 8 years I have finally started seeing a pain specialist and have been taking long acting opiates. I still have pain... but it is much more bearable. I wish I hadn't been so afraid of the drugs and had tried this years ago.

Good luck.

Mary Anne

Hey Dan, Burned broccoli would be a close runner up to burned brussel sprouts. At least we are attempting to eat cruciferous vegetables. I don't know how my husband is going to get the pan clean. Plug on through. Flowerchild

Mary Anne, I have chronic daily migraine but not as bad as some. I tried inpatient twice but the results were short lasting. The doc seemed more resigned than me that I have years of this in front of me. I'm reading the crystal ball and seeing headaches in your future he says...not really. Well... really but with out the crystal ball. I have seen a pain specialist and his did facet and nerve blocks several times and they were also helpful for a short time. I am to the point of asking for pain relief drugs. We plow together. Flowerchild

Yes, I saw probably 8 neurologists, 10 regular docs, physical therapists, massage therapists, countless alternative practitioners and I did a month at MHNI nothing helped as much as what I am doing now.

I hope your doc was just pain wrong. I hope you wake up tomorrow and they are just gone!

sorry to hear--neuros seem to be letting a lot of us down.

i think a good family doctor that you can work with can help treat migraines very well--as long as he or she is open to input. i do not have a neurologist but am under the treatment of my GP.

good luck!

Hi I have been reading this forum for awhile and finally decided to join. It's really helped reading what others go through (hope that comes out ok that everyone knows what I mean!). In regards to failing the neurology apt, I am not sure if others on the forum have found this to be helpful, but I actually go to a neurologist who has migraines himself. Maybe that is partly why he has never looked at me funny, never questioned me or made me feel like I was exagerating or something. I have had migraines since I was a teen, I am now 40. They have gotten more frequent the older I get, I go through about 12 triptans a month. I am thankful that my neurologist has been great. I go in every 3/4 months and if needed I can call and get right in. It would be interesting to see if others have gone to a dr. that has migraines and if that has made a difference in level of care, compassion, etc.

i LOVE that term plow together! can i plow with you all my last nuero said well your just going to have to suffer and gave me naproxen for pain and said no more then once a week so i went back to my PCP who is also a pain doc and got my regular meds that he gives me every month and he said well we can try another and you can always keep coming here he is REALLY great and i love him so much he has saved me a bunch of times! cant wait to be more involved with the group now that i can remember my nick and pass! (that was my problem before i lost it SO many times!) that is if you all will have me

Hey Porsche Fan, I think the issue becomes one of trust. It is hard to go to any doc for the first time let alone for something like migraine that once diagnosed is treated by casting lots, reading tea leaves and consulting a oiji ...how in the heck do you spell weegee...board. Thanks for the good luck. Flowerchild

I am pretty new to this forum as well. I have a great local neuro but he sent me out for a consult. It would be interesting to know if doc's that have an illness themselves are perceived as being more effective in their practice, but I wouldn't wish this on anybody. Hoping for good health. Flowerchild

Jennj, Glad you remembered your user name and password. Now I need to learn how to use this site effectively. Today was a bum day and it really has been uplifting to be able to blog with people that get it when it comes to living with migraine...and I don't have a headache today so the computer screen isn't bugging me. I think I will make this site a place I go on Sunday afternoons. Naprocen does work well for the inflammation that comes after migraine and my neuro recommended I use it with sumatriptan...but of course you need to check with your doc. Be well. Flowerchild

Get a massage. I love massages, they always make me feel better.

Maybe get a new neurologist, too? One who's approach is more in line with your idea of what treatment of migraines should be? I know it can be frustrating to try yet another new dr. esp. if you've tried several. But it's worth considering.

Good luck.