How many doctors have you tried?

Just adding up how many gp doctors I have been too since all my nonsense started. That is the ones I stuck with for several years, not including the specialists that I vistited just the once for them to tell me there was nothing wrong or ER's etc on nasty days or the doctors that looked at me blankly and asked me what I thought they should do.

These were the one's who tried hard but in the end had no more suggestions. I count six.

Now thinking of trying number seven. Number six has found a couple of things but having found them doesn't seem to want to follow through with what I should now do. The exact phrase was "go home and deal with it".

I'm feeling that somehow I'm doing something wrong. Do I change again?

Not very many.

I go to 1 neuro practice, and it has 2 main neuros with a few MDs and PAs. I see them on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks. I have seen them since January of 2003 or 2004. I will not go anywhere else. I truly value the care I receive from this office. They offer the services of an acupunterist and a massage therapists.

Other than my neuro's office, 1 tried 1 chiropracter, 1 general practioner, and 1 headache clinic. I have also seen 1 anasthesiologist for radiofrequency ablation (successful) and 1 neurosurgeon for the placement of an LP shunt (successful).

alot, optical,dental,chiro, 3 DO, 4 neuro, 2 ENT, 3 phy asst, 4 nurse prac, 3 RN, 4 GP dr. A few Im not sure of.

2 MRI , 1 CT scan, 2 xray sets, 1 stress test, 3 blood test. 14 scripts, 6 supplements, 8 OTC.

Food diet changes, ice pack, moist heat, air quality test, well water test, changed job, tried alcohol , prayed , hot showers,

cold showers, no sex, morning sex, daily exercise, steamer , humidifier. more stuff but none worked.

Today I see the Dr. that scripted clonidine for me 120 days ago. Im doing real good on that. only 2 M. Im excited to see him

and thank him. Hope you get some relief soon .

all the above in 6 years 2003-09

I lost track of the number of the specialists I have seen for migraine as primary problem.
The point is that when I see a doctor for other issues (ob-gyno, eye doctor, dentist....) the focus is always on migraine
Bye

In August, I was with a headache specialist that had hit her limit with me, went to another headache specialist that didn't do anything for me except admit me to the hospital twice with no relief and now I'm on my third.
I have had the same GP since my onset of Daily Headache.

Rachel

I/ve seen at least 10 neuro's, and have traveled as far as 400 miles round trip.
For the last 10 years, i/ve seen the same neuro with a 200 mile round trip.
It's been worth every mile.

I've had the same neurologist for about 10 years. Went to a pain doc a few years ago for Botox, but that only lasted about a year. I guess I'm a doctor monogamist. lol He's a good doctor, and I feel like he understands migraine is a life-long illness. So really there's no need for me to go to other doctors. I don't feel this is something I will be cured of.. I just need an understanding doctor who can help me manage it from day to day.

I've stuck with the same GP Doctor all along, he has tried me on many different meds..some help, if you take them soon enough. He did send me to a neurologist one time and for allergy tests too, no help.

One neuro. After the neuro, a family Dr who perscribed Imetrex for me at the time.
I gave up on Drs a long time ago when it comes to my migraines. There is no cure for them and half of the time the Drs can`t figure out what to do. Some people are lucky enough to find a preventitive or some med that can help. Also, I`m pretty conservative when it comes to meds.Especially when it would only help me a little bit.

The only thing I do now is Advil and coffee to take the edge off.

Kate: ah, a fellow advil and coffee user I do that daily. It really does work well for me.
Not my only recourse though, but it is a good one nonetheless. I never underestimate the power of coffee and ibuprofen. It's saved many a vacation for me as well.

I'm not going to count dentists and eye doctors, I don't talk to them about migraine. I've gone through 2 nuero's (I still see the 2nd one), one pain/headache specialist, and have had the same GP for 15 years. I love my GP.
Not too bad, really. I too believe that they can't "cure" me, but that their job is to make my pain manageable and help me live as normal a life as I can. I stopped seeing the headache specialist because he couldn't do that and would not listen to me. I like the nuero I have now. He's not Mr. Personality, but he's not bad.

Auntibubbs, Do you ever get rebounds with daily use? I use to be able to take advil more often but now I have to be careful because of rebounds.

Dozens...

Kate

Ibuprofen is the only med to have ever given me rebounds. During the time that I was taking the generic liquid Ibuprofen daily, as prescribed for pains in my neck and big toe, rather than my head, was the only time I experienced daily headaches.

######

I was dx'd with migraines by the VA, though I had probably had them for most of my life before my dx. The VA has a high rate of turn over in personnel, including medical staff. I have had 5 different primary care providers assigned there since my migraine diagnosis. I can not afford to see any non-VA doctor (unless the VA sends me to one), since I am unemployed and have no insurance.

Kate, not really. I may have exaggerated a wee bit about the daily part. I do drink a cup of coffee daily, but there some days I don't take advil. Like, in a 7-day week, I take advil 5 days. Today for example, coffee already, but haven't needed advil. It's only 2pm though, so there's still tonight. And I tend to get migraines in the evenings. We'll see!

But in general, I don't get rebound headaches from advil. From triptans, yes, but they aren't too bad most of the time. I can deal with rebound much easier than I can with migraines. Its a fair trade-off to me.

Mulekick, me too. (not the VA part, but am unemployed and w/o insurance) It sucks.

3 Neuros. One nice but no help other than scan and "you only have migraines".
Second one , total s***. "You are causing this, go home and get off all the medication."
Third and current. Nice, but still no further forward. Very keen on preventatives, which I am not.
Seeing him next month.

GPs. Lost count. 10 maybe....

Also numerous complimentary type people.

20 years and not one of them has actually managed to help.

Not counting all the others for the fibro and IBS.
Best of all was Thyroid dr, helped me realise I wasn't crazy.....but I probably am again now....

Way too many for what the problem turned out to be. A problem that can be fixed not just managed. After seeing three neurologists I realized that if you go to one with head pain you will be "rubber stamped" with a mig diagnosis. Anything besides that would require too much concern and work.

My own experience is to go to as many docs as needed if you do not like the care you are receiving.

If you have barometer (air pressure) sensitive migs have your sinuses checked by a COMPETENT ENT doc. The first one I went to missed my problem. No radiologist mentioned it in their interpretive reports. The extreme face and head pain mimics migs and the trigeminal irritation can actually be a trigger for them.

So no matter how inconvenient it is to chase down your MRI's CT's etc. to visit a specialist, it may likely be worth it.

It's pi$$eS me off that I had to endure two years of hell for something that should have been found right out of the shoot. Better late then never I guess.

For migraine, only one neuro. I think what I was looking for was a diagnosis. I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would always have the periodic horrible pain and nausea. It was only by chance that my surgeon, who worked on problems that had nothing to do with migraine, gave me some Maxalt. Fortunately for me, Maxalt works very well.

Now if I had constant pain like some of you, I would have looked more. On the other hand, it's good that I don't have constant pain because I don't have the money to be continually going to doctors. I have insurance at work, but the co-pays are so high that I can't go see a doc every time I don't feel well. And I don't feel well often but I put up with it.

Chris

Hi All,

I have had chronic migraines for 12 years now. I have seen numerous specialists and been to every major headache clinic in the country- Diamond, MHNI, Jefferson, etc. I have also seen specialists at Hopkins, University of Alabama Medical School, Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville, and numerous other places. The last time I counted- about 2 years ago- I had seen at least 20. Now that number has gone up to about 30.

I know this seems like a lot, but I just had to keep going until I found the right doctors for me. I currently see a neurologist, a pain dr, and an internist to deal with migraine and fainting. I am only 29. Scary.

Pain free days,
sailingm

Brent wrote:

If you have barometer (air pressure) sensitive migs have your sinuses checked by a COMPETENT ENT doc. The first one I went to missed my problem. No radiologist mentioned it in their interpretive reports. The extreme face and head pain mimics migs and the trigeminal irritation can actually be a trigger for them.

Define competent ENT please. I am seriously considering this road (in a bad place today). Granted I have these flipping things every day but when a low pressure front is a day out, things start to get much worse (last at least 3 days). I know that I have a cyst in my sinuses - my neuro ordered an MRI and it was even obvious to me. I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to have an ENT evaluate it and see where it sits and if it could be causing some of my problems. I don't seem to respond to any of the preventatives and it is getting suspicious that I can 95% of the time predict when a bad one is going to hit by looking at the projected frontal weather maps. I'm not set to go back to the neuro until May but I'm betting I could get my gp to get a referral to an ENT just for an evaluation of this.

That is the mega dilemma for any chronic health problem, find a good doc.

To find an ENT that is familiar with baro trauma/sinusitis try calling a local military (preferably Air Force or Navy) medical center. They would be able to refer you to a doc that treats pilots and divers with barometric issues.

Or start calling ENT clinics and specifically ask if the doc(s) are familiar and specialize in baro sinusitis.

A CT scan will not likely show a blockage to a sinus cavity. It only shows the denser tissue or a small opening. One that is open but can swell shut for a number of reasons. If you have a cyst it can be posterior and be pushing directly on the trigeminal nerve like in my case. We all have them but where they are located in a particular sinus cavity can make a world of difference.

MRI images of the sinuses that have blockages can be overlooked since mucous will give the same signal as sinus tissue. MRI's receive and image water molecule signals only.

Last resort would be to come on up to Tacoma WA and see my doc. If nothing else it would restore your faith that there still are great docs that actually listen and really care. And have a very goofy dry sense of humor on top of it.

My mother in law worked with him for several years. She said he loves a challenge and will pursue a problem until fixed or he finds someone that he knows will fix it.

I hope you can find one that will help you. Don't give up!

Okay that gives me an idea. I know there is a cyst but I just want someone to look at it and see if it's a contributing factor. If I can get things resolved that way it would be great. I am not one to have problems with my sinuses. I've had a few sinus infections over the years and I don't have allergies but nothing that screams check that out. One thing that made me think though is I don't like flying - my head does not deal well with the pressure changes (even way before M problems).

I did look at my ENT options while I was waiting for a response. I did find a few likely candidates though. I may look more at the ones that are affiliated with the VA though. I live close to a university medical center and many of the doctors have an affiliation with the VA that's right next to the university hospital. Thanks for your help.

Hmmm not sure if I'll remember them all but..... 2 neuros, 4 pcps, 2 chiropractors, 1 physical therapist, 1 orthodontist, 1 gyno, 1 nurse practioner, 1 naturopath. It seems like somebody is missing, but I can't remember who