Migraines suck.

(photo courtesy of elements4health.com)

If you have ever had a migraine, or known somebody that suffers from them, you would probably agree with the simple statement, migraines suck. 

I have suffered from migraines and headaches in general for nearly 14 years.  I started getting them when I was 20 and serving in the US Air Force.  In the beginning I went thru all kinds of testing.  I took different types of medicines to see what would work.  I felt like a guinea pig.  I was almost medically discharged due to the migraines and the fact that we could not find anything to help control them.  After all of that I decided to learn to live with them.  I guess you could say I had a sour taste when it came to neurologists and migraines! 

Four years ago I had a pretty bad one that happened to last for four days.  By that point I was worn out from the pain so I went in to my primary care doctor for a shot to relieve the pain.  She had me go in for an MRI that ended up coming back as "inconclusive".  I was referred to a neurologist with a four month wait and sent on my way.  There was never a discussion about testing out new drugs or anything.  I am sure if I kept the appointment with the specialist I would have ended up trying out some drugs or a plan.  Instead I cancelled my appointment.  It wasn't a priority, I didn't really want to mess with being a guinea pig again.  So I continued to live with them.

I have had a few really bad ones in the past couple of years, but nothing like the one I had on Monday.  Wow, that one was bad.  Seriously, that was pain I have never felt in my life. 

So, today I went back to my primary doctor to come up with a plan.  Things are different now.  I have an almost 3 yr old daughter that depends on me.  My appointment happened to be with a nurse practioner that is new to the practice.  She was awesome, we connected immedieatly.  Even better, her husband suffers from migraines...so she gets it.  She knows what its like to live with somebody that has migraines, she also knows first hand what her husband has tried along his journey.  She eased my mind so much.  We came up with a great plan.  For once, I have hope that we can figure out a way to control the migraines.  If nothing else, I might be able to find something I can take to reduce the pain.

Talk about a new lease on life!