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Yes, they are a bitch

5 (29.4%)

Nope

9 (52.9%)

What's a migraine?

0 (0%)

I vote for Cowboyneal

3 (17.6%)

Total Members Voted: 16

Voting closed: May 12, 2004, 12:49:49 am

[linnea]

So how many of you here have ever had migraines?

What do you take for them?

Well, I have a family history of migraines, my pa used to get them all the time.

Last Thursday I began to have a severe "sinus headache". My head throbbed anytime that I moved, but it got really bad whenever I stood up, bent down, or moved from a sitting position. I suffered through it, in my typical "Let's ignore it and we'll pretend like nothing is wrong".

On Thursday and Friday I packed dozens of boxes. On Saturday, I drove a big-ass diesel truck, hauled tons of shit upstairs, and spent Saturday and Sunday unpacking. I took a super-hot bath and was taking ibuprofen and Tylenol all weekend, but nothing helped.

I went to work all day on Monday. I tried to work out, but on my 3rd mile on the treadmill I was almost crying with pain. I was all nauseated and with the feeling that I had been punched in the face, like all my facial bones were just shattered.

Yeah, that was a migraine.

Three shots in the ass at the doctor's + fistful of prescription pills + leaving work to take a 3-hour nap = a hefty dose of FUCK YOU MIGRAINE.

   I feel so much better now. If this ever happens again, I am heading to the doctor's office for the three-shot cocktail. Are there any other remedies that works for you guys? Does your doctor give you a prescription that you can keep with you if you start getting a migraine?

[AugustWest]

Nope, don't have 'em.  But I had to vote for Cowboyneal (at the wheel).  With a name like August West, could I do anything else?

[Nabubrush]

I don't get 'em, but that's a beautiful post. It's attractively put together, and also informative and well-written. Are you sure you aren't lost?

[slink]

Yep. Oh I get the fuckers.
What makes them worst, no that's bullshit, but what is really annoying is that a migraine I can feel coming. That pressure on the back of the eyes, sinusy, eerie feeling that builds up over the course of a few hours until it either goes away or turns into the kind of migraine where you can't move your eyeballs, even with your eyes closed, for the agony.
I haven't ever gotten shots for them though. I've had three day migraines, but generally I keep going through them now. I take all the codiene I can, but it doesn't really do much anymore.

And indeed, props on the medicated post. Lovely stuff.

[jay-ell]

I get migraines.  Had one Saturday, in fact.  I've had 'em since I was nine.  Not fun.  What Slink is describing is known as an "aura" -- mine comes (occasionally) in the form of an odd smell I can't seem to place, but that vaguely reminds me of dentists.  

What do I take for them?  A day off.  I have been to the ER twice, but they've never been kind enough to give me the shot.  No, they had to do pregnancy tests first, both times (even though I told them I was a virgin the first time, which was true) and by the time the results came back, well, the first time whatever oral painkiller Mom had given me at home had kicked in, and the second time, I just threw up on a nurse and instantly felt better.  (I don't think the nurse did, though.)  Basically, when I have a migraine, I just shut myself in a dark room and take enough of whatever prescription painkillers I have on hand to knock me out for eight or twelve hours.  It sounds like I'm a junkie or something, but it's really all I can do.    It beats the hell out of paying a $200 hospital bill six weeks later because my fscking insurance doesn't believe in migraines.  

Bastards.

[Choop]

When I get my house-with-basement, I'm finishing it off with a complete isolation tank, inclusive of light-weight IV painkiller drip. Nothing better for a migraine than the constant influx of sweet, sweet drugs and a total lack of noise, odor, light, movement, and pressure.



Linnea, thank you for gracing The Lounge with that glorious post. I feel honored to not moderate it.

[jough]

Yeah, I still get 'em every now and again, but I used to get them just about every day when I was in college.

There was nothing to take for them, until I started drinking heavily - then the migranes went away.  

I had been straight edge before that - I didn't even drink on my 21st birthday, but those college girls drove me to drink, and the large amounts of alcohol made my headaches go away.  I never even had a hangover EVER until just last year.

Now if I drink I get a headache pretty much an hour later if I have anything stronger or in greater quantity than a single bottle of beer.

[slink]

Ooooh. Guess what I have right now.

Fuck. Time to go to bed and watch sealab for a few hours then.

[Nabubrush]

Woldn't it be nice if people could go to the doctor and say "this is what I have, and I know that this is what I have, so I don't need any tests. Just give me a scrip for "X" and I'll be on my way." My sweetie gets these allergic reactions, and she knows exactly what she needs to take, but after moving, she has to go through all the bullshit over again because even with medical records transferred, all the doctors are basically like "that's nice, miss, but you don't know what you are talking about. We're just going to perform these $500 worth of tests and then we'll tell you what's going on." Also, she has problems with her thyroid with the same basic result. Sometimes doctors are assheads.

[slink]

Sometimes doctors are assheads.

Not kidding.
I had to go through 10 years of tests which eventually came down to, 'yes you were right, and yes there's fuck all we can do about it'. And a refusal for any kind of help too, which is nice.

My friend as well, he went to the States recently to try and sort some stuff out, and started having siezures while there. He got sent to ER where within the hour he had a CAT scan and was given piles of very nasty anti-siezure meds.
He's now been back here for about 6-8 weeks, and has seen his doctor numerous times, and ended up on the same meds he was given in America (despite the fact you should only take them for a week or so at most) since the ones he was given here gave him an all over rash, swole his eyes up and made him look like a zombie, and given him some really fucked up hallucinations, both physical and conventional.
He has seen a neurologist, in the last fortnight, finally, and that doesn't seem to have come to anything yet. And all the while still falling over and having these fits all the time. Add to that the mood swings, depression and lack of appetite that the drugs also give him.
It's horrifically fucked up, especially happening just after a nasty breakup, and goes to show how UK doctors are the worst!

Oh yea, this is the guy who broke his wrist and the hospital said it wasn't... After hurting it again he was taken to another hospital by an ambulance driver picking up a friend who just dropped on his bike, and discovered that his wrist was broken in both bones. Had to have surgery for that one, but didn't sue.

Bah, fuck*ng doctors. They're the worst!

[jay-ell]

I just found out yesterday that, after a year of dealing with a major health problem and making four emergency trips to the doctor or the hospital, all I need is one pill a day for fifteen days to fix it.  I wish I could tell you more, but I'm not really ready to talk about it yet...suffice to say, everything's going to be fine, now that I have a doctor who didn't get his medical degree from a cracker jack box.  

The beauty is, I did fifteen minutes of research on the internet and asked my Mom about our family history (which the previous two doctors told me didn't matter) before I discovered what it took three doctors to diagnose.  It took me a year to find a doctor who would take ten minutes to listen to me and take my word for what my symptoms are instead of assuming that I'm too young to have that particular problem.  And, he told me yesterday that I paid $500 to have tests done this past January that he didn't see any point in having done.  I'm more than a little pissed.  But, like most patients, I'm just so relieved that I finally have a diagnosis (whereas before they said "we don't know what's wrong with you, but it's probably not dangerous") that I'm not even considering filing suit.  I just want to get over it and get on with my life.

[AlohaDawg]

Doctors are not special. They just went to school for longer than most of us. There are morons out there who are doctors. There are also geniuses hauling your garbage.

The lesson here is what I've been trying to tell my mom for the longest:

1) challenge your physician
2) talk to the nurse, they usually know more about YOU than the doctor who is not patient oriented but disease and anatomical part oriented
3) if you don't like how the doctor talks to you get another doctor.

Those of us 40 or younger have a very different view of doctors than our parents. They were brought up to believe doctors are gods.

The best thing you can do for your aging parents is advocate for them when you need to and coach them about how to interact with doctors. Otherwise they may be stuck with crappy care and there are way too many doctors out there not to exercise your right to a voice and a choice.

[linnea]

The beauty is, I did fifteen minutes of research on the internet and asked my Mom about our family history (which the previous two doctors told me didn't matter) before I discovered what it took three doctors to diagnose.  It took me a year to find a doctor who would take ten minutes to listen to me and take my word for what my symptoms are instead of assuming that I'm too young to have that particular problem.  And, he told me yesterday that I paid $500 to have tests done this past January that he didn't see any point in having done.  I'm more than a little pissed.  But, like most patients, I'm just so relieved that I finally have a diagnosis (whereas before they said "we don't know what's wrong with you, but it's probably not dangerous") that I'm not even considering filing suit.  I just want to get over it and get on with my life.

I totally agree, challenging doctors is the best thing that you can do.

My mom had a serious case of Graves Disease that went undiagnosed for TEN YEARS. She developed pretty bad thyroid eye disease before she FINALLY switched doctors. Within the first ten minutes of visiting her new doctor, the doctor ordered a thyroid workup. Her previous doctor, who was a complete fucktard, kept telling her that it was just menopause that that she should quit whining.

She had to get her thyroid destroyed with radioactive iodine treatment, have 2 surgeries on her eyes, and all kinds of other treatment to hastily try and fix what 10 years' neglect of the disorder had caused.

Then again, my mom was not the best advocate for herself. When she was pregnant with me and my twin sister, back in 1978, her doctor didn't even know she was carrying twins. All the major red-flag-signs he completely missed, and of course my mom didn't deign to pick up a book about pregnancy. The guy didn't even measure her belly, for God's sake, or listen for a fetal heartbeat. One slightly positive aspect of our litigious society today is that fucktards like that doctor get weeded out pretty quickly.

[AlohaDawg]

Also, on the migraine topic: my ex used to get them and her doctor gave her these pre-loaded syringes and a monoject device. When she got a migraine going, I would load it up and give her the shot. Usually it cleared it up in about an hour.

I used to get migraines, but only for a three-four year period, when I lived in Columbus. I don't know why they stopped; maybe graduating had something to do with it....or some environmental factor there. I haven't had a bad headache in years, although I have had fevers of 105 degrees at least twice since then.

[Bozack]

Yeah, being a doctor is really fucked up right now. My dad's a gastroenterologist, and he's pissed off about the people who they let out of medical school. Another reason why the "we don't know what it is" diagnosis is so popular: A doctor knows that, if he goes out on a limb and diagnoses  something that's not obvious, and he's wrong, there's a pretty good chance he'll get sued. There was a really long story here explaining how, because my dad picked up a phone one night for another doctor's patient, he got sued and had to settle, but it's not all that interesting. Just depressing.