#ubrelvy for all

[kinky-chess]

happy disability pride month the external review came back and deemed my migraine meds necessary!!!!

[greelin]

imagine being born and they’re like You will be afflicted with chronic migraines for the rest of your life btw. this is the reality for me but also every psyduck that hatches

[scientia-rex]

I had one of those days where I just had too many feelings to fit inside my skin, and I’ll have to recover from it.

Telling a patient she has breast cancer. Telling a patient she has dementia. Calling a patient at 6:30pm, still sitting at my desk, because even though I finished seeing patients at 5pm, I have work to do. Doing an endometrial biopsy on a patient who may have cancer. Calling a company so I can get the password to a website so I can recredential every three months so my clinic can charge for my work. Working with an assistant on whom I’ve also done an endometrial biopsy. My regular MA is out with COVID. I’m getting a year-end bonus for the first time in my life. Some idiot kid thinks I don’t know how ears work. I saw back to back ADHD patients; one is a trans woman who paused her transition because she can’t afford it. One is a kid who did loops around the exam room chairs the whole time I talked to his mother. His mother was frosty towards me at first because I was running late because I was telling a patient she had breast cancer, and she was crying, and her daughter was crying, and when her partner died of a different cancer last year the hospice workers were homophobic and she’s afraid of hospice. A different idiot kid thinks I don’t know how soap works. The ADHD kid’s mom warmed up to me when she realized I cared and knew what I was talking about. The kid said, “AHEM. What’s up, chicken butt?” I laughed and high fived him. I gave his mom the Vanderbilt forms to assess ADD symptoms across multiple environments. I saw a patient who had a certain air about her that I recognized intimately, and at the end I asked what she did, and she was a doctor, too. I knew it had to be something like that. When I explain medical concepts I aim for lay language, but I can see when people get faintly impatient with me for it, and I’ll add in more and more technical language and see when they start looking confused; she didn’t. I could watch every new patient take in my brightly-colored hair, combined with the utterly forgettable rest of me, all browns and grays and dress slacks and comfortable shoes, because the hair is my one concession to my deep need for attention; in the exam room, I need to recede into the background so the patient can be the focus. Studies have shown that patients don’t like it when doctors disclose that they have the same medical issues. It might seem like bonding, but it shifts the focus away from where it belongs: the patient. That island of time is theirs. The breast cancer patient’s daughter said to me, “Thank you for spending the time with us. I know you didn’t have the time.” And I said, “From each according to their something or other, to each according to their needs. It’s lukewarm Marxism.” I don’t think she heard it all, or took it all in, which was good. I had a migraine that made my head feel three sizes too big with a steady drumbeat of pain despite taking two Ubrelvy, two Aleve, and two Tylenol, plus 100mg of caffeine and a propranolol and a Zofran. You have to disconnect each patient from the next. I can’t bring the breast cancer patient’s grief and heaviness into a room where a little boy is doing hand-stands and telling me silly puns. One of the nurses brought me a sublingual Toradol from a stash—someone’s purse, somewhere—because she wanted me to feel better, and I felt tears stinging my eyes because she cared about me. I couldn’t afford to cry. I just told a woman she has dementia and she doesn’t believe me. I told her to bring her husband to our next visit. I ended my clinic day doing an endometrial biopsy, trying to pass a uterine sound through a stenotic cervix, but I’ve done this before enough times to know to have the set of dilators ready. I dilated her cervix gently but firmly, with the back pressure of the tenaculum, until I could get the sound in, and then I left the sound there while my assistant handed me the sampling pipelle, because if you remove it there’s a good chance the cervix will tighten down again and you’ll have to repeat the dilation. The patient was holding her husband’s hand and chanting to him under her breath, in pain despite the Xanax I gave her.

I’m a doctor. It’s everything to me.

[headpainmigraine]

Migraineurs around the world

The World Migraine Summit is taking place 6-13th March

You have to pay to access the vids after the summit, BUT, you can catch all 4 30-mins daily interviews within 24 hours of their release during the summit for free.

From their email:

How it works: Every day during the Summit, you’ll receive a link to all four 30-minute daily interviews. We’ll release that link at 3:00 pm Eastern time (New York, USA time) or 8 pm (20 hours) Greenwich Mean Time. What if you’re in a different time zone? No matter where you are in the world, the four interviews will be available to watch for free for an entire 24 hours. You can look here to see when they’ll be released in your time zone. That means that in each 24 hour period, you can watch when it’s convenient for you.

Its worth checking out their schedule to see what you REALLY want to see, especially if watching the vids within that timescale isn't something you can do.

Schedule here

I watched it last year and it was a mixed bag. There was some stuff that wasn't applicable outside the US, some stuff I already knew and some that I wasn't interested in

But there was also expansion of stuff I already knew and some completely new info.

I'm interested in catching:

Controlling Chronic Migraine Best Exercise Options for people with migraine migraine biochemistry: CGRP & Beyond balancing risks & benefits of migraine treatments is migraine a brain energy problem? Migraine FOMO: are you missing out? what to expect: nurtec ODT, Ubrelvy, Quilpta & Zavzpret new daily persistent headache: pain that won't stop unofficial side effects of CGRP monoclonal antibodies migraine, TMD and neck pain Advocacy, access & migraine at work Inflammation & chronic migraine brain-related comorbodities of migraine Is migraine linked with cognitive decline or dementia? finding migraine relief

-------

One of the good things about this year's line up is that they ran a survey after last year's and asked us as a community what we wanted to see.

It does actually look like those responses were taken into consideration, because there's a lot here I saw trending on the survey.

If you have migraines and want to be more in the know about your condition, I really recommend joining and giving it a watch

[bam-stroker]

Just want to throw out there to the world (because of disability pride month)

If you are ever having frequent migraines write them down and go see a neurologist. I downplayed my experience with them of like "Ooo they're like.. maybe 3 a month!" for years and suffered because of it. What I was counting as 1 - was just day 1. In reality I was having multiple days of my life taken away because of them where I'd just have to sit in a room alone in darkness.

You deserve the chance to get medicine to live a better quality of life.

I know how absolutely rancid experiences with doctors can be (I have been through some shit)

But! I hand you my pro tips (taken from US viewpoint but certain things may be applicable elsewhere) and I guess these things could be used towards other afflictions you might deem as small and have kept ignoring. If your life quality is lowered it's worth trying to chase down help.

Keep a health journal. I mean it! Write down the days you're dealing with your shit, how long it goes on, every little detail of how shitty you feel. When ever you go to a doctor you gotta come in (sadly) proving yourself. So have that written down and handy and get in the habit of writing or even just making little marks in your calendar of all the days you deal with a thing.

If you can - find out about said doctor/specialist. I made the mistake early on of just picking anyone who had an opening. I had A Bad Time. It's laughable but look on google reviews for the office. It's one of the few public places grievances can be posted by most patients. If a lot of them are trending in the "They do not listen to me" realm.... look for a new doctor.

Remember that journal? Well, if things start to get BETTER from treatment - write that shit down too! I have many a fight with US health insurance of why I have the audacity to use said insurance... and having the before and after things handy in those times is great. It's also great if you need to go to a different/new doctor and they wonder if your past treatment is worth it or not.

If you have anything you're worried about and want to go over during a doctor visit... guess what.. WRITE IT DOWN! There is something about a dr's office where the chronic illness jumps from my body and I question everything I've ever experienced. So I have handy everything written out of recent problems/symptoms and my questions on them. Also you could have some one else there with you, like a friend/family/etc, to help remind you of your questions so they don't get ignored. And if your doc does keep ignoring them... Leave them for a new doc.

These are just some very basic things I wish I'd known early on. But I hope they help someone else out. I will say I am so, so lucky that I ended up finding medicine that works for me (#team ubrelvy - which you can technically get for free with certain insurance and by going through the ubrelvy manufacturer coupon sight) but what works for me doesn't always work for others. It takes time to find the right mix of care and medicine.

But if you are spending multiple days a month in solitude/pain... It might not be as small a thing as you think and you deserve the chance to ease that pain.

I wish all of you kindness and rest this pride month and every month <3

[cleoselene]

I picked up my rizatriptan prescription yesterday (along with like, six other scripts lol I am full of pharmaceuticals all the time, but tbh like 2/3 are just for migraine) and usually they give me 12 pills each month, because with migraine meds they will only give you a limited number per month because if you use them every day they lose their efficacy. so I have scripts for three, I get 8 Nurtec, 12 Rizatriptan, 12 Naratriptan. I used to get 12 Ubrelvy, too, but I felt like they didn't work so I stopped getting the scripts. I always wondered how Serena Williams could shill Ubrelvy because you know. . Jehovah's Witnesses and advance medicine aren't usually a match? but then I realized they probably allow it because the shit doesn't fucking work!

Yes, if you're wondering, I do get headaches every single day and sometimes if it's a bad one, I need to take two pills. But thankfully that really has been a lot less necessary since I started Botox. Botox has REALLY cut down on the severity of the headaches. Like knocked them to like 1/3 power. Still bad, but not like making me vomit.

anyway, this time they filled the rizatriptan for a 3 month supply. 36 pills. To last me 3 months. This is DANGEROUS, man. I might have to give them to a roommate for safekeeping because of the three pills I have to treat an episode (I have other scripts for preventives besides Botox), rizatriptan is my FAVORITE. It is so effective for me. I like Nurtec a lot too especially because it's a quick dissolve tablet, but rizatriptan is the powerhouse of the migraine meds. Though I've never tried sumitriptan, I asked my neuro about it once and he was like "oh that's what I would consider to be a beginner's migraine medicine. You're not a beginner." Hahha, great, thanks

[cyanomys]

Today I met with a vestibular neurologist and got excellent news. I’m starting on some new medications now that I have new insurance and super excited!!! Am so happy that I dressed cute for work even tho I feel kinda crappy :3 featuring, migraine hat for fluorescent lights

Also learned that I need to see a neurogastro because I might also have abdominal migraine?? Like for my whole life?? Fuck migraine man how many of my systems can it mess with jfc

The medications are ubrelvy and ajovy (what even are all these new drug names?), hopefully, if my shiny new insurance is as good as I hope and will cover them. I came in hoping for Nurtec but he said Ubrelvy actually works better for vertigo patients like me!!

[angelskysposts]

It's almost been 74 hours and I'm still sick as a dog. 🤢🤮 I can't move and get out of bed. I try and when I do I have shortness of breath and I don't have any energy to move my body. Every time I step forward I get dizzy and I feel the pressure in my head. Just one little step is all that it takes. I even took Excedrin & Ubrelvy together and separate times and still does nothing.

My body feels like it is going to collapse on the floor. I'm dealing with severe migraines. Can't sleep. My body is sensitive to touch all over. Hot and cold flashes all day and night. If this keeps up I might have to go to the hospital which I don't want to. I'm hoping it's 74-hour bug

[naritaren]

I take ubrelvy for my migraines/chronic headaches, have also tried nurtec before but it doesn't work as well for me. do you have anything you can take? Know sometimes just sitting or laying in a quiet or dark area is all that can be done though.

I get Botox injections every 12 weeks and I take Emgality once a month. My migraine is because I'm late on the Emgality. My pharmacy forgot to order it this week so I'm screwed until it comes in on Sunday.

I can't take any real pain meds because I'm allergic to both triptans and Tylenol. Right now I'm doing a muscle relaxer and an edible.

I pretty much have music going and reading on my kindle. It's just boring because I could be doing other stuff. It's a downside of the brain injury

[wiseoldowl72]

Just a reminder to those with migraines, ANYTHING can trigger them. I went to the Dr for a get to know you appt. Had some bloodeork done. When I was walking out I was struck with "thunderclap" type migraine that presented like a stroke - vertigo, chest pain, neck discomfort, left arm won't work right, extreme head pain all of the sunnden, slurring and forgetting my words. I took the Ubrelvy I had and a team of drs and nurse practitioners did an EKG, twice, and tried to keep me comfortable.

They called my husband to pick me up. Actively wanted me to go to the ER, referred me for a full heart workup, and gave me hugs (I doubt that they were supposed to do that).

We didn't go to the ER. Been there, done that, just to be told it was my migraine. I just have stroke symptoms and complex migraines. We called my neuro. They couldn't get me in for an outpatient infusion, but instead I took the kitchen sink and passed out for 7 hrs.

Wm picked up another round of steroids to get me through the weekend. It's now 12 hours after the initial event. I still can't use my left side well, my chest still hurts on the left side. My head (we don't talk about that). I can type by swipe with my left finger.

I'm better than I was 12 hrs ago. Still a long way to go. New referral to a heart Dr. Follow up Monday with the drs office and neuro. Call cardiologist.

Advocate, advocate, advocate. Use your drs. I'm taking the new referral and running with it.

I still hate what chronic diseases have done my body, but now I have a new team to help me tweeze out answers.

[scientia-rex]

Hello, I appreciate your medical posts very much and having seen a post the other day where you said migraine was in your areas of special interest, I'd love to ask a related question. You talk about bodies and medicine and patient experience etc in a way that makes a lot of sense to me and I'd trust your take.

I have chronic migraine. I'm currently at 100% pain days, with varying severity. Very hard to pin down what is prodrome, the main event, and postdrome as it's all blurred into one. My migraine team want me to reduce painkiller usage (currently dihydrocodeine and paracetamol daily, and ibuprofen maybe every other day on top) due to rebound headache. I want to cut down because they're fucking expensive and I'm scared for my liver and kidneys. But I literally can't cope with life without them. I went off them for four months a few years ago and the pain was so severe and so debilitating I was the most suicidal I've been in my life. Without painkillers I can't get to the toilet unaided, rarely leave bed, even more rare to leave the house. It's hell. And that's not even considering the effects on everyone around me who has to pick up to care for me.

So what do I do? The way I see things, I need something to help the pain improve before I can use less painkillers, but the longer I go on trying to find something that works and not getting there, the more I think maybe I'm wrong in that. I know a bit about how codeine based painkillers can reduce your pain tolerance / pain baseline. I don't think it's an addiction issue because I've been at the same (over the counter) dosages for 4 years now. I just want to do all that I can to be better, but I also need to be alive to be better. I am stuck.

TL;DR - If you have any thoughts on the relationship between chronic migraine, painkiller use, preserving quality of life while finding a treatment, and increasing the chances of a treatment working, and where on earth the balance between all that lies, I'd really like to hear them.

Again, I absolutely appreciate if you can't answer this, don't want to etc. Giving advice online is notoriously tricky and all that. But a big thank you for your time in reading, and all your weight and exercise posts especially which make me feel so much better about my body. Wishing you all good things! 💖

I won't speak to your case directly, since I'm not your doctor, but here is my personal algorithm for escalating treatments for migraine (note that "abortives" in this case means something you take after a migraine starts to try to end it, while "prophylactic" means a daily treatment you take to reduce likelihood of developing a migraine):

-OTC combination of magnesium, feverfew, and butterbur, taken daily

-Triptans (insurance will usually demand patients fail at least 3 to cover a more expensive treatment)

-High-dose NSAIDs (as abortive treatment given risk of rebound headaches if used daily)

-Daily topiramate (insurance will always demand this is either failed or there's a clear contraindication)

-Daily calcium channel blockers

-Daily beta blockers (higher dose than used for anxiety or low-grade arrhythmias)

-Daily anti-epileptic medications (such as Lamictal)

-Monthly anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody injections (Aimovig or Ajovy; expensive so insurance will demand you've failed some or all of the previous meds)

-Abortive anti-CGRP orals (Nurtec or Ubrelvy)

-Abortive ergotamine, usually Migranal, a nasal spray (very expensive and must be repeated 15 minutes after initial dose regardless of whether symptoms are improving or not)

-Prophylactic Botox (I believe this is every 3 months, must be done in the office of a trained and licensed professional, usually but not always a Neurology provider)

-Sphenopalatine ganglion blocks (done by dripping lidocaine far back into the sinuses to reach the sphenopalatine ganglion, again in the office of a trained and licensed professional)

-Cephaly (transcranial magnetic stimulation at-home device), expensive so insurance hates covering it

Now, one of my newer tools, and my current personal favorite, is a greater occipital nerve block--easy and fast, low risk, and I've had about 90% success with my patients in aborting current headaches. Effects seem to last 3-4 weeks in most cases and since it's straight lidocaine (you don't have to include steroids, though you can) you can do it as often as needed. I generally do this in my office, but I did train one patient's spouse to do it at home given how frequent their headaches. The pharmacy lost their fucking mind about letting an outpatient have lidocaine. I don't know why.

I currently manage my pretty awful chronic migraines with a combination of monthly Aimovig, as-needed Excedrin (the combination of caffeine, Tylenol aka paracetamol, and aspirin is effective for many people but is a real risk for causing medication overuse headaches, the more official term for bounce-back), as-needed Ubrelvy (I can sleep after taking Ubrelvy but not Excedrin so it's a good option), and roughly monthly greater occipital nerve blocks (I teach my trainees to do it using myself as a subject). I wouldn't mind trying the Botox but it's a PITA to get in to see our only local Neurology provider and since my migraines are relatively well-controlled (probably 1-2 headache days a week right now) I don't think it's worth the effort.

I also really got a lot out of this lecture, so give it a try.

[emptyperspectiv]

Tiny update on the migraine journey:

I can fully cross off Ubrelvy from the list of migraine meds to ever touch. My doc gave me some samples to try, and long story short it didn't work out and turns out after a long Twitter thread of sharing, I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to it! It was a nice gesture, and I'm glad this med works wonders for others, but it def doesn't work me for me at all. I got given the sample of the 100mg pills and took 1 on either Thursday or Friday (it's a bit foggy for me, a lot has happened over the past few days), the day I took the pill I took a nap and woke up a couple hours later and felt fine and felt fine the next day. I started kinda feeling a little off yesterday night before I went to bed and the que 4 am, and I wanna say it was probably between 4:30 to 4:40 am I was woken up BY my migrain. So, I got up, poped a Ubrelvy, and figured it would take a little to kick in, and then I would be able to sleep. Dead fucking wrong. 2 to 5 minutes go by and my head is pounding worse than it was, and my stomach starts hurting, to the point I was like pretty sure I was gonna throw up the free sample of a pretty expensive med that was working just the other day. So, I'm a little confused and pissed so I lay in bed a few more minutes until I can't tolerate it anymore. Thankfully, I was coherent enough to tie my hair back and race to my bathroom, throw up what very little food was in there, and mostly water and went back to my room with a splitting migraine that wouldn't calm down.

I also tried my normal tactic of the ice pack and other remedies and nothing worked, the ice pack actually irritated it and I threw it at my dresser and groaned in pain until I passed out apparently at some point. Now here I am, 19+ hours in it, and I have now have itchy skin all over my body, I do still feel pretty out of it right now (which that part I'mgonna chalk up as mostly normal due to being on Topamax for migraines which is mostly trying to help), and the migraine pain is coming back way worse than it was before I ever touched Ubrelvy. I'll never this shit again, especially now that I'm pretty sure that I'm low-key allergic to it.

[killbaned]

Generational trauma: the movie really gave me a migraine 😭😭😭

[due4amiracle]

Day 160

i wanted to start this off saying thank you to all the people who have been following me and liking my blog posts - i don’t know why, but heck i appreciate it??? (i’m still very confused tho) But HI! Welcome to the wild zone that is my brain place.

Continuing on: Wow i’m glad i wrote a lot of this before, because hot damn i’m high from this Ubrelvy. Whew. Stupid migraine medications. Floatin’ so hard. Ok, copy/paste go.

Listo:

Tomorrow: Throw one thing away, read two chapters, dailies, write on longform (either), one episode of WIXOSS.

Throw one thing away - i did this! Granted, it was only ONE thing, but, it was still A Thing~! (Adding on after the fact of writing, i broke down A Box too, so fuck yea)

Read two chapters - Ohhhh, so THAT is how things are going to go...interesting. i'm still inCREDIBLY interested in this book!

Dailies - Ooo baby did i get dailies done. Jeebers, i'm now bp lvl 48, my roll for the day was a polearm.

Write on longform (either) - 120+ words written! UwU Sasha is stalking through the slums of Moskow, going for her prey~ Exciting!

One episode of WIXOSS - Yup, oof, definitely watched that and ooo baby that sure is going PLACES. Jeeze. Am now 4/12 episodes on this season and mmm baby, lovin' it!

Manhwa - Yea i know this wasn't in the list but fuck it lmao.

Survive as the Hero's Wife - ETHANNNNNNNNNN *weeeeps* Caesar mah boi! Save Canaria from, not only her predicament - but FROM HERSELF! Also...go get the boi Ethan too please? PLEASE?!

Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess - *if that wasn't a dick reference i don't know what is i stg* ETERNAL OBEDIENCE AND LOYALTY YAS BESTSWARDBOI!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK YES! - And ahhh Father. Don't worry, you will be won over too muahahahhahahahahaahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

What else did i do today - SSDD lmao, ya know? Browser games, watched stuff, putzed around in Discord, ya know.

Food: A Bread was made and it is T A S T Y! Yummy so yummy. Liquid: A yada yada required yada. Pain: D M I G R A I N E holy hell i woke up with a rather raunchy headache and damn if it didn’t just get worse over the day. Other than that, ssdd on the pain, hands and wrists and joints and blah blah blah. Brain: B Things got a little wild when the Ubrelvy went to town, but, focus problems, ya know. ssdd again.

Tomorrow: Throw one thing away, read two chapters, dailies, write on longform (either), one episode of WIXOSS.

WAIT THAT’S THE SAME LIST AS YESTERDAY?! First of all, yes i know that, second of all, it worked VERY well tyvm so i’m going to keep using it until it DOESN’T work, ok? Thank you very fucking much.

Anyways.

Ever Onwards and Upwards~!!

[cleoselene]

SO in the neverending migraine saga

the Emgality that worked like a miracle for three weeks wore off and I’ve had the same migraine for eight fucking days and Sunday night I was in so much fucking pain that while asleep, I was grinding my teeth so much that I chewed into my gums, and woke up with dried blood all over my mouth, a dental infection in full bloom, and half my face swollen like a watermelon.  I managed to get some antibiotics and the pain is MUCH better and the swelling is MUCH lower a day later, my face almost looks normal again, but yo, I can’t be in so much pain I am literally tearing myself up in my sleep.  I got a mouthguard, which will be a fun new addition to my insomnia challenges. -_-

had a teleconference meeting with neurologist today about how to tackle these migraines.  He’s SOMEWHAT encouraged that the Emgality worked for a while, and explained that there’s some receptor, we’ll call it the CP receptor because I can’t remember the term but the words started with CP or something, that binds to the brain that is required for a migraine to happen, and Emgality blocks the production of that receptor.  And what can happen is that first, when it’s blocked, the brain go nuts and be like WHUT WE NEED TO MAKE MORE so it’s like a battle at this point between the CP receptor and the brain, and he does feel like it’s a battle the medication will eventually win and the goal is to get me down to 3-4 migraine days per month instead of what is is right now which is basically.  Every day.  Yesterday I threw up from being in the sunshine.  For not the first time.  Awful.  He also gave me some new emergency meds to try out so now I have Ubrelvy, Rizatriptan, and Naratriptan.  Rizatriptan of the three seems to work the best but tbh it works for 2-3 hours and they only give me 12 per month so it’s like -_-.  I’ve also been barred from taking OTC pain meds as they might be causing me rebound headaches, so that’s GREAT.  Caffeine is still highly encouraged.

That being said, if the Emgality doesn’t work out, he wants to run more tests to make sure the chemo I’m on hasn’t given me some kind of brain infection that’s causing these headaches, like a mild form of meningitis, which ya know, MILDLY TERRIFYING.  So fingers crossed the Emgality gets it done because I really don’t want fucking meningitis.  But when you are on chemo for well... five years at this point?  You don’t know what kind of slimy crud crawls into you.

[khelinski]

The head is throbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbinnnnnggggggggggggggggggg in pain. Everything is a nuisance to you. You are irritable all the time. Noise. Loud voices. Music. Bright lights. It triggers your head. You are practically a vampire, hanging out in a dark, quiet room all day – hoping the throbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbinnnnnggggggggggggggggggg head would just simply fuck off already. Everyday life becomes challenging. Missed too many days at work with FMLA. This is my reality I’ve been living in for over a year.

Going to concerts is interesting. I bring a set of earplugs with me. I take Ibuprofen before the show and Ibuprofen after I come back home from the show. With the exception of a couple of shows, they do kill me. But, I still love going to them. There are two more planned with the family this coming up month. I will be taking extra precautions with my head.

Vision has been ruled out as a possible component of my migraines. I just checked it last week (and will be getting new glasses in the next week or so). I have been going to physical therapy for my neck for the last couple of weeks. There is tension in my neck. I know there is tension with my back as well from the Meijer days.

I have been seeing a Neurologist since last October. He has prescribed me an assortment of meds, trial, and error on what works and doesn’t work. Currently on Topiramate 25 mg, Qulipta 60 mg, and Ubrelvy 100 mg – taking them at various times of the day. Do they work? The head is not as bad as it was before I saw the Neurologist last year. However, it is still throbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbinnnnnggggggggggggggggggg! I scheduled myself a different Neurologist next month for a second opinion, maybe a replacement. I don’t know. I am frustrated. These migraines are fucking frustrating! It has taken a year out of my life (work, writing, enjoyment). It has kept me from drinking alcohol (been sober for over a year). And, lost a considerable amount of weight from the pills I’ve been taking (loss of appetite). So, yes – I probably look healthier now than I have ever looked in my entire life. Don’t let it fool you. Every day, my head hurts in some capacity or another.

I am an avid reader. Once I am done reading one book, I read another book. It is quite possible these migraines might be self-inflicted from all the reading I’ve done. It’s also quite possible from binge-watching TV. I don’t know. Trial and error.

Unlike alcohol, I am certainly not giving up books or TV! But, I am pacing myself now. I am tired of the throbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbinnnnnggggggggggggggggggg head!