After 14 years, I'm cured

[shmudge]

I don't want to step on any toes, or say that you should do this or that, but I went from 14 years of chronic migraines (15+/month) to now only one a month. This is my story. 

I got my first one in kindergarten. It was unbearable. I laid in a dark room in tears, begging for relief. This never stopped. I got one every other day for 14 years. I missed so much school I had to place special request forms to repeal my absences other wise I'd be kicked out. I slept for my entire elementary and junior high years. When I was awake and out of pain I'd only do school work. I managed to keep an A average, something I know many aren't lucky enough to have. I didn't have friends. It was sleep and school. 

I went to doctor after doctor after doctor, no one had an answer. My brain scans all came back clean. I was hypersensitive to drugs and with every one I was prescribed I endured every symptom alongside. I tried alternative medicine, I tried voodoo (kinda joking, but honestly some of the crap I did may as well be), I tried every pinterest suggestion, I tried every kind of therapy, aroma, oils, cleanses, I tried everything. 

I held out on going to the ER. My parents aren't well off and each trip was a kick in our bank accounts special parts. In 2015 I had a three month period from hell. Every day I was in pain. Every. Day. I lived in a dark room, black paper taped to the windows and extra thick black curtains cover those. I had my own mini freezer filled with ice packs and empty bottles of excedrin and ibuprofen (three excedrin and four ibuprofen were my friends) scattered everywhere. I dropped most of my college classes except for the online ones and those who didn't take attendance. (I was 21 at this point).

After three weeks straight of a migraine, no break, I couldn't take it. I had been in my room drifting in and out of sleep and agonizing hours of being awake for three weeks. I didn't go to school, I didn't leave my room except to use the bathroom and take hot baths in the middle of the night. It was hell. I finally had a mental break down and stumbled into my parents room balling. I laid in their bed as my mom held me, rubbing my temples and whispering to my dad. They finally made the call and rushed me to the ER. 

It was a clean bill, of course, but the doctor hooked me up to an IV and I got my very first migraine cocktail. After three weeks I finally felt nothing. The next morning the migraines returned and continued three days in a row for the next two months. I had a new doctor who was very attentive and sweet, she gave me a list of options to try to combat it. My body rejected it all. 

Finally my mom called her doctor. She had been getting hormone pellets to make up the lack of estrogen in her body from her hysterectomy. An appointment was made and my road to relief was paved. 

Before my appointment my doctor had my hormones tested. I was perfect. In every aspect I was completely healthy. She sat down with me and reviewed my history, what I had tried, what never worked. She then proposed an experiment for me to try. She'd give me 6mg dose of estrogen, a pellet that she'd slit into a cut on my hip, and my body would feed off of it for the next three months. Every three months I'd be required to get another dose. She said that by doing so, I'd get constant level of estrogen, my hormones would no longer fluctuate and my body would no longer be triggered from the ups and downs. 

Three months of straight pain, a day or two of relief in between, I signed right up. She cut a slit into my side, slipped it in, covered it with a bandaid and sent me on my way. Immediately I went from a migraine every day, to once a week. From there it only got better. By the three month period I was down to once a month. 

Unfortunately that wasn't permanent for me. Within the next six months stress from school and family issues (ER visits aren't cheap, and we didn't have the money to get me another pellet), I was back to every other day. It got to be too much for me so I left. I moved across the country into a new, stress free environment and I'm fine now. 

It's been 18 months. I get one migraine every month, right before my period. The hormone pellet helped me as I was stuck in a stressful situation. I've been mostly migraine free for 18 months because I'm in a happier place, I don't have pressure of family and I'm in an entirely new environment. I'm a big believer that air pressure and stress has a lot to do with why I was in pain for so long. 

 

Anyway that's my tale. From 14 years of hell to one a month triggered by hormones, I'll take that anyday. Hang in there, I know it hurts. Believe me, I know it hurts. This isn't forever. 

[melissaw72]

Welcome to CB!

That is great to hear!  I'm glad you aren't getting migraines as much as you did in the past ... I can empathize ... those are painful and hard to deal with!