So high school has kept me pretty busy and away from the blog, but I thought I would make another post. Being diagnosed with a chronic illness creates a whole set of emotions. It's scary, and yet relieving to have a diagnosis. But being diagnosed does not mean you are all of a sudden "cured". Being diagnosed is the start of a journey to become stable, which starts with treatment.
Depending on medical history, many doctors will recommend a variety of medications. Usually, the plan is to start at a low dose of the med and gradually increase to a clinical dose. If side effects occur, the doctor may decrease the dose, stay at the current dose, or stop the med. It takes many tries to find the type of medication that works. Each body works differently and therefore each migraine functions differently. This is why there are different types of migraine medications. These types include anti-seizure, anti-depressants, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, painkillers, etc. There is yet to be an FDA approved medication that functions to treat migraine specifically. Currently used medications treat other diseases, but have been found to help with migraines as well. Because of this, each medication comes with a whole host of side effects. UGH. These side effects may outweigh the benefit of the medication, which causes migraine sufferers to have to begin the process of titrating up on new medications. The journey to find the right medication can take years. Personally, I tried five different medications until I found one that had tolerable side effects and still effectively treated my migraines. It took me almost a year and a half to find the med that I currently use. This effort is exhausting, time consuming, and painful. Recently, a new type of medication has gone into trials. This med is called CGRP and has amazing results. It specifically treats migraines. Here is a link to learn more about these trials: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/feature-will-antibodies-finally-put-end-migraines
In addition to medication, many doctors also suggest vitamins/herbs/other treatments. At first, I was quite skeptical of these treatment options, because why would a vitamin cure the intolerable vertigo? Many of these treatment options actually did not work for me at first because I wan't using the proper combinations for my body. I have since found that they are vital to my treatment because if I don't take my vitamins, then I will get a migraine. Some examples of these other treatment methods are: riboflavin, vitamin d, magnesium (intravenous fluids work best), botox injections, petadolex, etc. I know it seems silly to take an herb every day for medication, and it may just seem like you are adding a pill to the pile, but I really do believe that these other methods work. Try taking a petadolex every day and see how it turns out, nothing bad can happen from it (apart from the slim chance your liver is damaged-- but trust me petadolex is worth it). Even if the first combination of vitamins or untraditional treatments doesn't work, keep trying. It's all about matching the med to your body. This takes time, but is so rewarding in the long run.
Really, treating a chronic illness is all about finding what works for you. Everybody's migraines work differently, so everyone's treatment is going to be different. There's no one med that will cure everyone's disease. Keeping a diary or log of your migraines, their triggers, the symptoms, etc, is really important for finding the med for you. This is because if you can identify patterns in your migraines, you may be able to find a medication that blocks the pattern. For example: my blood pressure is a MAJOR contributor to my migraines. To say the least, if the top number gets to 120, I'm screwed. Because of this, I take medications and vitamins that decrease and maintain my blood pressure (e.g. magnesium). If you can figure out the way your migraines work, then you can pair the med to the symptom.
In conclusion, it really sucks finding the right treatment. There's no sugar coating it. But you'll figure it out.