The Backstory, Pt 1

I've had migraines for around two years now, since my junior year of high school. The only history I had of headaches before was mild headaches before I had my glasses/contacts. They (the migraines) actually started out as severe leg pains and lethargy. Or at least they began shortly after these symptoms started. I was tested for mono and a couple of forms of hepatitis, since I had some abdominal pain that was probably just residual pain from a gall bladder operation six months prior. I still get occassional pain to this day, but at the time the symptoms were thought to be related. After giving up on my very unhelpful doctor (who blamed the symptoms on "depression", even though, at the time, I was a relatively happy person), I went to see a neurologist about the leg pain. A week before my appointment, I started to get the headaches. Though all of the symptoms could be explained by migraines, the neurologist gave me the first of several EEG's to be sure. Then came the MRI's and CT scans to check for blood clots and/or tumors. They came back negative. After that came the spinal tap, an event which I do not look back upon with much glee. The doc mentioned that there was a 1/7 shcnace that the area would not clot and I would require an epideral blood patch. Sure enough, I needed a patch. The pain and uncomfort level makes me squirm just thinking about it. So I'll move on. Two weeks later I was hospitalized for four days. They pumped me full of nubane until I couldn't feel anything, and then sent me on my way. I've had around 25 ER visits over the past two years, if I had to make a guess. They usually gave me a shot or three of some narcotic and sent me on my way. Desperate, I went to an allergist for help. It was discovered that I had a severe allergy to mold (according to them) and prescribed allergy shots, which I'll talk about in the list below. My family was forced to move out of our home due to mold. Well, that pretty much sums of that part of things, now how about a list of drugs/treatments I've had?

• Imitrex in pill form (worthless)
• Imitrex in injectable form (nearly killed me)
• Imitrex in nasal spray (also nearly killed me)
• Allergy shots (also nearly killed me, had a scary experience in English class one day)
• Toridol shots (very painful, though helpful at times)
• Darvacet (Good feeling, but didn't work, haha)
• Vicodin (same as above)
• Botox injections (experimental, didn't notice any changes, though I did look five years younger!)
• Klonopin (useless, though good for nausea and as a sleep aid)

• A ton of other pills that I have forgot. I was taking around 12 pills a day at the height of these things.

I'm currently on Elavil and Relpax, thanks to Ron over at Blogging Purdue and Blogging Migraine. I've noticed a bit of improvement overall, and the Relpax has helped on several migraines, especially if I take it early enough.

Well, that's enough for today. I'll finish up and do my first log tomorrow.