new member's story

hi everyone.i would just like to introduce myself and say hello.the easiest place to start is to tell you my story.i am 43 years old with 3 children.my headaches started 24 years ago when i was in my late teens.at that stage they were hormonial headaches which i got one week each month with period.after a while they turned into 2 weeks per month.then it was up to 3 weeks per months as i got older.then they came all month every month.this is where my downward spiral started with painkillers.i used to take 8 mysindals per day with no relief.this went on for years and years with lots of visits to my doctor begging him to stop these headaches.to cut a long story short,my chronic headaches turned into chronic migraines.lets just say this has ruined my life and that is an understatement.over the years that followed i tried so many things to help them.nothing worked.9 years ago i had a hystorectomy which stopped the hormonial migraines in their tract.i was still stuck with chronic headaches which were horrible.i have been to 4 neurologists and be put on so many different medications but nothing worked.i started to get on and off migraines again which was brought on by stress.i did physio for one year straight with no luck.went to a pain specialists who injected huge needles into the back of my neck which really hurt but after months of having this done,nothing worked.have had accupunture quite a few times with no luck.i had remedial massage which did not help.i had normal massage which did not help.i did meditation classes which did not help.i saw a few nathrapaths but nothing worked.i tried magnetic bedding which did not help.i tried so many things which cost so much money we did not have and everything failed.modern medicine failed me.all of my scans showed that my brain and neck are fine.i even tried osteopaths with no luck.i have finally accepted that i will suffer these very painful headaches and migraines the rest of my life.i have not been able to work for the last 12 years due to the pain.it has effected my family very badly.i children get upset when i am not well enough to drive them places and cook dinner.my twin sister suffers all of this too.i also suffer other chronic pain in other areas of my body which makes my life a living hell.my life has stopped.i am only 43.i bought a good mattress and pillow for my bed but that has not helped.the headaches never stop,ever.i struggle to drive my kids to school and back each day.i also suffer severe sinus pain in my face which triggers my bad headaches and blows them off the scale.this is a daily event for me.all i want to do is be able to live a half normal life but that is not the case for me.all of this has caused me many years of depression.honestly,i don't know what else to do anymore.i don't have the support of my family and that is hard to deal with.they are all tired of me being sick and in pain all the time.my kids have missed out on so much because of me and i don't know how my husband is going to handle all of this much longer.he would have been better off finding someone health.

hi my lovely.thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.i am sorry to hear that you are suffering migraines.they are the most awful things to live with.getting your family and friends to understand your illness was a very good idea.i did try that but my family don'y want to know.some people can show concern and kindness and others just can't.my twin sister and i both suffer chronic migraines and our parents will not except that both their daughters are both sick and in chronic pain.if i try to talk to my mother,she gets snappy and changes the subject.this hurts a lot.i have deprived my own family of a healthy and caring mother and wife and i have to live with that hurt every single day.my 3 kids have never known me to be healthy and it has cause so many problems over the years.they want me to do so much for them and i can't.believe me,this has caused major depression for me.i can't do the things my hubby wants to do and it causes problems.i also suffer chronic pain in my bladder and have major issues there.lets just say going to the beach or bushwalking or long drives is out of the question.i have felt like giving up so many times but i push on.i am glad you are not going through this side of living with chronic migraines.embrace the support you recieve.i wish i could help you not have the migraines but that is up to you to persue in your own way.keep trying and never give up hope that something might help your migraines.i am here for you.keep in touch via this forum.take care.

hi annuk.thanks for replying to my post.you sound like you have been through a very difficult time in your life concerning your headaches.yes,i saw 4 neurologists who tried every drug on the market but nothing helped.the last one i saw was the best one in our area.i was the only patient he had ever had that he could not help.i went to him for 2 years.no one ever mentioned anything about a stimulator.i would not have had the money to afford that anyway.i went without just to pay to see him each week.i am ashamed to admit that i am a codeine addict.i have spent 25 years on codeine which does not work.i have tried getting off it 3 times in my life and my body had a complete meltdown and i ended up in hospital each time.my body can't live without it which sounds crazy.after getting off codeine each time which was a nightmare because my chronic migraines went ballistic and even months after not taking the codeine tablets.i always got to the stage of crying all day and night and screaming because the pain was so bad.i skin would feel like it was crawling.i did swap over to tremadol once but that did not work either,it is a painkiller and i went through the year of hell getting off that stuff.the last three weeks of withdrawing,i never slepted and i was so severe that i ended up staying with my parents and i could not look after my kids.i have known for a very long time that pain killers can cause rebound headaches and at this stage of my life,i just have to live with it.suffering sinus pain in my face every day is making my chronic headaches and migraines really bad and i have just booked in to see the only allergist around our area but he is private and i don't really have the money but there is still a 15 month wait just to see him.i am really happy that you have got to a better place in your life concerning your headaches and that makes me feel good knowing that there are people out there who have over come this debilitating condition.take care.

hi hopefor healing.i am glad that i have inspired you not to give up.that is a good thing.yes,i took high doses of maginesium and was checked for potasium deficiency as well.the high does did not work for me and i did not have a potasium deficiency.i tried every natural product on the market but nothing helped.that does not mean that this sort of thing will not help you.as far as i am concerned.you have to try as much as you can with your financial limits.just because i have finally excepted that i will suffer my chronic headaches and migraines the rest of my life does not mean that you should not continue to hope and try new things to help yourself.i think the only thing that has got me through all of this is my kids.now,they are just making everything worse in the pain department due to them all being teenagers.need i say anymore.lol.i am feeling a bit down today because i had a test done and i now suffer a chronic pain issue with my bladder and their is no cure or treatments.just add it to the list of things that are wrong with me.you never get used to pain but you learn to live with it each day somehow.i am here for you to chat to me anytime so if you ever have a bad day,i know you have a lot of those or things are just getting you really down,come to this site and talk to me.i will listen and try to support you as best as i can.i was really nice to talk to you too(cyber chat).only someone else suffering this would understand what we are going through.take care and look after yourself.

hi my lovely.i am very happy that you are so supportive of your mother's illness and pain.you are a very special person to be able to deal with that situation and i am sure your mother really appreciates it very much.don't worry about me.i will deal with my difficult family situation.value that great relationship with your mother.take care.