4 month chronic migraine, scared/anxiety/depression/near crisis

Hello everyone, thought I'd come here because reading some of the posts here has made me feel alot less alone. I've been suffering from chronic migraines for three months now and am nearly to the point of a nervous breakdown. My social life is nearly crumbling because I don't want to leave the house and get hit with a wave of pain and I'm also getting hit with them at work. I had a similar wave of migraines in march, but they resolved in June, and I had a MRI done then which came back clear. My GP has since reviewed that MRI and claimed he doesn't think another is necessary, but it makes me nervous because I fear it could be something worse, and I've been having random episodes of being woken up in the middle of the night by my headaches, with my head throbbing and horrible nausea, but unable to throw up. This never happened before and it makes me nervous and scared as it just happened a second time last night. Additionally about a month and a half ago food I was eating started to effect my headaches, so I started changing my diet.

I was seeing a neurologist but every appointment I had was under 5 minutes in and out with him prescribing me fioricet and doing small tests for any serious warning signs, he was refereed by my old GP, and I don't intend to return back to him.

My GP means well but none of the medicine he prescribes seems to work. He put me up to 100 mg of Topmax but I made it clear to him yesterday I didn't think Topamax was working at this point and I wanted something new. At my appointment yesterday He in a month's time if the headaches don't resolve he's going to set up a new neurologist for me, but i don't know how i can take another month of pain like this. I tried to call the headache specialist in the metro area of where I live and it seemed to be a big hope spot but I was instantly shot down when the receptionist said they aren't accepting new patients, only research participants for their case studies, making me even more depressed. Making matters more down for me I called some neurology places and they wouldn't take me without a referral from my GP, which I guess should be expected, but this was 8 am and I had 4 hours of sleep in me and on the verge of crying, so please cut me some slack, I was just wishful some pleasant office would offer to invite me to come in this afternoon before I had to work tonight...

Possibly the worse thing is my anxiety is driving me insane in the fears that all the medicines being non-responsive are saying it could actually be something like cancer and my headaches are just a symptom or we're overlooking something. I've burned through so many drugs(nearly all the triptans) and steroids and ibeprofin and excedrin don't even work it makes me a nervous wreck to the highest level, but my GP or Neurologist don't even seem to bat a eye at this. I'm also growing increasingly depressed by the sheer amount of pain i'm in, I work in a fun enviroment and the fact I'm in pain everyday makes me even more depressed, I don't know what to do and I don't know how I'm going to continue to cope with this. My parents and girlfriend go back and forth from being supportive from being irritated like i'm hamming up the pain, but really I can't do much. There will be hope spots where it feels like I'm doing good then it suddenly drops back down again.


So at the current time, here's what medication/Vitamins I'm taking daily
Topamax - 100 mg x2
Fioricet
Cymbalta
Butterbur
Feverfew
Fish Oil
Vitamin B

Additional Things
-Cut Soda From Diet
-Seeing Chiropractor(yeilding no results for headaches)
-Had MRI done(8 Months Ago)
-Excercise Daily

Sorry for ranting too much or anything, I've just become at wits end with all this. I should also add on a personal level this is my favorite time of the year and all my favorite holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, My Birthday, Christmas, and Surely New Years) were all ruined by these headaches.

Thanks, Last night I ended up going to the ER for my headaches and they did a C/T scan and bloodwork, both of which came back clear. They also gave me a shot of something(can't recall the name) which instantly made me nearly knocked out completely and made my headaches go away and made the 3 hour wait in the office worth it. I think I might be able to have my headaches under control a bit more hearing both of those test results, and I'm hoping to see a therapist for my depression/hypochondria as well.

Hi everybody. I hope I don't come across as a know it all. I'm at a point in my life where I have found relief from chronic migraines. I'm hoping everyone can get some relief. I've had migraines since I was a teenager and I'm almost 60 now.

I was shocked to read DR's are still prescribing fiorinal/fioricet for migraines. The treatment of migraines has progressed way beyond those M&M's . I'm surprised I have a liver left after taking way to many of those things/for way to many years.

First things first: Find a neurologist who specializes in Migraine headache treatment.

Migraines are debilitating and you actually have a disability if they are chronic. A neurologist who works with patients like us all the time will help you with FMLA and

your employer, as you are protected by the ADA. With less stress at the job front, you can focus more on getting better.

I was put on Topamax and I hated every day of it. My fingers tingled, and at night my legs had spasms. Food tasted differently. I had more fatigue and articulation was a problem. My Dr. encouraged me to be patient, while she made adjustments to the dosage. She had books for me to read about understanding Migraines. (Here, I thought I had read them all) I started charting my migraines, my sleeping patterns, my eating habits. Exercise is important. Outdoors if you can. A brisk walk every day is the best thing a person who suffers from migraines can do for them selves (it's true).

So, I'm giving you the cliff notes version here. I've gone from chronic migraines to an average of 8 migraines a month. The migraines are less severe in intensity too.  If you can, don't give up on the topamax, it works. It takes time to balance out your brain. MOST people need 3 to 4 months. I needed slightly longer than a year. Was it worth it? Hell yeah!