Silent Migraine Journey - Ups and Downs and taking back control

Hey all. It has been a while. My journey continues to figure out why I have this silent migraine with the visual disturbance (we are going on 1 year). After three failed migraine prevention medications I fired my Stanford neurologist and asked for a referral to the migraine specialist, who I will see on May 28th.

I want give a big thank you to Karen who I connected with though this site and who has been such a help in me taking back control. She suggested the book "Heal Your Headache The 123 Program" by David Buchholz. This book helped me figure out that we need to address the triggers and not just treat the symptoms.

The changes have been diet modification to excluded anything that could possibly be a trigger, I completed allergy testing to find out specific allergies (that was telling), I have changed the delivery method of part of my hormone replacement therapy (estrogen can be a big migraine trigger), I have been getting out and hiking at least 3 days a week.

I have been without a daily headache for 10 days. The first time since aneurysm surgery four years ago. I am sleeping better and than I have in since surgery, And as an added bonus I have lost 10 pounds.

The big lesson for me has been that you must be your own advocate in this journey. Research, support from friends like Karen and the Aneurysm website and a loving supporting family is what it takes to figure this all out.

Thank you all for being out there and answering our calls for support and information.

God bless and have a great weekend.

Laura, it is so nice to hear that you haven't had a headache in 10 days. I was having a real tough time with migraines after my surgery, too. I had them for about 20 years before my surgery too. I went through a couple of different preventative medications and I now receive Botox Treatments.

Take Care,

~ Carol

Botox is on my list if we couldn’t get it under control.

Hi Laura. Question for you. Did you have migraine headaches prior to aneurysm surgery? I've never had migraines but since my ruptured aneurysm and surgeries (December 2013) I have bad headaches daily.

Laura...nice to hear from you...

Thank you for the info on this book...I do not have headaches...tho did ...and do have a lot of pressure...like a balloon w/an extra puff...

This author, Dr. David Buckholz was...likely still is...an associate prof at Johns Hopkins...

He and another author (blanking on name already...) also have Sleep Thief, Restless Leg Syndrome...

some of our members over time have addressed the restless leg syndrome...maybe this will be helpful...

Blessings to you,

Pat

I did have migraines for about five years prior to surgery. It seem very common for us to have migraines after a bleed or surgery. I highly recommend the book, it had made a huge difference.

Thanks. Good to know.