My DH suffers through cluster migraines. He can get multiple (2-5) migraines per day for a period of a week or two. They go away, then they come back, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat. Mr. Adoptamom is a huge, hulky, manly sort of guy who has a very high tolerance for normal pain (gets teeth filled with no novacaine!) BUT the migraines reduce him to a quivering pile of inflamed, red hot nerve endings that can only be calmed via an imitrex injection or, on occasion, an oral imitrex or zomig tablet. He swears it feels as though someone is stabbing through his left temple with an ice pick. I’ve watched him bang his head against a doorframe for the fraction of a second of “attention shifting for pain” it afforded him.
If you or your loved one suffers from true migraines - this site was a godsend to us.
FWIW - DH began taking lithium as a preventative about 3 weeks ago and he’s only had one headache break through. He’s also done the preventative verapamil and beta blocker routes and received temporary (months) relief, but nothing long term.
Self employed so our insurance has a $2500 deductible. In the past month we’ve spent over $1K on out of pocket migraine medications and injections
This happened to me, too. After years on the pill without a problem, I started getting excruciating migraines like clockwork during my period week (the week I was on inactive pills). And I do mean like clockwork – the headaches would start right about 1:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and last for 48 hours.
Apparently, this pattern of headaches (during the off week of the pill or, for those not on the pill, during the period) suggests that they’re due to estrogren withdrawal.
There are brands of birth control pills (in the U.S., Mircette and Kariva) that continue to deliver some estrogen during the off week to prevent exactly this sort of problem. My doctor switched me to Mircette and I haven’t had any hormonal migraines since (although on rare occasions, I’ll still get a regular migraine on a non-Thursday afternoon). Maybe you should ask your doctor or nurse practitioner if one of these brands of birth control pill would be worth a try for you.
(Oddly, for other women, the presence of estrogen, not its absence, can be a migraine trigger; they show a different pattern, getting migraines when they go on the pill or HRT instead of during their periods.)
