Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 111 Editor's Choice: 3
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Either your med insurance provider is lying to you --- or is just AMAZINGLY ignorant
[Read the article: My migraines make me feel like driving a pickax through my face!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Chronic migraine (and you have my sympathy)is a well-documented syndrome and they should know that --
Read on -- and this is not some nostrum peddler, but the Mayo Clinic, which, I hear, knows a little bit about medicine
According to the Mayo Clinic's Web Site
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chronic-daily-headaches/DS00646/DSECTION=symptoms
Symptoms
By definition, chronic daily headaches must occur at least 15 days a month, for more than three months. The signs and symptoms vary depending on the specific subtype:
Chronic migraine
* Usually evolves from episodic migraine without aura
* Includes at least two of the following — affects only one side of your head, pulsating or throbbing pain, moderate to severe intensity, aggravated by physical activity
* Includes at least one of the following — nausea or vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound
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They should know that, and if they do, they're intentionally causing you more pain...
My wife is a migraineuse, formerly chronic, now down to one or two a month (on a good month, even if they may last 1-2-3 days). She goes to a pain specialist, referred by our primary, and also gets Spinal Cervical anti-inflammatory injections twice a year prescribed by her pain specialist (they work pretty well for 3-4-5 months) -- because pain killers just DON'T do much for nerve pain.
And -- I pulled a cervical vertebra a while back and was having a series of almost daily cluster headaches which, fortunately (and rarely) WAS corrected by chiropractic -- Fortunately because they are -- like migraine -- rarely correctable, only treatable to some degree. I have known men with cluster headaches saying "If it can't be treated within one more year, I'm committing suicide." And when I've mentioned that to people who know, they nod their heads and say "Yeah, a lot of them do." BUT ---
The reason I mentioned the cluster headaches is that I was stretching and drugging and etc one day and I couldn't stand noise and I couldn't stand quiet and I put on a CD of Hildegarde von Bingen's music .. and it helped, felt as if I was getting out of my body .. and I told my wife and she laughed, that Hildegarde was one of the most famous migraineuses in history and wrote her music for that reason, to feel she was outside of the body that was wracked with pain.
Combined with powerful anti-inflams and painkillers that should be prescribed by your health provider, the music is helpful.
But first, having more than 15 migraines a month is WELL DOCUMENTED as a specific syndrome and your med insurance people should recognize that and prescribe accordingly.
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A couple of corrections to what I wrote below:
[Read the article: My migraines make me feel like driving a pickax through my face!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Ok --
(1) migraine is NOT the same as nerve pain. I think I indicated it was.
(2) Your primary needs to refer you to a HEADACHE specialist, not a pain specialist
(3) The Cervical Spinal Epidural is not for migraines per se
--- BUT -- BOTOX injections are being used for migraine with a great deal of success ...it just takes convincing the med insurance people it's not cosmetic....
And the one important thing that was in with my false non-facts was this: you need to see your primary care physician and he or she needs to refer you to someone who knows how to treat migraine.
Good luck