I do complain about migraines because they hurt like hell. Fortunately, the degree of pain has subsided. I think that it is an age thing. BUT I do go once a month for accupuncture. It seems to help. Just a suggestion...

I am very moved by the LW's dilemma. I certainly have nothing approaching this level of personal experience with pain, and I wish you great success and relief!

I do want to recommend Shinzen Young's audiobook on using meditation techniques to address physical and emotional suffering, Break Through Pain http://www.amazon.com/Break-Through-Pain-Step-Step/dp/1591791995. I have found it incredibly helpful for my own, admittedly quite minor, painful episodes.

Wishing you all the best!

p.b.

You'll definitely want to read a book: "Living Well with Migraine Disease and Headaches, by Teri Robert."

I have some family and friends who have migraine disease, and they found some excellent advice in this book. It talks about a variety of alternative and holistic approaches, in addition to conventional medicine.

http://www.helpforheadaches.com/lwfiles/lwmdh.htm

about seeing a heart specialist. Migraines this severe can be related to heart murmurs.

Ask about verapamil and other channel blockers.

Don't give up, keep telling your story to every doctor you can.

I can't add a lot to what Cary has written here, other than to ask if your neuro has ruled out trigeminal neuralgia and/or some physical damage to your neck and upper back?

I read a lengthy article last week in the Toronto Globe and Mail about deep brain stimulation studies at McMaster University in Toronto. One of the things they were having some success with was controlling chronic pain. Anyway, maybe worth asking your doc about?

Have you tried pot?

It's not a stupid question to ask because there's evidence in neurobiology that migraines could belong to a larger category of hyperalgesia problems that are caused by insufficient levels of the endocannabinoid called anandamide.

Pain special Dr. Ethan Russo has been writing on this topic. I believe there's been research recently showing the migraine sufferers do indeed suffer from low levels of anandamide.

You might ask -- oh how could pot help when opiates don't?

If your pain problem is caused by low anandamide, then opiates are NOT going to help, because opiates relieve pain through pathways that are different from the pathways used by anandamide.

Russo is bulding a case that fibromylagia and other hyperalgesia disorders could also be due to low levels of anadamide, perhaps caused by some flawed copy of the gene that expresses cannabinoid receptor proteins.

But you know, this is forbidden science! It never happened as far as the federal government is concerned.

I too had debilitating migraines daily. My GP and then a neurologist prescribed opoids,psychotherapy, bio-feedback, restricted diet etc.... None of these therapies worked completely. However, I tried several chiropractors and found one that seemed to help. It's not covered by my insurance, but being able to function is worth the weekly fee. Please consider trying several chiropractors. You may find one that can help you.

Opiates dampen the pain signal along the nerve. Unfortunately, there are opiate receptors even in your brain stem, so opiates can dampen the signals along the nerves that control respiration, which is why people can die from accidental opiate overdose.

Cannabinoid receptors regulate your brain's perception of pain, rather than dampening the signal along the offended nerve. Anandamide regulates the pain after the pain signal has gotten into the brain.

For pain that comes from some real injury like a broken arm, your own anandamide isn't nearly strong enough to make your brain ignore that signal. And pot won't help much either.

But migraines and other hyperalgesia problems don't seem to come from any real injured tissue. There's no injury to be found. The pain signals are in some sense created or horribly amplified by your brain.

Those are the kinds of pain for which people seem to find relief from cannabis, and those are the kinds of pain that many scientists now believe to be caused by some problem with the cannabinoid system itself.

I had migraines for more than twenty years. They'd arrive about every ten days, and just about anything set them off: too much sleep, too little sleep; lots of food, skipping a meal; too much booze, none at all.

I tried every medication known to humanity. I even saw a neurologist, who prescribed some seriously strong drugs that I later found out were used to prevent seizures in mental patients. Nothing worked.

The breakthrough came three years ago. My regular doctor suggested trying blood pressure pills, because one of their side effects is curing migraines (I guess by dilating the blood vessels somehow).

I take two atenolol pills a day, and I can count on one hand the number of migraines I've had in the past three years. Just in case, I keep a stash of Maxalt-MLT 10 mg (peppermint-flavored tablets that are dissolvable on your tongue, work in fifteen minutes, but sometimes you need two) for those times.

AND I now have low blood pressure -- not that it was high before -- and all for $5 copay a month! I'm so thrilled to have my life back. I can't recommend this enough. Good luck to you: I know what you're going through, and it CAN get better.

I have a few things to add the other good advice here:

Have you tried supplements? There is very good evidence that high doses of riboflavin (b-2) and magnesium can make a big difference for many people. You will need to take 500mg a day of the b-2 and about as much magnesium as you can handle without getting sick to your stomach. Your pee will be lovely fluorescent colors. Other supplements that have less concrete evidence behind them, but which seem to work for some people include fish oil, CoQ10, evening primrose oil and other B complex vitamins. None of these can really cause any harm, with the exception of the magnesium making you mildly sick.

Are you with a doctor who is willing to keep trying bizarre and new things? If not, find one. There are no drugs designed specifically to prevent migraines. All the drugs used for prevention are used off-label. They were developed for other purposes and were accidentally found to help with migraines. An SSRI has been a miracle for me. My mother found relief only with an obscure and rarely prescribed seizure drug. Find a doctor who is willing to keep experimenting.

Finally, have you been screened for depression. With this much constant pain it would be no surprise if you were not developing depression as a result, but the opposite can also happen. Depression can cause chronic and sometimes severe pain, especially headaches. At the very least it would probably be helpful to have someone to vent to and help you deal with the feelings of frustration and despair.

Oh yeah, on my really worst days, sometimes a freezing cold shower and beer would give a surprising amount of relief.

Best of luck. I've been there and it is not pretty. Just keep educating yourself and keep trying every possible path.