My 40 year old sister has a migraine today--her seventh in as many days--and is lying in bed, totally incapacitated. Her migraines began about five years ago and have been increasing in frequency and severity. Last month, we kept a log and she was in bed with a "bad migraine" 27 days out of 30.
She is constantly in the ER or seeing doctors for pain relief--often in the form of narcotics. She also thinks she suffers from bi-polar disorder and is on about nine different meds for that, depression, anxiety, sleep, and mood stabilizers. She has had 3 MRI's and 2 CT scans over the last two years and neither test has revealed any abnormalities.
She is usually fine in the morning; the headaches come on suddenly usually around noon--which is a bit odd. I should likely also add she is about 60 pounds overweight, lives with my mother (she says mother triggers the pain), and has a great deal of stress due to poor decisions she's made over the course of her life.
I have never had a migraine, thankfully. I know people who have them are in a lot of pain and they can last several days. However, I have never known anyone who has migraines nearly every day of their life. Has anyone else heard of this? Most importantly, does anyone have any ideas on what else can be tried to help my sister? I feel bad that she is missing out on so much because she is always sick.
Thank you.
Turn off the television and teach your children how to think.
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I suggest a good therapist.
Seriously. I don't doubt that she's having migraines, but from your description of your sister and her behavior, it sounds as though she could benefit from counseling instead of (or in addition to) medication.
I think she needs to take one physical issue at a time and address it until it has been taken care of to her satisfaction. Attempting to cure the symptoms without curing the disease is futile (as you have seen).
Oh, and if she has not yet tried the medication Topamax for migraines, she might want to do so. I don't get migraines but I know several people who suffered debilitating (medication resistant) migraines on a regular basis - and Topamax helped them considerably.
Thank you, JKGrandma! As usual, I agree with you. My sister does see a therapist but I think she needs a new one as she's been going to him for years and, if anything, her problems are getting worse. He is very mild-mannered and just sits and agrees with her. I got her to try a therapist who is tough, no-nonesense but fair and very insightful. She thought he was too "mean" because he challenged some of her stories--and never went back.
It's also very frustrating because my mother tells me living with my sister "is hell" but when I say she should insist she move out, she rips into me, saying "Do you want her to live on the streets? Would that make you happy?!" Then, there's my sister saying the cause of her migraines is "living with mother." And round and round they go. I do feel my mother is playing a significant role in this situation--mainly because she doesn't want to live alone, even though she's very healthy physically. So she enables and supports my sister while my sister stays in bed. If ever there was a time for tough love, this is it.
My sister takes topamax but also takes a lot of other drugs so perhaps the benefits of the medication are being diminished.
I do believe my sister needs inpatient care to wean her off all the drugs and then see what's going on physically and psychologically. I have questioned the bi-polar diagnosis because how can you accurately diagnose anything when someone has all sorts of drugs in their system, which may be altering their behavior??!
Thank you again. It is a mess and I am thankful I will soon be moving further away as it's just hard to watch.
If traditional medicine has failed to address your sister's problem, why not try some alternative medicine. Acupuncture and acupressure have been shown to be effective for migraine control. For more information, go to http://www.best4health.net/id6.html
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