The Pushy Patient - Complicated Migraines with Aura

Another weird thing that popped up around this time was a series of “complicated migraines.” These types of migraines are particularly debilitating and scary, as they involve a host of stroke-like symptoms (vision impairment, numbness, inability to comprehend words, etc.) that precede the actual headache and can really freak a person out. 

There were times when I didn’t get the headache at all, just the neurological symptoms (known as the “aura”), and was too out of it to even find the phone and call for food help. And although the symptoms usually subside within two to six hours, the suffering, confusion and fear during that time is pretty intense.

I’d had these migraines before – in my late teens (sorry Dad) when I took the combination birth control pill. But when the doctors switched me over to Depoprovera, a progesterone-only, injected birth control, they subsided. Now, for no obvious reason, they were reappearing with increasing regularity, although I was still on the Depoprovera.

The good and bad news is that they disturbed my neurologist so much that I didn’t have to demand all of the expensive brain tests – he ordered them for me. One MRI and CT Scan later, my brain appeared to be fine, and again I left with no real explanation for the cause of my symptoms.

I did, however, leave with a prescription for a new drug called Topamax, which he advised me to take once a day for the rest of my life, and a pamphlet on migraines that instructed me to get eight hours of sleep per night (but not more than nine) and stay away from the possible–but-not-confirmed causes, including: chocolate, MSG, all nuts, all beans, caffeine, hard work, red meat, red wine, probiotics, bright lights, bread, sugar, rough sex, the sun, bananas, perfume, avocados, sweeteners, humidity, cheese, stress, smoke, paint and pickles.

Looking at that pamphlet, it’s super hard to believe that modern medicine hasn’t cracked cancer. I mean, with this caliber of detective work.

At any rate, reading the pamphlet felt like a lot of hard work. So, as instructed, I avoided it.