My doctor said he's never heard of migraines like mine, does anyone have something similar?

I have a migraine every single day, no matter what.  The way it usually works is: after the pain reaches level 10, I get a shot of demerol and phenergan, which usually knocks the pain down to about a level 5.  After a day or two, the migraine keeps inching up in the severity.  The migraine never gets any better without narcotics to knock it back down a little bit.  Without the narcotics, the severity just continually increases. 

Hi Liz,

I really feel for you with what you are going through with your heads. The heart breaking thing is that the narcotic meds are making things worse.

It makes me so cross when the Docs will not try to find another way. My heads were so much worse when I was taking narcotic meds cos of the rebound effect!

You need to see a Neurologist who is a Headache Specialist, who understands migraine and other headaches, and will be better equipped to find the right way forward for you.

Wishing you all the best with this, please let me know how you get on, take care

Ann

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Co-Moderator of the Migraine/Headache Forum

Dear Liz,

I'm in the same boat as you. The only thing that seems to help me are narcotic painkillers too. I've been in and out of the er some much that they have basically told me to stop coming. I've tried many different med combos. I also have a neurologist. But he doesn't seem to believe me. I'm just pissed at all doctors right now. They tell me that I'm going to become addicted and suffer worse rebounds. But I don't believe them because when i do gat the shots I'm fine for a least 3 days.

Hello Ann and Geiser30,

Ann,
At one point I had told my doctor that I didn't want to be on any narcotics (because I know how bad the rebounds can be and I had been taking them way too often) for about 3 months to get them out of my system. Without them, the pain was completely unbearable and I was taking ibuprofin so often I had rebound headaches for weeks. I couldn't even leave my house because the sounds and lights got to me so badly I was passing out and throwing up several times a day. Now that I'm back on the narcotics I've been staying away from ibuprofin and things like that. I only take Tylonal #3 2-3 times a week and I get a shot of demerol once every 2 weeks. I don't have rebounds now that I'm more careful about how often I take the meds.

I've seen 3 different neurologists that specialize in migraines, but they all gave up on me after they tried everything they knew of to treat me.

Geiser30,
I used to go to the ER every week, they gave me such a hard time about it; telling me I was a drug addict and that I was making the headaches up...that isn't something you want to hear on a good day, let alone a day where your headache is so bad you're forced to come into the ER. My doctors tell me pretty much the same thing your's tells you. They don't seem to understand that after having headaches for so long, you can tell the difference between your normal headaches and rebound headaches. They also don't seem to understand how nice it is to have just a few minutes of relief from your headaches is, let alone a few days.

Thank you both so much for your replies,
~Liz

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Dx: Chronic Daily Migraines & Chronic Depression