Longtime Agitator reader Bronwyn Ramey sends an update on her quest for pain relief from intense, persistent migraines.

First installment here. Her message after the jump.

I went to see my neurologist on Monday and all sorts of things changed. Since I’m always in some sort of discomfort or pain, and I take the abortives more than three days a week, she suggested in-patient treatment.

Holy hell. Me?

Like most migraineurs, if I have a day of stage 2 pain I can convince myself that life is easy and that a hospital stay would be overkill. Then the following day I spike to 7-9 pain and want nothing short of a bullet to the brain. Oddly enough, vicodin and codeine don’t touch these.

I’ve done research into the protocols and guidelines for inpatient treatment (because I am a scientist, after all) and it appears that I am going in to detox. If you are interested, there are protocols here, here and a more indepth discussion here. In that last, note the descriptions of patient types (I-III). Type III are known as the ‘addicts’, type II (me I think) are the ‘dependent’ ones. There’s that line between seeking pain relief and drug-seeking behavior.

On that note, I was told that I am not a candidate for opiods because of my youth and I don’t know what else. When I get her letter, I’ll share any pertinent info regarding that.

I’m also struck by the cruel irony of the whole thing. I get migraines often and quite severely. If I treat them with medications, I risk becoming dependent on them and the result is a perpetual migraine or headache. It is also a strange feeling to read this literature and recognize so much of myself. My scientist-self and patient-self are sort of thrown against each other and the result is a sense of emotional confusion.

So at the very least I’ll be treated with DHE and anti-emetics, and will also be given botox treatments in my brow and neck. Who knows what else, but that I will be very bored, homesick and lonely. Since this is a university hospital, my hopes are high that my treatment will be excellent. I just hope it works.

I’ll share my doctor’s letter when it arrives.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 28th, 2005 at 7:50 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.