Oh, sorry, didn't see this originally. I've had migraines since the accident. So I've been battling these incredibly painful occurrences for some 37 years. They are almost always on the left side as well.

Their frequency goes through cycles. I'll have attacks every day for a while (the longest while being 2 years). They they may back off to alternating days for a period. Haven't been able to correlate this behavior to anything in particular.

I have been using Imitrex very effectively for the past few years. It works about 90% of the time. I take the Imitrex with some Ibuprofen so it works faster (basically manufacturing Treximet in my mouth). Lately I've been adding Dilaudid to my "cocktail", a trick I picked up on my last visit to the emergency room.

I am half Japanese and half Chinese, and was born in the SF Bay Area. I speak just a little Japanese and have been to Japan 4 times (each time I nearly killed myself as my constitution can not bear the strain of international travel ).