Constant Headache for 2 Years and counting
 

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to help my constant headache? I've been diagnosed with chronic migraine but have yet to find a preventative that helps. I've recently had involuntary jerking of my eyes, causing me to be unable to focus them. I take a prescription of ibuprofen three days a week but that does little more than dull the pain. Light will affect my headaches occasionally but I don't usually have a problem with it. Strong scents seem to make my headache worse, especially anything sweet. I have seen a neurologist but was only bounced from one medication to the next. I saw an ENT to treat what a CT revealed as chronic sinus disease but the steroid shot I received seemed to do nothing as the same problem was present in an MRI taken a year after the original CT scan. Hardly anything seems to help, and it seems the chronic migraine diagnosis is totally wrong. Can anyone help?!

Unfortunately that's often the way it goes. Since everyone is different and there are so many types & causes of headaches (let alone migraines), trial & error is often the only way to find something that will work. The feeling one gets when getting bounced from Dr. to Dr., medication to medication, treatment to treatment - is common enough to have a name - guinea pig complex.

I was once diagnosed with "status migraine". The treatment prescribed was low-dose imitrex every day until the migraine broke. It didn't work for me, but the neurologist who prescribed it had had some luck with it with other patients.

One thing that did help me was physical therapy. It was very painful at first, but I stuck it out and it did help in the end (seated chin-tuck exercises).

Is your neurologist a migraine specialist? That can make a huge difference; there are now guys who do nothing else but migraines, and they may have more knowledge/experience that could help you.

If you haven't yet, you might google migraine preventative for some ideas to discuss with your doctor. Some folks do better with alternative medications/therapies, but do your homework - lots of snake oil out there too. ;)

Doc