The migraines and mental health issues

Migraines have been a constant companion throughout this journey. They were always there in the background, but over the past several months, they’ve moved to the forefront. Between the vestibular issues, the autonomic dysfunction, and whatever else my nervous system decides to throw at me on any given day, the migraines have become one of the most debilitating symptoms I deal with regularly.

Worst. Crash. Ever.

With the latest crash, it has led to severe panic attacks, and unresponsive benzo treatment to say the least. Additionally, the depression and anxiety have skyrocketed. I have gotten to the point of nearly giving up, almost like I did early on. I feel incredibly hopeless, and am working on this with medications, family, friends, support networks, and outpatient mental health services as best I can.

I say this because if you need help yourself, get it. If you need to be admitted, do it. We may feel very alone in this fight, but we’re not, and we need everyone we can get to work on getting through this together.

Emgality

I started Emgality last week, which was a trade from the Scripps drug trial injections (with everything getting worse, it was on less medication to manage - no idea if it was working). The latest injection is a CGRP inhibitor — basically, it targets a protein involved in migraine signaling. The hope was that it would reduce the frequency and intensity. So far, results have been interesting. Some days are better than others, and it seems to be trending better.

Pramipexole

I’ve been slowly titrating up on this (currently at .75 mg), with the hope of reducing RLS (which came back again a few months ago). Sometimes the RLS is controlled, other times not. It is hard to know what is helping here, but I think this also helps with mood and the headaches.

Xolair

I’m still taking monthly Xolair injections as well; which seemingly addressed the headaches pretty quickly in the early days last year (but not the neck pain). My IgE numbers doubled after a stopped this for a few months, but no more. I will be doing these shots at home monthly.

Mirtazipine

The course of this was paused during outpatient mental health stays. I am on 15 mg again, and sleep seems to be returning to near baseline. I still cannot nap (that’s crazy town for the part; mixed thoughts, not awake or asleep).

A few other med changes, but everything is up to date under my [[treatments/index|Treatments]] page. Of which I’ve had some medical journals to show potential efficacy (not medical advice).

In conclusion

The PLF surgery did go well (what’s a 4 hour vestibular collapse to a former runner anyway?). I worked on a draft of this, but I’m not ready to post it yett; some unknown variables yet that I need answers to.

I hope everyone is doing okay, this is not a pleasant experience to navigate. I’m losing my own identity at this point, as well as family and friends (of which I do not fault).