Friday, June 17, 2016

Status Migrainosus

Well, the migraine has not gone away. I'm almost done with the steroid pack, and the migraine persists. Pain level is between a 5 and a 7 today. It's much better than the 9-10 I was at before the steroids, but still hard to manage. I'm still very light and sound sensitive, and my body doesn't tolerate exertion. When the pain has lasted this long, they call it status migrainosus. I am stuck in a migraine state.

I saw the neurologist yesterday, and she was wonderful. She started me on Topamax, as well as the supplement Butterbur. I've been on both of them in the past, but we're trying again. But both of those take a month or two to become effective. So, they can't help with my current state.

Basically, I'm going to try to make it through the weekend with Toradol and Flexeril, and just try to wait it out. If that doesn't work, the doctor has recommended an inpatient stay for a few days for a DHE infusion treatment. This medication can break a current migraine state, as well as kind of give your brain a "reset," so you won't be so prone to migraines for a while. The medication is given by IV every 8 hours for 2 or 3 days. Side effects can be pretty intense, so you need to be inpatient to be monitored. Of course, with my medical trauma and very high maintenance body, I can't imagine being a patient in a hospital again. But....I also can't imagine tolerating this migraine much longer.

In addition to all my stuff, Wilma's refusing food again today. And apparently her vet is in the hospital.

That's the update for today. I'll update again if I have news.