Headache Concerns?

Wolfman35

Wolfman35

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
Have a question in regards to headaches and how rated since you only see things on Migraines and "prostrating" attacks. I had C6-C7 Disc replacement Sep 2012, ever since then have chronic daily headaches, all in the back of my head, sometimes wake up with them, on days I do not I can feel it coming on the longer I am on my feet, squeezing pressure in back of head. Neurologist said they are cervicogenic and coming from the DDD in my cspine, also diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia. Typically I stomach them through the day until I can go home and take my medications. Sometimes I take my medications at work, which is not always the safest option, tried Topamax no luck, tried Neurontin, no luck. When they talk about missing work to prove you have them, for most Soldiers this is not an option, you cannot call out sick, most sick call is non-existent, and you have to make an appt, which they typically do not have, so I just bring up my concerns with my PCM when I make an appt, and my pain management provider, and pop pills, which do help, but does not change the fact that they are basically daily to the point that my sole focus is trying to stop it before it happens. Per the rating schedule, this would really merit a 0% since I do not burn up the ER for something non-emergent. Any advice?? BTW my brain MRI did show Multi-Microvascular infarcts, ischemia?? They do not know what from. So Neuropsych testing this week for some memory issues.
 
Where in the rating schedule does it mention ER visits? I am rated 30% for migraines and the only time I went to the ER for them was to try Imitrix. When you use Imitrix for the first time, they hook you up to an EKG to make sure it is not impacting your heart.

Mike
 
Mike,
As far as ER, that is just what I heard from word of mouth, and being able to prove prostrating attacks maybe my misinterpretation of the schedule. We all know that in the military culture, especially in field type units, you cannot just go home sick or call out of work, so most Soldiers tend to suffer in silence or medicate at work, I think most people think I am FOS when I tell them I practically have it everyday, Sometimes I wish they were true migraines, that way I would at least get a reprieve for a while before another one hits. I just fear getting hosed on the headaches, when they plague me more than all my other issues combined.
 
I tried to for a while, even had an app for my phone, got to be I was putting in the same crap everyday, timing on Fioricet, adding some Zanaflex, become so redundent I just gave up on it. They pretty much follow the same pattern everyday, up on feet, headache by lunchtime. Overexertion or impact in morning, massive headache by lunchtime. Wear a hat = headache. Occipital Nerve blocks due help but for only about 2-3 months at a time.
 
I take Neurontin (Gapapentin) on a regular basis to assist but Cambia for less severe and Sumavel Dosepro for severe. I was rated 50% and typcially suffer headaches 3-4 Days of the week.
 
Wolfman35 said:
I tried to for a while, even had an app for my phone, got to be I was putting in the same crap everyday, timing on Fioricet, adding some Zanaflex, become so redundent I just gave up on it. They pretty much follow the same pattern everyday, up on feet, headache by lunchtime. Overexertion or impact in morning, massive headache by lunchtime. Wear a hat = headache. Occipital Nerve blocks due help but for only about 2-3 months at a time.
Click to expand...

This is the first I have heard of someone else getting headaches from just wearing a hat. My PC and Kevlar cause migraines and when I mention it I am just looked at like an idiot or told to suck it up. I've only tried a couple of different meds for migraines and I am now on Sumitriptan (Spelling?) but it doesn't work. I'll have to take one and then 2 hours later take another all while laying in a spare bedroom that is blacked out.

I did the headache log for 5 months and it was just sheets in this little notebook that looked like it was photocopied over and over with minor differences here and there.

Hopefully you get something that works for you.
 
I don't get headache wearing the PC but I hardly do wear it more than 10 minutes as the sunlight really makes my headache worse. In the last 5 months I have tried various meds but nothing worked. Finally the Botox injections gave me some reliefs. If nothing works for you, you can request for Botox. I currently take Depakote every night and Botox every three months.
 
When is the Botox taken? Do you have to get them on a regular schedule? Or when you have a migraine? Currently I go to a CBOC facility and not a VAMC. I'll have to see if they offer Botox injections there if is something that needs to be a regular thing.
 
Botox is considered the last option when none of the other meds work. The neurologist makes that judgement call. He gave me Botox as none of the meds worked on me. I was having really bad headache everyday for 4 months straight. And mind you, Botox is 31 injections all over your head in one sitting. Botox is taken every 3 months for 3-5 times and it is really good for preventing migraines.
 
Current theory is that migraines are largely a product of blood vessels restriction in the brain and most migraine meds (abortives, taken when migraine's happen, preventive meds are a different story) work to dilate the blood vessels. Botox works to paralyze the surface area. There is little reason to think Botox will work for the average migraine, especially if you receive some benefit from migraine meds. Hence why Botox only makes sense when the abortives don't work. The success rate isn't fantastic, but if it works for some, hard to knock it. Biggest problem is for many the Botox is not effective for the entire 3 months. They are injecting you with a toxic nerve agent, so you really can't up the treatment schedule.

Interesting note, neurofeedback therapy works on a pretty similar level to Botox. Neurofeedback attempts to train you to relax the surface muscles. If Botox works there is some reason to think neurofeedback would work as well. Neurofeedback is pretty similar to healing crystals as far as rigorous studies go, but I know Madigan at JBLM offers it, so should be within the range of possibilities.
 
Never heard of Neurofeedback therapy. Always interesting to find out about new ways to treat something. The meds I'm on now work for the most part. As long as I am able to get to a dark quiet room and do nothing for an hour or two I can usually count on the migraine getting better. Occasionally I have to take another pill two hours later and lay down but that's the only thing that makes it better.

scoutCC have you tried the neurofeedback therapy before or only heard of it as another alternative to treat migraines?
 
I tried it. Its fairly interesting but not really helpful for me. It struck me as very Pavlovian. Pavlov trained dogs so that when a dinner bell rang they expected food and started salivating, as opposed to the normal response of not salivating until the smell of food is present. So they measured muscle tension and used audio feedback to train a lower tension response. Some techniques utilize a visual feedback, but same concept, train the body/mind to generate an automatic response. We could see how the tension's initial state gradually went down and that it was gradually easier to obtain a lower tension state.

What we couldn't do is establish a relationship to the head's muscle tension and frequency and severity of migraines. Just didn't seem to match up for me. Botox ends up paralyzing those muscles, which is pretty darn relaxed. So if Botox is working, it seems likely to me that neurofeedback could help as well.
 
scoutCC have you found anything substantial that works for you regarding your migraines? I have even tried biofeed back but that didn't go too well with me. And the Botox started working after 2 weeks and lasted only a month before my daily headaches started to come back. Are we supposed to continue taking meds life long or is there light at the end of the tunnel? There has to be some relief at some point without the meds as taking meds every single day is starting to irritate me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top