Thank you for sharing, and I’m sorry to learn what you’re going through. Good that you are getting some relief from Butorphanol.

Migraines started for me when I entered menopause. Before then, I didn’t know what a headache was. I thought there was something wrong with my right eye since the pain was in that region. I was seeing a neurologist for degenerative disc and joint disease when I brought up the ’face aches’ and started Emgality. This took me from 3-4 migraines/week to 3-4/ month. Then it stopped working and I started new medications until they stopped working, and so on to trial and error

I was also taking Tramadol and still do for the arthritis/degenerative disc disease. I had previously been taking nearly 2,000 mg./day of ibuprofen for the arthritis, setting me up for kidney disease, when my doctor started me on Tramadol. Now I get raised eyebrows and recommendations to lower my dosage of 100mg 3 times daily from my providers. It’s interesting that Tramadol helps my arthritis, but does nothing to relieve the migraines. I’ve also received epidural steroid injections (for the arthritis pain), once with great success until it wore off, and again with no results. It’s turned into a game of hit and miss. I hate spending my days with migraine in bed, cancelling plans, etc. The ‘monster’ came to visit last month, landing me in the ER, and five days inpatient while they tried different meds. I was sent home with three different meds. One of them, Depakote, appeared to be working until the side effects kicked in. After five days of taking it at home, I discontinued it without even consulting my doctor. Now I’m taking physical therapy to restore my gait and balance. I’m happy for those who are getting relief from it, but I’ll never take it again.

I was still taking antibiotics for the UTI; after hearing several doctors and nurses tell me that ‘monster’ migraine might have occurred due to the UTI, I started to believe them. If bad weather can bring on a migraine, I suppose an infection elsewhere in the body can do it too.

Something that frustrates me is my inability to get a nutritious diet on the table. I’m certain that fruits and vegetables, etc. play a role in well being. My husband, who is otherwise very supportive, only knows how to make pancakes and hamburgers. It feels like a triumph when I can cook a simple healthy meal. At the grocery store, I went to get some cherry tomatoes - $6.99 for a small package, so I bought the $1.98/pound regular tomatoes for sandwiches and to incorporate into a simple hot dish that we both like.
Something I’m grateful for in addition to having a great husband: our cat gets on the bed and sits close by when I’m having a migraine episode. It’s so comforting.

Thanks for reading. It’s been therapeutic putting this in writing. No individual is on an identical journey with migraine, but there are so many similarities that I can relate to what you and others are going through. Take care. SJD