Hi, ZeeGee,
Thanks so much for your interest and your input & suggestions. And you've made perfect sense. Of course, my hair has naturally changed with age, but it has always been silky baby fine and super straight. Yes, it has thinned some, especially at the right temple. The biggest change (aside from the curls) is that it used to be very oily. I could not go a single day without washing my hair. Now I can go one, sometimes two days without washing it. But I blame the past 25 years of coloring my hair, blow dry & curling iron for that change. I always use a good volumizing shampoo and conditioner and also a leave in anti-frizz conditioner. Root lifter, hair spray & that's it.
I do take a multivitamin, Omega-3, and several other supplements my doctors have recommended. My primary care physician does bloodwork on me twice a year and she keeps a really good eye on everything.
Don't really know much about my DNA. My father left when I was 8 and I've never seen him again. My mother and all my brothers had straight hair, much thicker than mine. Grandma's was long, silky, straight and snow white. She wore it braided and wrapped around her head, Swedish style.
To answer your question about the MRI - YES! In the past 15 years, I've had 2 CT scans and 3 MRI's. Prior to the onset of my migraines, which began a few days before my birthday in Jan 2006, I had already had 2 sinus surgeries. From the time I was in high school, catching a cold automatically meant a sinus infection. And you're right! Migraines and sinus headaches are totally different. It wasn't until I was 42 that I finally went to an ENT who said he could fix me up with surgery. And he DID! For 8 years I could breath through my nose, rarely a cold and not a single sinus infection or headache. So when I started having them again, I was knocking at his door and I had my second surgery in 1998. Don't get me wrong - the surgery itself is agonizing for the first few days. But after 2 weeks, your good to go and it's totally worth it.
My first migraine started at work on a Friday afternoon and lasted all weekend. I went to my primary doctor Monday morning and she sent me for my first MRI and then sent me to a neurologist. He put me on Lyrica for a month, which didn't help at all. Then he said the MRI showed I had sinus problems. I knew these headaches were not sinus. I had lived most of my life with sinus headaches and this was nothing like it. But he insisted that I go back to my ENT. So, in 2006, I had my 3rd sinus surgery which did absolutely nothing except make me suffer for 2 weeks along with the migraines. Needless to say, I never went back to that neurologist. But, I still don't have any sinus problems! I have also had a dental exam for TMJ, a biopsy done on my temporal artery for temporal arteritis, a spinal tap, a complete nerve study on my upper right side, a sleep study (no sleep apnea), 2 sessions of physical therapy (one for 9 months and the other for 4 months) and a few others I can't recall at the moment.
It's amazing how little I actually knew about migraines until about a year ago when I started reading articles I found on line about them. In particular, I found the ones from WebMD to be very informative, not too technical or too long, and limited to a particular aspect of migraines. It wasn't long before I signed up for WebMD.com and requested their weekly Migraine Newsletter (they have them on all sorts of issues and diseases). It seems I learn something new each week and it amazes me how much of it falls right in line with my experiences. I highly recommend it. Your doctor is absolutely right about the complexity of migraines. It's a very misunderstood disease, even by the people who have it.
I'm glad to hear that you are getting some relief from your nausea with the Relief Band. I don't have a lot of nausea for extended periods. Usually just short periods, generally as auras before a migraine. Severe nausea and vomiting will be during the migraine. I sure could have used one of those when I was a kid. I suffered terribly from motion sickness, even in a car. I outgrew most of it, but I still have to be very careful about what I do. Can't read in a car or turn around to get something out of the back seat. Can't ride anything that goes round and round at an amusement park. Also suffer from vertigo.
I must go now. The migraine that has been nagging at me all day is really getting serious now.
Sherry