I have suffered from migraines since I was 10 (that's 39 years ago), I was put on so many different drugs that I would go to the pharmacy and the pharmacist had not yet heard of the medication!! That is when we finally said they are using me as a guinea pig and I continued just to suffer through them for years. Then when I started seeing a pain doctor for my CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) he saw that my chart said that I suffered from migraines and we had a discussion about ALL of the new meds that were now available that may help. He convinced me to try Botox, that did not work for me. He then asked if I would be happy if I could just nip them in the bud before they became full blown. I of course said anything that keeps from causing me days of migraines would be great. He then prescribed me Cambia (Diclofenac), it's a powder that comes in separate envelopes per dosage that you mix with a defined quantity of water....I take 50MG with 50-60 ml of water (sorry that's metric). It honestly tastes like drinking Alka Seltzer!!! But I would say it works for me about 90% of the time (actually could be a little higher because I don't always get to take it in time. You need to take it at the very onset of the migraine otherwise it won't work). It is not always possible to mix the powder when the migraine first starts, is the only drawback, but I will take that over having nothing to take that is that effective!!! As with most medications, it will not work for everyone, but in case you haven't found your relief and have not tried it.....may be worth checking it out. ...
BTW if anyone can find the same relief for me for my CRPS that would be better than winning the lottery for me!!! Like a lot of you who rely on pain meds for your chronic pain...I do as well, along with about 15 other medications that either address other issues caused by CRPS (i.e. leg cramps) or to manage the side effects of other medications!!! We too are suffering from the current epidemic use of opiates, narcotics & just recently heroine in some of the major cities in Canada. As a result I have personally been treated like a drug addict on two occasions that I was taken to hospital by ambulance, both by the EMT as well as the emergency doctor! They had not heard of my condition so they treated me like it was fictitious instead of asking me more about it or doing a little research. They treated me terribly each time I went! I also at one point was shopping for a new family doctor (which is not an easy task in a lot of areas in Ontario, we have had shortages).
I went to two doctors and they both said after reviewing my meds, that they would have to take me off all of my pain meds first before they would agree to see me!!!!!!! Again they did not even take my condition into account. I asked the first one if she knew what CRPS was and she said she knew all about it. If that was the case she would not have asked nor expected me to agree to go off the pain meds. As someone mentioned in this thread a while a go people with chronic pain do not get the "high" that other people may get from such medications. I am not sure what the reasoning is behind this but they just don't!!! Though sometimes I wish you could get some kind of "high" because sometimes I just would like to escape the pain!!!!
My girlfriend keeps asking me if I have tried the medical marijuana but I keep rejecting it because i figure I am already maxed out on the amount of pain meds (including dosages). Actually with the latest guidelines I am way over!!! I think I currently am only getting away with it because I have consistently been taking them for years ( Hydromorphone - long acting and breakthrough, Fentanyl patches, in conjunction with Duloxetine & Pregabalin.) I am not sure also if they are extracting the THC prior to prescribing up here or not.
The only thing that I do know is that I CANNOT live the rest of my life with this condition, especially if they withdraw the pain medication. Even in knowing this the Neurologist I was seeing in trying to get approved for a surgery that may have eased the pain greatly, turned me down, after originally accepting me and even had the MRI so he knew the condition of the spine and location of my L ? can't remember which one. Mainly I believe due to a new doctor that got involved that did not believe in CRPS. She told me first that I had RLS....which I have no relation to at all!!! Then she said that I definitely had "something" but she did not know what!! However, she was not willing to accept me due to the "risk" involved (??) When asked what she meant she said that I was maxed out on pain medications and she was not comfortable with that.. Well guess what? Neither am I, that is why I wanted to at least try the surgery (they are the only hospital that provides it) !!!
So I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't. Not suppose to take pain meds, yet they won't give me any alternative.....Except live with the pain!!!!