I never thought that I would stab myself! I never thought even though it was so very painful to do that it would give so much needed relief!
I have had migraines since I was 15, they definitely are not any fun! I named my migraine Julie (Previous blood post) and she does not like to leave me alone! Along with the horrific pain I get extreme sound & light sensitivity and very dizzy and nauseous! I was able to somewhat control Julie but as I got older she got more aggressive!
For years I was only prescribed Imitrex, which did not help! I had like 4 different meds/OTC meds and a heated eye mask to try to help get rid of Julie as soon as possible or get some sort of relief as once she shows up she stays for at least 4 days.
January through end of March are always the worst time as Julie is there with me EVERY SINGLE DAY!! I couldn’t live like this anymore and was fed up with the treatment of the migraines I was receiving. I finally convinced my pcp to try something else and actually got a medication that somewhat knocked the pain down, not to an “I can ignore it” level but it was a little better. Unfortunately we had to try this med for a bit before we could go to the insurance company to get better meds.
I wasn’t thrilled with going back to the neurologist I had dealt with before, but then thought it would be okay as we were dealing with migraines and those are more understandable. I was prescribed Emgality and it took over 2 months to get the insurance company to approve it!
I was not expecting anything miraculous and being very very scared of needles was not thrilled with the idea of stabbing myself every month, but that is how much I am over dealing with Julie.
I finally got the injection meds in the beginning of December and holy rusted metal Batman did that freaking hurt! I almost vomited it hurt that bad to inject the meds into my leg, but I insisted that I needed to do it myself. I was amazed with the results! It kick Julie in the face,, the pain was gone and I mean GONE! Oh sure the nausea, dizziness, light & sound sensitivity ramped up, but the level 12 pain disappeared. “POOF”
I was told it could take a few weeks to kick in and work but the pain was gone with in a day. The last week of December Julie showed up with the pain again, and sadly had to wait until January 7 to do another injection as they have to be 30 days apart. I got used to the very little to no pain for the month that I hated having it back and it has been very hard to wait for relief when you know how good it was!
At my most recent check up with the neurologist, she said it will only get better the more you take the medication. I am very impressed and optimistic about this medication. I have been searching for and trying so many different ways to get relief from Julie and am beyond thrilled to finally have some! After so many many years of dealing with this horrible pain it is still surprising at how you forget how bad it was when you have a couple weeks of relief.
I highly doubt that this will ever make me like needles, but I may get used to and okay with this injection!
I almost couldn’t stab myself again on January 7, the thought of all that pain and fear of needles almost got me to not do it! I made myself do it and it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the first time, but it still hurt a lot! I will probably encounter that every time but it is so worth it to lessen and/or end the pain.
Julie is still hanging around right now, but she is only causing and dull ache, enough to know she is there but not enough to be a huge problem. Dizziness and lightheadedness is still ramped up and I look forward to that lessening as well.
My thoughts are so far I am very impressed with Emgality and will continue to stab myself once a month.
If you suffer with migraines (which I truly hope that you don’t) how bad are they? What helps knock the pain down?
Sunshine478 