Migraines Archives - The Autism Dad

Is this the whitest building ever?

We've made it to the illustrious Neurological Center for Pain at the always amazing Cleveland Clinic. If you ever visit here, you find yourself in the whitest building ever. Literally, everything is white. The walls, ceiling, floors, doors, cabinets, etc. It makes everything very bright. There's a specific reason for this, and it's related to their IMATCH program. I will say that it's a bit overwhelming for me, and I don't suffer from anything that could be triggered by this. Anyway, we're currently tucked away in our usual room and waiting to be seen. Her nurse today was awesome, and we really appreciate how much fun she was to work with. I don't think we've ever had a negative experience at he Cleveland Clinic. The doctor should be in shortly…

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May 17, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

My wife has a difficult decision to make today

The boys got off to school in a good mood. I've got to say that was a significant accomplishment, and I definitely needed my walk this morning because I was frazzled. I will be spending the afternoon at the Cleveland Clinic with my amazing wife. She has a follow-up with her neurologist at the Neurological Center for Pain. This is in regards to her chronic migraines. Today we will decide what to do with her new migraine medication, Aimovig. She's been on it for several months now, and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. The standard approach to this is to double the dose if it's not working after a few months. Lizze is concerned that she's muddied the water because of her medical marijuana usage. I disagree because…

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May 17, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

I have some amazing news to share tonight

Lizze and I are getting ready to hit the sack because we have a really early day tomorrow. I wanted to take a few minutes and touch base with you fine folks because we have some positive news on the migraine front. ☺ First of all, Lizze had another bad reaction to the medication called DHE 45. They immediately discontinued it and have permanently removed it. Lizze is glad she tried again because she wanted to be sure. Anyway, her infusion took her migraine from a 10 to a 7 and that's awesome. Unfortunately, the DHE 45 took it back to an 8 but that's still better than where she was when she arrived. She left the Cleveland Clinic today with a sense of hope because the infusions are working.…

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February 12, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

We got some bad news about my wife’s headache infusions

Lizze's infusion has been going well for her today. She's slept through a large part of it and I've just been sitting in the lobby waiting. They've decided to once again try the medication that caused problems yesterday. This time it's going to be more diluted and will probably take about two hours to infuse. If it causes pain, they will immediately pull the plug but Lizze is all for it because it stands a good chance of helping her. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Cleveland Clinic this afternoon, we learned that her insurance has decided to pull funding for the forth day and that effectively forces the cancelation of the last infusion. We're not happy about that because that last day could make a big difference and there's…

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February 12, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

My wife begins her 2nd day of headache infusions at the @clevelandclinic

It's been a busy morning already. Lizze didn't sleep very well. She's in a lot of pain and extremely nervous about her second Infusion today. It's very hard to be hopeful when you've been in so much pain for so long and nothing has ever been able to help. I'm trying to get her to go into this as positive and hopeful as possible because state of mind makes a difference. It's a big ask and I understand where she is right now but I just want this to work for her. I view the fact that yesterday's infusion brought her migraine from a 10 to an 8 as a very positive thing. Unfortunately, the last medication that they pushed undid all that progress and made things worse. I understand…

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February 12, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

The first day of headache infusions had some painful drawbacks

It's been a really, really long day and I'm going to make this a quick update. I want to let you know how the first day of headache infusions went for Lizze. It's been a mixed bag for her. For starters, the Cleveland Clinic is amazing and the staff made Lizze feel very comfortable with the process itself. She was very nervous going into today and was relieved by the kind treatment she received. ☺ I mentioned in the previous post that Lizze was feeling a little better as the infusion was progressing. Her migraine went from a 10 to an 8 and that's a pretty big deal for her. Unfortunately, the final medication they pushed caused a very negative reaction and her migraine went to an 11 as a…

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February 12, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

2 hours into her 1st headache infusion at the @clevelandclinic

Lizze has been hooked up to the IV for about two hours now. There's no room for me to sit with her so I'm hanging out in the lobby until she's done. I'm allowed to walk back and check on her but I have to be very, very quiet because everyone in there is dealing with migraines. I'm allowed to bring her food but there are restrictions. Nothing can have a smell or make noise. Many people with migraines can be triggered by certain smells and so they are very careful what's brought into the room. Everyone in this room, including my wife, is resting in recliners and separated by a thin curtain. The lights are low and it's so quiet, you could probably hear a pin drop, literally. The…

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February 11, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

Please keep my wife in your thoughts and prayers as she heads to the @ClevelandClinic for most of the week

This is going to be an absolutely crazy week. In fact, it's going to be one of the most challenging weeks we've had in recent memory and we're going to need all the help we can get. Thankfully we have that help in the form of our parents, on both sides. I meant to get to this on Friday but I didn't. Lizze was approved for here headache infusions and they begin in the morning. We will be making the sometimes three hour round trip, four days in a row this week. This makes things very complicated because the boys need to get to and from school each day. We also have Gavin who wouldn't do well on these trips. Thankfully, Gavin will be staying with Lizze's parents until Thursday…

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February 10, 2019