Chronic migraine is poorly treated
Chronic migraine is very disabling and is poorly treated according to a study by Dr. Marcelo Bigal and his colleagues published in the current issue of journal Neurology. The study looked at 520 patients with chronic migraine (those who had more than 15 days with headaches a month) and 9,424 with episodic. More than half of the patients with chronic migraines missed at least five days of household work, compared 24% of patients with episodic migraine. The majority of chronic migraine sufferers (88%) had previously soguht care, but most of them did not receive specific acute or preventive medications. Only 33% of these patients were on preventive medications at the time of the study. Millions of Americans who suffer from migraines do not receive appropriate treatment, but those with chronic migraines are particularly under-treated and suffer needlessly.
Chronic migraine is a common conditions
As a long time patient of Dr. Mauskop (office in NYC), I would highly recommend visiting his office. I am not cured but Dr. Mauskop has not given up and is always willing to listen and try whatever he can to help me. He is very patient, not something all doctors have.
my niece sounds much like your daughter. she had migraines last fall that lasted about 3 mo then improved with SSRI treatments. but they came back this fall and nothing is helping. she, too, has them worse in the morning, gets dizzy, is sound and light sensitive. she’s gone through the full range of drug therapies and her dr has run out of ideas. have you found a good dr for help?
My 17 year old daughter suffers migraines. She missed 6 weeks of school in the spring they sort of got them under control for the summer she only had maybe 8or9, now she is having a bout again. if you add the 1/2 days up she has attended about 2 days of school since late Oct. she is on maxolt, sometimes advil, more rarely ibprofin. she does not seem to get them to often on the weekends, she thinks because she gets to sleep in, OH! she develops these in her sleep and wakes up with them in the morning. She has had a CAT scan the doctor did not call so i assume nothing showed. She sometimes has fainting spells but not to unconsous stage only once and then she had a seizure. she usually just gets very dizzy and her vision goes black.
Terri:
Unfortunately, there has been significantly less research into episodic and chronic tension-type headaches than into migraines. The reason is that migraine is much more common and usually causes much more disability than tension-type headache. We do know that chronic tension-type headache is not a psychological disorder, but rather a disease of the brain, just like migraine. We also know that certain drugs, such as tricyclic antidepressants (Elavil, Pamelor, Vivactil, and other) can be very effective. Less proven treatments that are often tried include epilepsy drugs, such as Neurontin, Lyrica, antidepressants, such as Effexor, Pristiq and Cymbalta, acupuncture, as well as Botox injections.
Hi Dr.M, I have just discovered your blog and have read most of the entries. I suffer from chronic tension-type headaches (with chronic neck and shoulder pain) and have about 28 days a month of headache.
Any information you have to share about chronic tension-type headache would be appreciated – we tend to be neglected (migraineurs poor cousins?), so any insights would be great! Thanks!! Terri