Q:

I have been getting migraines once or twice monthly since my sophomore year in high school. I've gone to the doctor back home and they told me that I get complex migraines with aura.

1-2 hrs before the migraine sets in, I experience significant loss in vision, usually large spots of vision just appear to be missing, or extremely fuzzy and impossible to focus upon. Reading and writing becomes impossible. This usually lasts 30minutes to an hour and a half.

The doctor told me to just get some sleep and take an excedrin if I felt like I needed it. Excedrin has never helped and I went back and I was prescribed Ibuprofen. Ibuprofen also did nothing for the aura affects nor the following migraine. Even if I do feel the aura coming on, I can't always rush back to my room to sleep or rest, being a college student doesn't offer me that opportunity whenever I need it!

I'm getting desperate at ways to be able to stop these, or at least help them not be as severe. Any ideas?

 

A:

You are not getting adequate treatment for either preventing or medicating these vascular headaches.  One to two migraines like this a month is far too many and you should be taking a prophylaxis medication daily to stop that frequency.  You also need an evaluation to sort out why you have such frequent headaches (are you on synthetic hormones that can increase them, other medications, using too much caffeine, drinking too much alcohol, experiencing inordinate stress).  You also need a triptan medication to use as soon as you experience the visual disturbance, to stop the headache before it starts.

All of this is to say that you would benefit from an appointment for migraine evaluation. Call the clinic to be scheduled for a time convenient for you.

~The Doc