Migraine Life: Is my medicine working?

Finding the Right Medication and Helpful Questions

Finding the Right Medicine Can Be Tricky

Does this look familiar? Maybe not these meds, but perhaps you have many yourself or a family member or friend seems to be hogging the medicine cabinet. This is my reality so I get it friends. I would like to note that these meds are specific to my life and every person has to find what works for them.

Finding the right medicine can be tricky and sometimes quite exhausting.  It is important to stick with it though so that your health is improving and you can find what works for you.  The medication that works for one person may not work for another.  You may even find you have to combine medications.  Try not to get discouraged and remember things will get better.  Your doctor and your pharmacist should feel like partners in your health care.  If this is not the case, consider if you need to bring someone else onto your team.  Your health matters and you don’t want to waste time getting better.  

Over time I have tried what seems like countless medications too find what works and that is a constant effort to keep me at my best.  In that process I have found the list of questions below helpful.  They are not meant to be a comprehensive list, but a few that I think could make a positive difference if considered.

Questions to Consider: These Helped in My Journey

• Has this medicine improved my health or well being?  If the answer is no, talk to your doctor! At the turning point in my story, my neurologist said, “We are going to try one medicine and you are going to keep a headache journal for 2 weeks. If this medicine isn’t making your life better we are done with it. We will keep that as our course of action because you should feel better.” I knew I had found the right doctor. He was determined to find what worked and to do it in a way that made my life a priority.
• Do the benefits of this medicine outweigh any costs or side effects?  For example, if you can manage the cost of the medication and it is greatly improving your everyday life you may feel it is worth it.  Likewise if an effect is to be a little sleepy or have some issues in the bathroom, but they subside.  Well, as the patient you can decide what is best for you and if you can manage these side effects.  As always, talk to your doctor about any questions or concerns.
• Which medicines are not working?  Talk to your doctor about those and find out if you need to make changes to your plan.  Your health is too important to spend time in pain or missing out on life.
• Are there things I can be doing in addition to my medication as a part of my treatment plan?  For me this included products I could use at home and when I felt up to it things like making yoga a part of my life.  Again, it is important for everyone to assess their own needs and check in with their health care professional on a regular basis.

Takeaways

This migraine life: A walking pharmacy or perhaps VIP status at the pharmacy as my husband claims. Now all terms that could fit a migraine sufferer. However, we have to keep things in perspective. So, my takeaways are to ask myself if I am using the right medicines and if my life is better because of them. If not, my VIP status has resulted in some nice chats with the pharmacist and my doctors. They are my lifeline in addition to what I have created at home. The combo has made this migraine life much easier to live. More to come.

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