Special Brain

Remember the doctor that snubbed me several months ago?  Like 10 months ago, actually?  Well, end of October I get a letter in the mail saying she has reviewed my file and she'd be happy to see me.  In addition to the letter is 10 pages of paperwork asking for nearly every detail of my life regarding headaches and other health issues.  I sort of wanted to say, "please see my blog".  Maybe I should have referred to my blog myself as I was filling out the paperwork - it may have saved me a headache.  Ok, not really!  Seriously though, I got the paperwork during the week of hell and if I hadn't had a migraine already it definitely would have given me one.  Talk about DETAILED!  But I felt confident that I was to be seeing a doctor, referred to by many as the best headache doctor around, and that she wanted such specifics.   So I filled out the paperwork as best as I could given that some of the information was regarding my very first headache ever and also considering the fact that I was in the moment suffering from a migraine.  (I have a hard time concentrating and thinking straight when I'm suffering from a migraine.)
A few days later I get a call for an appointment.  I should plan on 2-3 hours for this appointment.  WOW!  Ok.
Next day I'm in the doctor's office.  Medical Assistant took a semi-detailed family and medical history from me.  The typical things I'd been asked at virtually every other doctor's appointment, but a little more as well.
Then comes in the PA.  He's a pain specialist, I'm told.  He asks me to tell him my entire life story.  The headache you had a age 12 - how long did it last, where did it hurt, how did it hurt.  HOLY CRAP!  I don't remember - I was 12!  We're talking 12 years ago!  =)
He wanted dates I started medications, dates I ended medications, exactly what every headache felt like.  (Most of this was included in the paperwork I had submitted.)  So I spent a good 40 minutes with him going over everything.
Then comes the doctor.  She rehashes a bit of what I had already told the PA, the MA, and put in the paperwork. She tells me a lot of what I already knew and a little of what I didn't.
She puts me on a preventative medication, Corgard, or Nadalol is the generic.  It's a beta blocker, like the Verapamil I took many years ago, she explains.  Since Verapamil worked for a least a few years, I seem to respond to beta blockers, she says.  (I later discover that Verapamil is NOT a beta blocker, it's a calcium channel blocker.) Then she wants to prescribe an abortive.  Amerge, it's a triptan, like Imitrex and Zomig.  I explain to her that I can't take triptans, that they give me an even worse headache than the migraine (if you can possibly imagine that!)  She assures me that Amerge works differently than those others.  It's less aggressive, starts out slow and builds.  Ok, you're the "expert".
I have a family history of migraines.  Despite the fact that my mother has never really had a headache and certainly nothing severe.  My father had one migraine that he can recall - that starts the family history.  My brother has what he calls "sinus headaches".  But Dr Digre tells me that 9 out of 10 "sinus headaches" are migraines.  That actually, they've done several studies and found that nearly everyone who complained of a "sinus headache" was in fact suffering from a migraine.  (I've been telling my brother for years that he's having migraines and not sinus headaches.)  And just recently my niece was diagnosed with migraines.  So there you go.
What she tells me that is somewhat new is that people with Chronic Daily Headaches and Chronic Migraines have what she called a "special brain".  This special brain is genetic.  (Watch out DarRell and Katie - you have special brains too!)  Good thing I don't have to worry about passing on my "special brain" to any offspring.  The special brain has a hyperactive headache center and is extremely sensitive to smell, light, sound, barometric pressure, temperature, weather, changes in mood, hormones, tension and stress, etc.  Any and all of these things can trigger a migraine, and quite easily because my nervous system is also hyperactive.  So the interesting thing she tells me with regards to all of this is that I was predisposed genetically to all of this crap and some sort of childhood trauma is what pushed me over the edge.
Another thing she tells me is that people with this "special brain" are also much more susceptible to depression, polycistic ovarian syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, (and a few others I don't remember because I've never been diagnosed with them or heard of them before).

My siblings have often teased me about being "special" and now a doctor has just confirmed it.

Also, she asked me to get glasses with a very special tint that will help block out fluorescent light.  They'll be here in 4-6 weeks.  I'll keep you posted.