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Hi all, I am very worried about my brother who has been having some serious migraines. The medicine the doc put him on has helped but I think he's been taking too much and they're not having the effect they once had.
Anyways, he first went in after several days of migraine trouble. He had a CT Scan (cat scan?) and it came out fine, then he had an MRI on his eye I believe because that is where the pain initially started but that came out fine.
Today though he experienced a pretty bad migraine and the pills the doctor gave him weren't fully taking it away more like dulling it. So we took him to the doctor again and my brother wants to have an MRI for his head to make sure it's just migraines and not something worse. The doctor said he could make an appointment with the neurologist on Friday but he gave him a shot which took the migraine away and some new pills.
This makes me really nervous as well as confused. The CT came out clean as did the MRI on his eye. The neurologist said it was just chronic migraines and he needed to relieve stress and anxiety.
If the CT Scan revealed nothing and the MRI results on his eye came out fine, can I be confident enough that the MRI scan on his head would come out fine too? I am nervous for him but my mom just thinks that his migraine is worse because he took the meds too soon too quick. We will still take him but I just want to know if I can stay positive about all this?
So you don't think there is cause for concern? The first CT scan was clear. Would it be safe to say that if there was anything bad the first two scans would've picked it up?
personally, if the CT scan was recent, i think its really rather unlikely that a MRI scan now will show anything different...whether to have an MRI scan or not would rather depend on his age, how recently these headaches started, and their nature....new onset of severe headache in an older patient with associated neurological symptoms does raise something of a red flag.
chronic migraine is a horrible disorder, and can really be very disabling - the obvious tendency is for patients experiencing such frequent pain to gradually take more and more medication, which in turn leads to medication overuse, which can cause chronic headache in itself.
the challenge is to ensure the correct diagnosis, get the symptoms under control, reduce the use of painkillers which can make the situation worse when overused, then, in an organised fashion, work your way the medications for which there is evidence of efficacy in chronic migraine - examples of these would be topiramate, and Botox.
there are also behavioural/lifestyle changes which could help.
a neurologist experienced in the management of headache/chronic migraine should be able to guide your brother through all of this.
Both my mother and brother have had debilitating migraines since early child hood. I escaped them. If no tumors present then other causes such as Nitram need to be explored one by one by withholding suspect causes from what I read on internet health sights. simple things such as food coloring might effect one person but not another. I'd read up on WedMd dog com and MayoClinic dot com for starters.
Thank you for the replies guys. In response to the last poster: my brother started having these migraines a little under a month ago. He's 26 and only had one other episode like this that the doctor said was nothing to be scared of. It was a problem with pain in the eye. He was a very young boy then. Other than that no problems until these migraines occurred again.
The doctor doesn't think anything is wrong and the CT scan and MRI in the eye came out clear. They think its just chronic migraines. My brother wants the MRI for peace of mind.
So essentially I shouldn't worry? If the very recent CT scan was clear the MRI should come out clear too? If there was anything at all severely wrong with him he doc would've ordered an MRI immediately, no? A CT scan I'm assuming would've at least picked up something bad right?
Both my mother and brother have had debilitating migraines since early child hood. I escaped them. If no tumors present then other causes such as Nitram need to be explored one by one by withholding suspect causes from what I read on internet health sights. simple things such as food coloring might effect one person but not another. I'd read up on WedMd dog com and MayoClinic dot com for starters.
My mother has bad migraines too. She's on meds for them. My bro proly inherited from her. She's taking him to the doc for the MRI for peace of mind too but she suspects that the CT scan and the eye MRI were sufficient and the only reason why his migraines became worse is for these two reasons:
1.) he's working 13 hour shifts at a nursing home where the environment is stressing the hell out him and he's having bad anxiety.
2.) at the first sign of pain he takes his pills and has been taking too many in her opinion.
My wife recently took home health on a PRN basis to escape the nursing home night mare. I suspect stress caused her headaches as they are not as bad now. There are ways to make money in healthcare without the abuse the nurses get put through in a nursing home. The older we get the more stress seems to trigger migraines to me. Just my 2¢
You're right he never has any problems until he started working there. I suspect these are stress caused anxiety migraines. He took too much meds and now has to switch I think.
But that's just me trying to look at things on the brighter side. I'm sure a CT would've noticed a tumor or anything malignant?
Stress might be the most widely disruptor of quality of life as it causes so many more medical problems. I just recently learned I had to avoid it at all cost or risk going blind. I'm not diabetic but my eyes are in the retinas. Stress leads to high blood pressure and high blood pressure make retinas bleed according to an ophthalmologists website explaining diabetic eyes. Diabetic eyes could follow migraines. I don't remember what all I read but diabetic eyes can be googled and there is a lot of info out there. Stress and Migraines may be on WebMD or/and MayoClinic's website. Stress leads to worry and worry to a possible cardiac problems from what I've read. Stress seems to be a root cause of so many things and I'm a natural stresser and worrier. I worry because I worry. I have to stay occupied doing stuff I like and my mind on good things from now own.
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