Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Seeking advice...

I just had an appointment with my neurologist. In the time it took for the PA to take down my current symptoms (same as last time) and the doctor to come in this thought entered my mind: "Is it wrong for me to not want to physically have children/ get pregnant so I don't have to go off my meds." (Don't get my wrong, I want a family, I'm just wondering if I want to actually birth them.)

I know I open myself up to ALL kinds of opinions and judgements, but hear me out. I've had Migraine since I was fourteen. (I capitalize it since it's been classified as an a neurological syndrome and not just a headache, for those unfamiliar.) Fourteen. More than half my life now. I've had it longer than I've not had it. And when, at an appointment about a year ago, my doctor and I talked about what the course of treatment would be when the time came for me to "pull the goalie", so to speak, he said, "Well, you'll have to stop taking both your preventative and your abortive meds."

Whoa there buddy! What? That was my thought when he told me this.


WARNING: possible TMI alert! Stop reading if you don't want to know too much about me!


Let me just say that because of my hated and despised condition I've been on BCP since I was fifteen to help alleviate some of the headaches. I've been taking them constantly (not taking the sugar pills that give you a "period") and I don't get one anymore. So, not only will I have the lovely "monthly migraine", but I'll also get the others when I go off the preventive meds.


I AM NOT looking forward to this in any way.


And, of course my husband rarely gets headaches so he doesn't really understand the scope of the pain involved.

So, now I ask you moms who get migraines: How do you manage when you have an attack? Did you get them before you had children and/ or got pregnant? Did your doctor allow you to take any pain meds while pregnant? Is it selfish of me to wonder about these things now? Did your migraines get better, or worse, after having children?

These thoughts never really occurred to me until I got married and children were a consideration. Prior to that my goal was always to just control the Migraine. Now, I really want to know how others maintain a sense of normalcy and balance more than anything. Thanks for your input. I do appreciate it.

4 comments:

Cole said...

Thanks for asking this, Sara. As someone else with migraines, going through a similar course of treatment... I'm really interested in what other people have to say.

TUWABVB said...

Honey, I can't offer any advice on this subject since (1) I don't have Migraine and (2) I'm not yet a mother...but I will say this, a happy mother makes for happy families and your health is paramount in that scheme. You need to figure out what you can do and still function - there's no negotiating on that point.

Heather said...

This is a tough question. I don't suffer from migraines, but I think you are the best judge to determine whether you could handle being off your medication. Good luck!

Lauren Thorne said...

I got migraines before I got pregnant. Since I have gotten pregnant, the only thing that has happened is I've gotten the aura associated with migraines a few times, but not since the beginning of the second trimester. I would eat something and immediately go lie down whenever this occurred. My doctor told me you actually can be on medicine for them if they are really bad when you are pregnant - there are certain medicines they can put you on. My doctor is VERY conservative, so I don't think he would say this was an option if it wasn't considered safe. I don't think it's selfish for you to worry about it - I think it's just something you have to decide if you are okay with or not.

I can't tell you if they got better after having kids because I haven't had the baby, yet.