I've had my CDH for about a year and a half now. Since that's started, about
3 times a month I've had a bad migraine. I stayed at the Diamond Headache
Clinic in Columbus Hospital in Chicago for a week last year. No improvement
from that.

At the regular doctor visits to Diamond Headache Clinic, Dr. Pepper (yes,
that really is her name) has prescribed at least 14 medications for me. None
worked. I've been off all prescriptions for about 2 months. (except for the
abortive meds for my occasional migraine.)

Because none of the specialists I've been to could help, mostly everyone I
know thinks it's just stress related. I don't. In April, I was under the
more stress than I had ever been in my life, but my headaches didn't get any
worse (not that they got better...).

I've tried everything I can think of. The only things that work (though they
don't work very well) are:

• "Excedrin" works just a *little bit*. Can help if I have a
"more-than-CDH-but-less-than-migraine-headache."
• "IcyHot" on the back of my neck works a little, though I *DO NOT*
recommend it. It *BURNS*. I have a high-pain tolerance (except for headache
pain), but many do not. I recommended it to a friend. It took her a while
to forgive me. Oops.
• "Migraine Ice" feels nice and cool. It's a gel pad to put on your
temples, forehead, or back of neck. I don't really recommend putting it on
the back of your neck, because usually heat helps for that area, but the
other 2 kinds are good. [Though you can buy the back of neck kind, then cut
them in half (they're bigger then the forehead variety) and save a lot of
money.]
• "Maxalt" is a prescription abortive migraine medication. It works more
than anything else (but not ent's from the insomnia.

Who's next?

-Lannieta Talisa
Lannieta@...