Migraine overview
A migraine is a headache that can purpose intense throbbing suffering or a pulsing sensation, typically on one facet of the head. It's often accompanied with the aid of nausea, vomiting, and excessive sensitivity to mild and sound. Migraine assaults can closing for hours to days, and the discomfort can be so excessive that it interferes with your each day activities. For some people, a warning symptom viewed as an air of secrecy takes location until now than or with the headache. An air of secrecy can consist of visible disturbances, such as flashes of mild or blind spots, or different disturbances, such as tingling on one thing of the face or in an arm or leg and concern speaking.
My experience-Migraine treatment while studying abroad
I'm a US citizen and have never left the country before. I will be moving to Italy (Tuscany region) for most of 2023 in order to pursue a master's degree (yay!).
My biggest concern in all the preparation is how I can continue to treat my migraines. I started getting them regularly three years ago, at 25. They tend to have a heavy aura presentation, strong sensitivities and nausea and sometimes impaired cognition/speech/balance/etc (sometimes without a really clear acute pain/headache phase). I've been through the wringer to rule out things like seizures and TBI, and finally got to a neurologist who specializes in migraine. This summer was fantastic-- only two or three attacks in an entire month-- but this fall I've had low-grade constant migraines and around one higher intensity attack a week.
We can't seem to figure out my triggers (although of course stress doesn't help!). I take nortriptyline every night as a preventative. None of the triptan class medications helped, but Ubrelvy has been a game-changer. I feel 95% normal the day I take it (I almost always need the 2 pills over 2 hours dosage). I'm doing a steroid treatment later this week to try to break up this "cluster" of migraines that hit these past 2-3 months.
I'm worried about continuing my prescriptions while abroad in Italy. I heard that Ubrelvy isn't available in the EU. My neurologist can't prescribe outside of the US, and my Italian is very rudimentary. I have to find a specialist who understands English, understands migraines, and will help me find an EU version of a CGRP medication instead of going through a bunch of different medication classes all over again. I had horrible sleepiness, brain fog, and more while taking triptans, Topamax, etc. and I want to be as cognitively "with it" as possible for this grad school opportunity.
The school doesn't have a clinic or doctor to make referrals on campus. They just suggested I get my neurologist to write a letter, which I can get translated, to take to doctor's offices when trying to find a specialist. I can carry only a 30 day prescription supply with me so I'll only have 30 days to locate a doctor if I can't find one before I move!
Does anyone have any tips? I'm determined not to let my migraines keep me from fulfilling this dream!
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