Killer Headaches

There is nothing in this world that is worse than waking up with a killer headache. I mean that kind that makes you want want to crawl back in bed in a fetal position and just cry.

My late grandmother Dorothy used to get migraines. My father told me this, and luckily he didn't get them. It skipped him and went to my daughter Michelle and skipped Melissa and me, or so I thought.

At age 67, grandma finally caught up to me. It was around June 2025 that I started to get these killer headaches that Tylenol or Ibuprofen wouldn't take care of. I mean headaches that caused me to stay in bed all day, not eat and want to do nothing.

I saw my neurologist who prescribed Nurtec as needed, and Amitriptilyn 10mg on a daily basis. As it turned out, 10mg was to much, as it would make me drowsy the next day, so we changed it to 5 mg, and I would take it earlier in the night.

The Nurtec wasn't 100% effective, so Ubrelvey was next. That didn't work at all, but it did for Michelle so I gave it to her. Next up was Imitrex, and that worked if I took 2 in a day; one in the morning, and one later in the day.

So before you ask, I did have an MRI. It showed nothing, just a hamster on a wheel. Just kidding. Luckily nothing bad such as a tumor or a clot.

I asked my neurologist about Quilipta, and instead he prescribed Topamax, another drug used daily for migraines. It starts with one pill for a week, two pills for a week, then finally 3 pills daily after that. 

I called my health plan and found out that Quilipta is not on their formulary, and the doctor would have to prescribe, and it would most likely be rejected. Then he would have to appeal it, then it would probably be approved. Isn't our health system wonderful?

Now it's a matter of time to see if Topamax works and helps controls these migraines. If you've never had one, consider yourself lucky. If you suffer like I do, let's link arms and hope for the best.