June 8, 2022
My Story
Hi! My name is Amy Black. I would like to tell you a little about me. I am a chronic migraine sufferer, have been diagnosed with irritable bowel, fibromyalgia, degenerative disc disease, chronically low vitamin D, and have may food and medication allergies. It has been an interesting few years dealing with my migraines and the other issues that seemed to develop around the same time as my migraines became chronic.
The Early Years
When I was four years old, my brother and I were playing in my parents’ friend’s yard with the dogs. We were told to stay away from the cellar, and were warned several times of the danger of falling into the cellar. My mom and Red, her friend, were watching us and calling out to be careful constantly.
You see, I am, and have always been a tomboy. I am a risk taker and have very little care for safety if I think something is fun or will give me a rush. My mom knew that I have no fear and that I don’t listen very well, even from a young age. Needless to say, I fell in the drop off of the cellar, landing on my head. I was rushed to the hospital with a concussion and huge black eye to show for my non compliance with rules.
Now I would love to say that this was the only time that I failed to follow the rules and got hurt. Unfortunately, I was constantly shimmying up the tallest trees to the top, and wrecking my bicycle trying to jump ditches, or tying ropes in the tops of trees and jumping out to see if I could fly. I had more bumps and bruises than any other kid in town and a few doctors and ER visits from my shenanigans.
When I was twelve, my parents had gone to a funeral and my brother and I got to stay at a neighbors house. We were told, emphatically, DO NOT ride the 4-wheeler! I am sure you can guess exactly what we did! Well, I was on the back of a little 3-wheeler and we hit a trench and flipped. I went flying across the road (look mom, I can fly!). I had gravel in my hip and another head injury.
My brother had to drag me to the neighbors house when my best friend dropped me thinking I had died when I passed out. This led to another hospital stay with a concussion and seizures. I started having migraines following this episode. They were abdominal migraines, never diagnosed, but I remember the pain and nausea and exhaustion following them.
My Achievements
Growing up, it wasn’t all gloom and doom. I had some speech impairments that I had to work through when I started school. I didn’t say the letter “R” for some reason; I didn’t even replace it. I overcame my speech impairment and became a member of the National Honor Society, Peer Assistant Leadership group (PALs), and Distributive Education Clubs of America in High School (DECA). I graduated in the top 15% of my class. I participated in band for 2 years, drama in high school and college; I participated in the National Chemistry Olympiad my junior year of high school, making it to nationals but was unable to attend. I suffered yet another concussion at 19 and had a huge black eye, once again. I know, I really should have learned my lesson. Alas, I have not!
I started my entrepreneurship early babysitting and I have worked in many different areas from fast food, to retail, office work, to direct sales, as a waitress, and in direct patient care. I was even a licensed insurance agent and financial advisor in my early 20’s.
Some Rough Times
I survived an abusive relationship and a very short time in jail (less than 24 hours) for defending myself; not to worry, all charges were dropped.
I sold products door to door in the early 2000’s. I got my party days out of the way before I turned 25 when I had my amazing son. At this point, I only had migraines during my menses. They were horrible at the time, but I would give almost anything to having one migraine a month for a few days as opposed to daily lingering migraines.
I also started changing my focus in life from friends to family. I was honored to be a stay at home mom for 4 years. Don’t let anyone tell you that being a stay at home mom is easy! I was happy to go back to work!!
At the age of 30, I lost my dad to medical issues. This was an extremely trying time in my life. You see, I was a daddy’s girl. I learned my love for fishing from him and got my temperament from him too! I got divorced (for the first time) within the year (2007) and had to have a partial hysterectomy the next year.
I had yet another concussion when trying to use a piece of equipment to decrease my back and sciatic pain. It was totally user error from not reading instructions! This caused more back and cervical issues. . . and more frequent migraines. Thankfully, this is the last major head injury that I have had. I don’t know if the new frequency of my migraines is from all these head traumas or not.
Reassessing My Life
At this point in my life, I was working as an Administrative Assistant at a hospital and decided to go back to college. I received my Bachelors in Science – Organizational Leadership (BSOL) and was not able to find a job, so went back and got my Physical Therapist Assistant degree and license. I have been a treating therapist ever since passing my national exam. I was also blessed with working as Director of Rehabilitation for over four years.
I decided on the physical therapy path since I was having lots of back issues and sciatic pain. The doctors were telling me I would need to have hip replacement in my near future. At 30! No thank you! I had shots in my back with no relief and had chiropractic care for years trying to “fix” my alignment issues from the multiple falls that I have had.
I have been working with patients with chronic pain ever since. I love helping people overcome their aches and pains and improve their independence in functional mobility tasks, balance, and safety with walking. On a side note, I also have fewer issues with my back and hips and no longer need hip replacement since I learned how to fix myself!
Migraine Onslaught
On Feb 21, 2018, I had a migraine attack that has lingered ever since. Every day of the past four years I have had some pain or another (not all in my head). I rate my head pain on whether I notice my other pains or not. Most days, my head pain is 5-8/10. These are the levels that I am able to continue to function. I can work (with shades on if it’s an 8) and follow through on my obligations. Yes, I am a tough broad!
I have some days that are a no go. I have missed more events than I have attended (until my breakthrough) and called in at work more often than not when my migraines would spike. Management got tired of that, let me tell you; but what am I supposed to do if I can’t open my eyes in the light and my speech is slurred and my left side droopy?
There is just no way I can drive, so I stay in bed with my door shut in the dark with ice on my head; plus I use all my alternative approaches to treating my migraines.
You see, the prescription medications just do not work for me. I seem to get every side effect there is. I have researched the past four years on alternative approaches and trying to determine my root cause to treat my migraines.
Cost
I have spent over $20.000 annually on different methods to treat my migraines, with little success in getting rid of them, but great success in decreasing intensity and duration of the “spike time”.
I have tried prescription medication, OTC medication, chiropractic care, massage, acupuncture, heat/cold therapy, supplements, essential oils, crystals, reiki, craniosacral therapy, thai massage, occipital nerve blocks, acupressure, cervical traction, diet modifications, genetic testing, lumbar puncture, IV infusions, and a deluge of lab tests: blood tests, x-rays, CTs, EEGs, and MRIs. I have not tried all medications or alternative treatments. I weigh the pros and cons of each modality and if I feel that the side effects are worse than the migraines, I just choose not to try it.
Alternative Approaches to Migraine Treatment
There are over 130 approaches to treating migraines. I have spent the last 4 years researching them, and have created a systematic approach to treating my migraines based on the type of migraine I am having and what my triggers were. It takes a lot of trial and error to determine what works the best for each type of headache.
You see, I have found that not ALL of my migraines START as migraines. Some are tension, cluster, ice pick, sinus, and occipital neuralgia related that end up transitioning into a migraine. I have worked on myself for the past four years and have found so much conflicting information on the positive and negative aspects of prescription medication, alternative methods to treatment, and just doing nothing and suffering through.
My Coaching Journey
Once I decided that my full time job as director of rehabilitation and physical therapist assistant was increasing my stress, and possibly my migraines, I decided that I really wanted to gear my patient treatment from chronic pain to chronic migraines to help people that are suffering just like me. I got my certification as a Health and Wellness Coach and Weight Loss Coach and started my Masters in Public Health Complementary Alternative Medicine degree. I am dedicated to fixing myself and anyone that resonates with me and asks for assistance to live a more balanced life.
When you go the doctors for treatment, or ER with migraines, there are very few doctors that actually understand the disease or can help with treatment regimens. They generally want to change up the prescriptions you are taking and you end up just cycling medication regimens over and over through the years to see what will help, when it didn’t the first few times you tried them. It is beyond frustrating!
I have been working with patients with chronic pain ever since. I love helping people overcome their aches and pains and improve their independence in functional mobility tasks, balance, and safety with walking. On a side note, I also have fewer issues with my back and hips and no longer need hip replacement since I learned how to fix myself!
Through perseverance, I have established a systematic approach to live my life, as opposed to missing engagements and just refusing invitations because I don’t want to have to cancel them in case I have a migraine. I am living a more balanced life, in spite of my migraines!
I still have chronic migraines with pain 5/10 or higher 20-30 days a month. The other days I am still suffering the migraine hangover, so exhaustion is persistent and I feel like I am moving in slow motion most days. My prodrome and postdrome are like having contractions on pitocin . . . they just run together! I don’t let the migraines stop me because I am more obstinate than the migraine. Don’t get me wrong, there are days that I feel like I have been run over by a train still and cannot function.
This year I decided that I am no longer allowing my migraines to control me. They are not going to limit my time with my family. They are not going to limit my ability to schedule travel or vacation. They are not going to take so much of my money anymore. I am going to conquer them, or die trying; and there have been times I have asked for this option!
I have figured out that having clarity on what I want from each area of my life and having a systematic approach to get there, even with the hurdles migraines throw in my path, has kept me going the last few months.
My migraines are not as bad when I have them now, and I only have a few hours of down time where I am not able to function. I am a hot mess still, but this hot mess has goals set and I am determined to reach them. I would love to help you reach your goals too. I am taking back my life from this horrendous disease. Who’s with me?