Migraine

Hi all,
I happy to report I've made my first appt with Dr. K for Sept. 28. Many of you have written so many positive things about him and his staff so I feel like I will be in good hands. Keep your fingers crossed!


After exhausting all the credible so-called headache doctors in Austin, I feel like I'm left with no other choice but to travel further and seek help for my chronic daily headaches and migraine. I know there are those of you who fly hundreds or thousands of miles to see a headache specialist, so I can't complain too much about driving three hours to Dallas.

I've never gotten IV therapy for migraine before so that is a little scary. Nor have I ever sought treatment in an emergency room. But I can't ignore the daily pain and that it sometimes (many times) stops me in its tracks.

Wish me well. Hopefully I'll find a good specialist closer by that can follow up on the care I get from Dr. K.

Good Morning Christine,

I personally believe you have made a great decision that you will not regret for one minute. One of the forum members, TracieB, lives in the Austin area, see's Dr. K and has a local neuro she loves who does the in between work. He is very happy to work with Dr. K. We'll see if we can get her over to you to share what she has been doing. Might work out for you too.

Good luck and do keep us updated.

I met Dr. K on Saturday (or was it Friday?) for the 1st time - what a sweet sweet man. I think you're in for a treat!

- Megs

Christine - I think you're going to love him. I do, and am very doctor adversive!

Jane, his nurse, will talk you through everything and if you tell her your nervous about the iv - she'll help you. I can't tell you how wonderful she is. I had an adverse reaction to something and she just held my hand and talked me through it - I felt safe the whole time.

Also they use pediatric needles and she's so good, I rarely felt it!!

I'll be thinking of you and hope that it will be a ve4ry successful first visit for you!!

Cyn

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. I was happy that the Dr.'s office told me about the La Quinta discount and shuttle to their office. $69 a night isn't bad. I'll probably have my car, but I honestly don't know how I am going to feel after treatment. So the shuttle is nice.

Christine,

Darlin, you're in for a very pleasant surprise when you get there. The office is very homey, and the staff all TRULY care about each and every patient.

Is anyone going with you? If not, take a small voice recorder with you so you can record everything Dr. K. tells you. You won't be able to remember it all, and once you get home, you'll want a recording.

Would you please do me two favors?

• Give everyone a hug from me?
  
• Leave your car at the hotel and take the shuttle. They won't let you drive back after treatment anyway because it's simply not safe.

They'll take very good care of you. I'll be looking forward to your report after your appointment.

quote:

Originally posted by Christine:
Thanks everyone for your encouragement. I was happy that the Dr.'s office told me about the La Quinta discount and shuttle to their office. $69 a night isn't bad. I'll probably have my car, but I honestly don't know how I am going to feel after treatment. So the shuttle is nice.

Christine,

I'm so excited for you! I fly from Virginia to Dallas to see Dr. K, in fact, I'm due for another visit soon. You're going to love it there, everyone is so kind and understanding, it's truly an amazing experience.

I didn't even know there were Migraine Specialists out there until I found this forum and once I met with Dr. K, I finally had a feeling of hope again. I'm confident you'll feel the same way!

Have you seen this article yet?

• Migraineur's Guide To a Successful Doctor's Appointment

Good luck and please let us know how it goes, okay?

Hi Christine--

I'm Tracie and I too am from the Austin area. I see Dr. K. (my next appointment is next week on Wednesday) who has been my salvation. I also have a super neurologist relatively local. He's not in Austin but is at Scott and White in Temple. There's only one headache specialist there and works closely with Dr. K. Between those 2 and my very good internist, Dr. Wonderful, I have a super triad of docs taking care of me and my head. I don't know if my doctor in Temple is on the approved list of docs here yet. I've talked about him with Teri before however, and sent her some info to try to get him listed.

You're on the best track though. See Dr. K. You will absolutely love him and he will find some answers for you. He knows everybody just about in Austin.

Tracie

I know the idea of IV therapy can be intimidating if you've never had it before, but they make it as smooth as humanly possible. I even got an IV in my foot last time I was there and it didn't even hurt!

Diana

Can't wait to meet the staff at Dr. K's office. My boyfriend will be with me on Monday, but then he flies back to Austin on Tuesday morning.

Tracie, good luck with your appointment too! I have thought about the Scott & White clinic in Temple but haven't done too much investigating on it. Good to hear the clinic there is helpful also.

While I'm not looking for a miracle (although that would be nice), I'm hoping for some relief. Can't get out of this pain loop.

Hi all,

I visited with Dr. K and his wonderful staff this week for the first time. I'm happy I took the time to go there (from Austin) and spend time in the clinic. I arrived on Monday and had to wait a few hours. Apparently they are very busy with regulars needing IV treatment.

The waiting didn't bother me at all. I did feel miserable in the waiting room though. They have leather couches and you can barely smell them but I am so sensitive to almost any kind of smell that my head started pounding. I solved that problem by waiting the next few days outside the clinic on the front steps! It was nice to get fresh air anyway.

We went over my medical records, talked about changing things up and the need to get me into a deeper sleep mode. I usually wake up a few times a night but fall right back to sleep. But I never, ever, wake up refreshed. So they gave me Zanaflex to take a few times during the day and before I go to bed. It will take about 8 weeks to really feel an effect they said.

I did IV treatment also. Magnesium the first day, Lidociane the second and DHE the third. I didn't feel any real side effects so that was good. My headaches coming into the clinic were always a two or three. On a regular day, the pain from my chronic headaches would escalate in the afternoon/evening to a five or six. But while being treated by Dr. K, that didn't happen. And he checked up on me several times a day to see how things were going.

Dr. K ordered blood tests for me. The office even shuttled me to the lab because I didn't have a car. That was so nice of them. The only negative was the air freshener in the van. Oh well. The doc said I was among one of the few sensitive patients he's seen lately with regard to smell.

Anyway, I feel like I have some sort of game plan going home. Since many of the triptans don't work for me as well as they used to, they gave me DHE, Migranal, which I'll use for awhile until my 18+ headaches a month get under control. Also, I'm getting off Cymbalta and Lyrica and trying Vimpat.

Thank you everyone for your support and encouraging me to see Dr. K. I would definitely recommend him to anyone.

Christine,
So glad to hear that your appointment with Dr.K went well. And I hope you will see improvement very soon.

I saw Dr.K on 9-21-09. I was so impressed with the entire process that I haven't posted anything till now. I think I was just overwhelmed!! After being treated so disrespectfully by other doctors, this was like a breath of fresh air. Dr.K listened to me and discussed so much with me, I felt like I was in heaven!!!

I'm big into research so I had done my homework and Dr.K was not at all intimidated by that. I was able to discuss the issues I wanted and ask questions, without being made feel like I was "wrong" for asking. I could have stayed there all day and talked with him!!!

Lucky for me, I didn't have a migraine that day, so I didn't need any treatment. We came up with a treatment program and I too am going to have some lab work.

He discussed the Zanaflex with me also but decided to put me on Savella, which is a new drug for fibromyalgia. I noticed you said you were getting off of Lyrica & Cymbalta. Do you have FMS? I am not familar with Vimpat.

I am very happy to report that in just a few days time, I can see a huge difference in the way my body feels on the Savella. And I am upping the dosage very slow, because I react quickly.

I had to call the office back the next day and several days later and was so impressed that they actually took my calls and called me back!!! THAT SAME DAY!! Didn't get that treatment at my other doctors! Yes, the office staff is great!

What can I say? Nothing but GOOD!!! I would highly reccomend him! I too had to wait but that doesn't bother me. I use that time to catch up on reading. I am also VERY sensitive to smells, so I do sympatize with you! I carry around an ampule that contains lavender & peppermint. I bought it at Whole Foods. It really helps to open my sinuses and mask the bad smell. It's called Migra Stick.

My migraines are triggered immediately by smells. So I am one of those few sensitive patients he's seen lately. I had to quit my job and have had to isolate myself these last 6 months from practically everyone because of the smell issue. That was my biggest reason for going to see Dr.K.

I would love to stay in contact with you since it appears you and I have that in common. Perhaps, we can help each other with information.

Good luck to you and I pray you will improve with each new day!!!
parisbabe
Pam

Christine--

I'm so very glad your visit went so well with Dr. K. Mine did as well. Dr. K was able to explain why the Mag infusions I had been having weekly weren't doing as much good as we'd hoped. I'd had my labs faithfully, and they showed my Magnesium, even on the infusions, was still too low. So, Dr. R at Scott and White, is doubling the weekly dose of each Mag infusion and we'll draw more labs a few weeks in and see if things are better. Since I got some relief from the weekly infusions, maybe getting my levels therapeutic will make a real difference.



Tracie

Hi Pam,
I am happy you had a great appointment with Dr. K. I'm taking Lyrica for migraine, not for have fibromyalgia. I guess Vimpat is a relatively new FDA approved anti-epileptic drug. Just took my first pill today, so I don't know what kind of side effects I may end up experiencing.

I feel for you about the smell triggers. I'm using fragrance free shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, lotion, moisturizer, shave cream, etc. I can't even tolerate lavender. For some reason, I can't even be in Home Depot for more than 10 minutes.

Tracie,
That's interesting about the magnesium... needing more. I haven't gotten my labs back yet but the mag did definitely help me.

Dr. K mentioned a doc in Austin. He's more of a pain specialist, he said. Dr. K wasn't sure if he did IV treatment though. If he doesn't, I told Dr. K I could travel to Temple to the Scott & White headache clinic. I'm sure I'll firm it up with Dr. K at my next follow up phone call.

I would love to keep in touch with both of you. How do I do that? Give my email to Teri?

Christine

I do not mean to hijack your conversation about Dr. K. I love the man! I met him last summer. He used to vacation in my town back in the day. Hopatcong NJ for some reason is a hot spot for those near the city - maybe because it's country without going to far.

Anyway - I see a few of you mentioning things about scent triggers. I too have that issue - the highway kills me. If a truck burns rubber or breaks, forget about it. I am getting to the point that I might start carrying a mask with me in my car! LauraHOST and I can be twins with our masks during our cleaning sessions too!

To my point or topic I guess is a better thing to say. I bought an oil from Aveda called "Blue Oil" and it does double duty. It helps when I encounter a smell to kinda balance out the bad smell, and give me some calm. It has a roller on it so I can also put it on with the roller on my head and neck. It is nice because it cools the skin with the peppermint that is in it.

It is not an overwhelming smell, it is very light. I really like it and find it helps with muscle tension too.

I know Teri uses a lot of natural oils that she buys and makes/mixes together herself. I'm not 100% sure, but I think you may be able to find out where she gets them from her link in her signature (along with her suppliments).

Anyway - I am so happy to hear of all of you singing Dr. K's praises. I wish you all much success with him and with your health.