u/eggbrained

SPOILER - THIS ISN'T A "CURED" POST. I'm still having migraines every single day, still on medical leave, still a long way from solving this. But the last 4-5 days have been the most tolerable stretch I've had in over a year, and I wanted to share it because this group has really helped be a support system while in a really dark place this past year.

Today I woke up without a migraine for the first time in a long, long time (like 365+ days long). Some context on how many things didn't work (I'll link my previous post here too):

• Preventatives and Rescue meds: propranolol, amitriptyline, gabapentin, qulipta, venlafaxine, sumatriptan, fioricet, eletriptan, nurtec, ubrelvy (you get the point)
• CGRP meds: Ajovy, then Vyepti (2 infusions, no significant improvement)
• Botox, including recently adding masseter muscles
• Nerve-focused PT, acupuncture, chiropractics, massages
• Supplements: worked with a functional med Dr. for 8 months
• 2 ER visits, multiple urgent care visits, an MRI

What I'm doing now / what seems to actually be helping:

• Elimination Diet: I'm on week 4 and it does get easier, I promise. My partner is doing it alongside me and having that support has made a huge difference. I still don't know what my food triggers necessarily are...but I know that Sunday night ice cream will leave me bedridden for two days so best to just avoid that right now.
• Topiramate: I'm only at 25mg, working up the titration (going to 100mg or stopping early if a lower dose works). I was terrified to start this after reading horror stories on here, but so far the only side effect I've noticed is carbonated drinks going flat.
• Antidepressants: for obvious reasons - chronic pain is no fun. Although it's taken me 3-4 attempts to find the right one since my body is highly sensitive to side effects.
• Cut way down on screen time and fell back in love with reading.
• Still on medical leave, still not working
• Taking my sleep routine seriously, learning to nap when really needed.

The last 4-5 days I've gotten migraines at a 4-6/10 instead of my usual 8/10. I've done 45 minute workouts almost every day, grocery shopped, and just felt like a real person again instead of white-knuckling through each day.

I've changed so many things at once that it's hard to know what's actually responsible. But after 365+ days of a never-ending chronic attack, having any relief at all is the first time I've felt hope in a really, really long time. Even just a month ago, I was so certain there was nothing out there that could help me, despite people posting their own success stories. I wanted to put something out there in case anyone else needs to hear it. With such a cruel disease that feels so isolating, we are still in this together❤️

>feeling completely defeated with chronic migraines + medical leave
by u/eggbrained in migraine

Hey everyone. I've been dealing with migraines for several months now and recently my doctor brought up something I hadn't heard before- that they may be connected to a dysfunction in how my brain integrates sensory information about where my body is in space (proprioception).

Quick note: I don't experience dizziness or vertigo, and my doctor doesn't think this is vestibular migraine. The symptoms are primarily headache/eye pain & pressure, neck tension, and other sensitivities (light, sound, etc.). But the theory is that even without classic vestibular symptoms, there can still be a breakdown in how the brain reconciles signals from the inner ear, vision, and proprioceptive feedback from muscles and joints, and that this sensory mismatch plays a role in triggering migraines.

One of the measurable signs apparently is an offset center of gravity. The brain is essentially working harder than it should to figure out where the body is, and that chronic strain may contribute to the migraine cycle.

**What I'm doing about it:**
My doctor referred me to a PT and I'm currently doing movement-based PT including: holding a target stead while moving my head, using a metrinome while correlating eye-head movements, exercises to activate my parasympathetic system.

The goal is essentially to recalibrate how my brain weighs and integrates these three sensory streams, so it stops working overtime. However I’m not supposed to do the exercises when I have an active migraine so it’s been hard to find windows to practice.

Has anyone else been down this road? I'd love to know:
- Did a doctor ever bring this up with you?
- Have you done similar PT? Did it help?
- Did your headache frequency or intensity actually improve?

Feel like this angle doesn't get talked about much and curious if others are experiencing the same thing, especially because I’ve tried most conventional treatments with no relief

I feel like I’ve hit a breaking point and I don’t really know where to go from here.

I’ve been dealing with migraines since early 2025. I rarely ever had headaches then one day they started and escalated pretty quickly into long-lasting attacks and now what feels like near-constant headaches.

I’ve tried what feels like everything at this point: multiple medications (preventatives and rescue), Botox (including recently adding masseters), CGRP meds (Ajovy, Vyepti, Nurtec, Qulipta), nerve-focused PT, acupuncture, massages, supplements, etc. Some things help temporarily, but nothing has actually broken the “cycle.”

I just made the decision to take 2 months of medical leave from work because I couldn’t keep functioning like this. I worked so hard to get this job & have tried for the last year to push through it and have just hit a breaking point (which has led me to leave during a time my team needs me). I feel guilty for stepping away, exhausted from constantly thinking about my health, and scared that this is just my life now.

My boyfriend suggested trying an elimination diet, and I think I am going to give it a try (incl being completely sober for a bit) but I’m struggling with the fear that even if I do everything “right,” it still won’t fix this. I think the hardest part is not knowing if I’m missing something obvious vs. just being in that group of people where migraines become chronic and hard to treat.

If anyone has been in a similar place, what actually helped you move forward? Not just physically, but mentally too. I don’t expect a magic answer. I just don’t want to feel this alone and stuck anymore.