If this is the first time you’re seeing a specialist about your headaches, you might be seeing any of the five neurology consultants. You will be asked questions about your
What are your headaches like, how often do they come and how long do they last? Do you have other symptoms together with them?
What pain killers and other medications are you taking? What have you tried taking for your headaches in the past? What non-medical treatments have you tried (physiotherapy, acupuncture, devices, exercise etc)
Headache can be a consequence of a medical problem, or a side effect of medication taken for something else. We also need to know what medication is safe for you to take.
Headache Diary and Rating Scales
A headache diary can be very simple, just noting the dates of the attacks and what medication you take. It’s more important that you keep a diary at all than that you add every detail. You can use our headache diary, or find another one online. You can also use a smartphone app.
If you want to prepare even further, you can fill out the rating scales MIDAS and HIT. We use them to assess the severity of headache and they’re very helpful to measure response to our different treatments.
If you’re seeing Becki, she will want to see headache diary, MIDAS and HIT filled out before every appointment. If this is your first appointment with one of the consultants we might not go through them in as much detail, but they will still be helpful.
Prepare for your injections
Botox
Injections at the hospital every 12 weeks
Anti-CGRP
Injections at home once a month:
Emgality, Ajovy and Aimovig
Nerve block
Temporary pain relief:
Cortisone and local anaesthetic