Originally Published: July 14, 2018 at 9:00 pm EST
If you follow me on social media, you know that I am now taking the Aimovig injection every month for Migraine prevention, as prescribed by my doctor. On this post, you will be able to keep up with my progress from week to week. The good, the bad, and the ugly. In the comments, let me know if you find any discrepancies. I am a person with Migraine, after all. I am both the writer and the editor, NOT a good combination!
Disclaimer: I am a former Amgen and Novartis Spokesperson. This content reflects my own personal opinions and was not created or reviewed by Amgen and Novartis. I was not paid to write this article.
In case you prefer to jump around:
Weekly Updates
Updates are in chronological order, from one week after the shot until the Written Date next to each entry. To see the data behind all of this, see the Migraine Log and Migraine Stats further down. For the sake of these stats, a Month is 28 days starting with injection #1. Let’s go!
Date of 1st Injection: Thursday, June 28, 2018
Time of Injection: 7:00 pm
Dosage: 140 mg (2 – 70mg Injection Pens)
Injection Site: Left Upper Leg
Date of 2nd Injection: Thursday, July 26, 2018
Time of Injection: 8:30 pm
Dosage: 140 mg (2 – 70mg Injection Pens)
Injection Site: Left Upper Leg
Week 1 Update (Written on Friday, July 6, 2018, on Facebook)
I took my first injection of Aimovig for chronic migraine last Thursday. While I’ve still had migraine attacks I’ve noticed that the severity has lessened a bit and I am more active. I am tired all the time, but that started before the shots. My insomnia did go away. I’ve slept all night every night since a couple days after the shot. It’s very early to have real answers about how well Aimovig will work for me, but after only a week, I have a really good feeling about it.
Week 2 Update (Written on Friday, July 13, 2018)
I use Migraine Buddy to track migraine attacks. Before my first injection, I was plagued with migraine attacks almost every day with pain levels rarely below 6. Keep in mind, there are a few days in early June where I didn’t notate my attacks out of laziness or just not feeling well. I didn’t go back to add them, but I have been tracking pretty close to 100%, definitely since the injection two weeks ago. Even so, you will notice a difference in pain level severity after the injection compared to before my first injection. See the section “To Compare” in the chart below.
Also, keep in mind, I’ve been going through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) since December 2017. I’ve been able to cut down on a small portion of my depressive/stress triggers. Which is another reason you see a slight drop in migraine attacks after April 2018. The program works for you if you work hard for the program. Unfortunately, I did not see a decrease in pain severity like I have with Aimovig. Side note: I highly suggest CBT to help cut down on attacks by reducing triggers.
Trigger Threshold
If you don’t know what a trigger threshold is, read more about it here. Now that you’re educated about it, I have noticed a change in how my body reacts to some triggers. As time goes by I’m sure I’ll start to notice more and more changes, but for now, I realize I am not triggered as easily by cleaning. I mean light cleaning, like washing a couple dishes and sweeping a small area. Usually, this would set me off if my trigger threshold was low. I’m no doctor or scientist, so I couldn’t say if the medication helped increase a patient’s threshold, but that would be interesting to find out.
Side Effects
During this second week, post-injection, I have not had any side effects. I did have constipation that first week, but it slowly decreased as the days went by. I can happily say that right now, no side effects. Party over here!!
Energy Levels
Boy, I have so much more energy than I did before the shot. Just ask my kids and the hubby! Ha! They secretly hate it, I know they do!!! Example, on Monday (7/9/18) I grabbed my teens and we (I mean they) swept the WHOLE house (we have wood floors), mopped the whole house (again, wood floors), cleaned up Sunday’s dishes (cause we’re not perfect), transferred about moving boxes into the outside storage building, and cleaned their rooms. You see, while I did help here and there and wear myself out, I actually had the energy to delegate all of this. I had the energy to ensure it was done right, which is my way, 😉 of course. I had the energy to be around them while they did all of this and talk to them while we worked. I know a lot of people take that for granted, but for me, that little time spent cleaning with my kids…it’s priceless. I hope for more days like that, though, I doubt they do!
IBS Changes
I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that occurs only during migraine attacks. Yesterday, during a conversation with another person with Hemiplegic Migraine on Facebook, we discussed IBS and migraine. It occurred to me that I have not had IBS with any of my attacks since the shot. This is something I’ll be keeping an eye on for now. Do you get IBS only with migraine?
Week 2 Wrap-Up
It is my hypothesis that with all the events I have in play, like the CBT, to cut down on triggers together with Aimovig, I will not only continue to see a decrease in pain level severity but also in the number of attack days. Keep posted here every week to see an update of how it’s going!!
Week 3 Update (as of Thursday, July 19, 2018)
This week has a lot more reading than the previous two weeks. I had a doozy of a migraine attack but also some amazing revelations. So please don’t give up on me, I apologize ahead of time for a long read! It’s worth it, though, I promise!
Trigger Threshold
If you don’t know what a trigger threshold is, read more about it here. Now, I have the same results here as last week. I am able to do more, push myself harder than I could before Aimovig. I’m not triggered so easily. Not to say that I’m not triggered by activity, because I still am, but it’s taking longer. And yes, I have pushed myself too hard, more than what I’m used to, and had a migraine attack.
Here’s a specific example, on the 19th I got up early with the husband and made him breakfast and packed him a sandwich for lunch. Then I immediately started cleaning the kitchen when he left for work. I was able to get through the small load in the sink and wipe down all the counters pretty successfully with no issue. I then decided I needed to do some light washing, we needed clean towels. So I got that done. So far so good!
I did feel a little winded so I thought it better to relax for a few hours. But relax to me means getting on my blog and writing. So on Thursday, I wrote 3 Ways You Can Find Your Diagnosis Codes. I did a lot of research that day after writing a mini-guide to the ICHD-3 and ICD-10 mentioned in the article for my new Migraine Support Group on Facebook. Needless to say, I spent HOURS on my computer that day. Sometimes just typing irritates the muscles in my left arm and sets off my Carpal Tunnel. To top it off, the Carpal Tunnel pain will trigger a Hemiplegic Migraine.
That evening, my sister invited us to walk over to her house for burgers. The kids decided to swim in the backyard, so we made an evening of it all. It was nice, the North Carolina weather was cooperating and we had a good time. It was just my kids and me, Stephen was catching up on sleep. He’s had a rough few days sleeping. At some point in the evening, I began to feel my sixth sense kick in. I call that weird, warning feeling I get right before an attack my sixth sense. As I was walking to go back into the house from outside in the backyard, I began to feel my left side stiffen. With Hemiplegic Migraine, one side of the body can become weak or paralyzed.
Seconds before that, though, I felt my sixth sense kick in. I knew. Weirdly, the weakness and stiffness only lasted a few seconds. By the time I reached the back door, which was about 4 feet away, I was back to normal. But because I get pretty cautious when I get this way, I took it relatively easy the rest of the night. I just didn’t feel normal, even though I looked and acted normal to everyone else. Nobody had any idea what I was going through. I didn’t want to alarm my kids just yet because it happened so fast and was gone just as quickly. The only lingering effect was a slight “off” feeling. But I get those all the time randomly throughout the day. Nobody ever knows.
After getting my fill of hamburgers and an amazing Smore’ we made on the fire outside, we all headed in to watch the ESPY awards my nephew recorded. They are BIG baseball fanatics and follow most of the sports on TV. They are both very talented and we just might see them on TV watching the ESPYs 😉 I had been sitting in an awkward position for maybe an hour. I wasn’t comfortable and I had started to feel my neck stiffen. I decided to lie down, but I think the damage had already been done. After an hour and a half of ESPY watching, I decided it was time to walk back home. So I sat up and immediately knew something was very wrong.
My sixth sense was on high alert and within seconds I had a full-blown, Level 9, Hemiplegic Migraine attack. With this attack I had severe pain (but not high enough to trigger seizures), transient aphasia, hemiparesis (weak on the left side of my body to include arm, hand, leg, foot) that caused me to not be able to lift my leg very high in order to walk properly, altered consciousness, blurred vision, muscle pain and stiffness all along the left side of my body from the top of my head down to my feet (same feeling as if you had a blood pressure cuff on high wrapped around one side of your body), and vertigo. There might be more, but sometimes remembering the episode is vague. I remember enough of it though.
The timing for this second, more severe attack lasted through the night. I fell asleep in pain, even after taking my “abortive” meds. I do not take Triptans of any kind as they have hospitalized me in the past with a severe, week or longer lasting Hemiplegic Migraine attack. It takes months to recover from those. It’s like having a stroke and having to recuperate because the temporary damage is a little more extensive than a typical Hemiplegic Migraine attack. The abortive medication is a combination of prescription Compazine, 3 Alka Seltzer tablets, and a 25mg Benadryl capsule. My doctor at the Mayo Clinic decided this was the best option for me since I have been receptive to the same combo in the hospital through IV. It works about 75% of the time if I catch it early enough.
By the time I fell asleep I was still in a lot of muscle pain, but my head had cleared and my vision was normal. I was no longer dealing with vertigo and I could walk well enough, considering the muscle pain and light stiffness that lingered. So here is where the magic happens. The next morning, on the 20th, which is not reflected in the data since the cut off date was July 19th, I woke up completely normal. NO MIGRAINE HANGOVER whatsoever. What???!!! Seriously, guys, this is unheard of for me. With a Level 9 attack, I should have been in bed for AT LEAST 24 to 48 hours with migraine hangover. I am usually bed-bound because of it. It’s almost as awful as the migraine attacks themselves.
So while I couldn’t avoid the severe migraine attack, I woke up like a champ and went on with my day like nothing happened. To me, that’s a win. A REALLY BIG WIN! I have accepted that I will have Hemiplegic Migraine for the rest of my life, but if I can have an attack and suck at it and then wake up the next day refreshed, I’m in!
I need to take a few more sentences to say how amazing my kids are. We live directly behind my sister’s house in North Carolina. So we walk back and forth all the time to see each other. That night I walked over there but couldn’t walk back. My daughter, newly licensed, had to go to our house and drive the car over so I could get home. They were both on top of it! My son stayed with me and just hung out, checking on me every few seconds. He never left my side while Marissa went to get the car. You see, Stephen wasn’t answering any of their phone calls. While we’ve lived through this since 2004, it’s been years since they’ve had to go through a bad attack like this one alone with me.
While my sister and her family were there, they aren’t used to my attacks. We’ve only lived here since August of last year. I don’t normally leave my house if I’m dealing with HM, so nobody but my husband and kids really know the true impact of what goes on. While they were very accommodating, they let my kids handle taking care of me for the most part while we waited to go home. My kids and my sister helped me to and into the car, all the while I’m trying to talk and failing miserably.
For some odd reason, I get talkative when I have aphasia, even though nobody understands me. It’s weird that I do that. Anway, Marissa drives me home and Noah helps me out of the car and into my bed. In the meantime Marissa is putting my abortive together for me to take so I can lie down and try to sleep. I can never lie down and just sleep, though. Instead, since the attack had already started fading and most of the more serious symptoms were gone, I got online and talked to my peeps in the Migraine Support Group. The medication eventually did its job of making me sleepy and I knocked out.
My husband hasn’t been sleeping, as I mentioned earlier. The reason nobody could get ahold of him was that he was KNOCKED OUT to the world! He didn’t even wake up when we came home making all kinds of noise. My kids are rockstars, I am so proud of them for the way they held their own. They knew exactly what to do to make Mom comfy in all this pain. I just love them.
Side Effects
No side effects this week, other than little constipation. But I am not so sure it’s a side effect, but more of what I had to eat. Magnesium did the trick and it wasn’t an issue. It didn’t seem related to IBS in any way.
Energy Levels
While I still have a lot more energy than I did pre-Aimovig, I have days where I feel fatigued. I can’t say my energy level is any different than Week 2. Might be a little less, but still better than before. At the beginning of Week 3, I did feel more energized. But as the week progressed, that energy slipped some. Going to keep an eye on that. Also, I haven’t been getting too much sleep. According to my sleep logs, I’m averaging about 4 1/2 hours of sleep per night. I’m almost positive that’s probably why my energy has dipped.
IBS Changes
I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that occurs only during migraine attacks. This week I haven’t had any bouts of IBS with any of my attacks. Normally once an attack happens I’ll have IBS that day. None so far, with the exception of constipation I mentioned earlier. But there was no back and forth like normal.
Week 3 Wrap-Up
Well, guys, I’d say this week was pretty successful, with the exception of that Level 9 migraine attack. Though, there was still an upside at the end of it. So I count that as a win! I foresee migraine attacks still occurring next week, but I also foresee lower pain levels and shorter durations **crosses fingers**. I enjoyed my week for the most part. I got out of the house to run errands, always with a driver since I’m still not driving. I’ve been grocery shopping with no attack on the way out. Woohoo!! I’ve written more articles than normal this week. I’ve been brainstorming because the fog is gone and concepts seem clearer. All in all, Week 3 was successful in my book.
Week 4 Update (as of Thursday, July 26, 2018)
It’s the fourth week after my first Aimovig shot and I’d say things are progressing nicely. Don’t get me wrong, I still get migraine attacks, but they are becoming further apart from each other. I did have two pretty severe hemiplegic migraine attacks within these last 7 days, which I’ll go into more detail later. Even so, I also had really low pain-level attacks and days with no attacks. So let’s get into it…
Trigger Threshold
My trigger threshold isn’t as strong as it was after the first week post-Aimovig injection. My energy levels have also dipped. I’m tired all the time and I need naps to sustain me through the evening. I think that is why I was easily triggered into those two severe hemiplegic migraine attacks. The first severe attack was on 7/20/18 after I had been laying on the couch in a bad position. Bad posture is a big trigger for me, but sometimes I just forget until it’s too late. The highest pain level was a 9 and I had to take my prescribed migraine cocktail (prochlorperazine, Alka Seltzer, Benadryl). I did have a difficult time falling asleep, but by morning the pain was completely gone like nothing had happened. I was so surprised, it always takes me at least 48 hours to recuperate from an HM attack of this magnitude. It was like it never happened.
My next attack wasn’t again until 7/23/18, but was not a hemiplegic migraine. I did have migraine with aura at a pain level of 4 until the next day. I was fatigued after and slept until late morning on 7/24/18. I didn’t take any meds this time around, I try not to take them too often. I don’t work, so I was able to sleep through it.
A few days later, on 7/25/18, I had another severe hemiplegic migraine attack at a pain level of 9. The day was very raining and stormy and the humidity was at 90%. Not good for a person with migraine who has barometric pressure change triggers. During this attack I suffered through altered consciousness, severe pain all along the left side of my body (muscle pain), vertigo, aphasia, and hemiparesis. The attack happened at 9:25 pm after I really good day. No pain or migraine attacks at all until after leaving the movie theater. I was walking out of the theater on the way back to the house. I wore migraine glasses during the movie because I had already started having light sensitivity right before the movie started. I really wanted to see Equalizer 2, so I stayed knowing I was going to have an attack at some point. I just underestimated how bad it would get. By morning it was gone. Again, I was completely normal like nothing had happened the night before. I’m so not used to that! No migraine hangover whatsoever!!
I know I will have hemiplegic migraine attacks, I have accepted that. But to have no disabling migraine hangover for days after? That’s a game changer!
Side Effects & Energy Levels
No side effects this week. It seems any side effects have worn off completely. Although, the energy I did have after the shot has also worn off. I do have more fatigue. I’d rather have that than migraine, though.
IBS Changes
No change from Week 3: I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that occurs only during migraine attacks. This week I haven’t had any bouts of IBS with any of my attacks. Normally once an attack happens I’ll have IBS that day. None so far, with the exception of constipation I mentioned earlier. But there was no back and forth like normal.
Week 4 Wrap-Up
I know I had a couple of severe attacks, but the migraine hangover continues to stay absent and pain levels stay low for the most part. The length of attacks is also shortening. I am wondering if the fatigue returns because the shot is “wearing off” or if it is, indeed, a side effect I’m excited to see what happens next month after Dose #2!!
Migraine Log
I use Migraine Buddy to track my attacks pretty consistently. Below is a table showing up-to-date data as of July 26, 2018. Keep in mind, on some nights I fall asleep with an active attack and wake up attack free. The counter counts the next morning since I don’t END the migraine attack until I actually wake up the next day.
The top portion of the table above, in the greyed-out rows, shows each month, March through June. These months are
- Number of Days
- Number of Migraine Attacks
- Number of Attack Days
- Number of Attack-Free Days
- Average Attack Duration
- Average Pain Intensity
- Minimum Pain Intensity
- Maximum Pain Intensity
Migraine Stats
I’ve included screen captures from the Migraine Buddy app installed on my phone. This is the raw data captured by the app and created into nifty charts to share with doctors, and you of course! This data should coincide with the numbers you see in the table above. Also, I’ve added [**] marks next to the stats that are updated as of July 26, 2018. Look for these each week to see what’s new.
Pain Intensity Chart 
March 2018 
April 2018 
May 2018 
June 2018 
**July 2018 
March 2018 Stats 
April 2018 Stats 
May 2018 Stats 
June 2018 Stats 
**July 2018 Stats 
1st Wk Post Shot: 6/29/18 – 07/05/18 Stats 
2nd Wk Post Shot: 07/06/18 – 07/12/18 Stats 
3rd Wk Post Shot: 07/12/18 – 07/19/18 Stats 
**4th Wk Post Shot: 7/20/18 – 07/26/18 Stats 
**4 Wks Post Shot: 6/29/18 – 07/26/18 Stats 
Note: All stats notated with two ** are current as of this week’s update.
Disclaimer: I am a former Amgen and Novartis Spokesperson. This content reflects my own personal opinions and was not created or reviewed by Amgen and Novartis. I was not paid to write this article.
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