My Emgality Journey, Pt.2

 It has been such a struggle to finally get the Emgality shot. Pt.1 ended with me being pleasantly surprised with my new neurologist. She asked me all the right questions and once she realized that I had more knowledge than most, we got straight to business. She began to tell me that I could do Botox, which I quickly declined, and then she mentioned CGRPs. I told her that I knew about them and she told me the differences between Aimovig, Ajovy, and Emgality. We decided to try Emgality. When the appointment was over, she gave me quite a few samples because we were not sure if my insurance was going to approve it or not. Well low and behold...they did not. I was on Emgality for 6 months but after that time, my insurance still didn't approve it. It was very disheartening. 

Let me rewind and say that it took about 3 months before the medicine truly "started to work". Overall, it did reduce the number of migraine days that I had. I went from having about 20 migraines a month down to about 6-7. I would say that is a significant decrease. Now, let's fast forward to me realizing that after I have experienced this change in the quality of life, I am now not going to be able to have this medicine anymore. I was heartbroken. I had tried all sorts of alternative medicines such as chiropractic care, aromatherapy, diet restrictions, supplements and more. They helped ease the pain but didn't reduce the number of migraines that I had. So, needless to say I was heartbroken. 

I battled for quite some time and my neurologist actually left the practice without even giving me a heads up. My new neurologist is now Dr. Trisha Lemay. She and I had a telemedicine appointment and since she was new to me, she asked me all the necessary questions to determine what type of pain that I am in. We took a look at my insurance and realized that I had to have tried a certain amount of preventative meds before they would approve me for any type of injection. I felt like that I had tried them all and nothing worked, but I agreed. She prescribed me Depakote. This medication is used to treat seizure disorders, certain psychiatric conditions and to prevent migraine headaches. I took it as prescribed for one month and IT DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. So, I got it refilled a few more times but of course never took them and by then about 6-7 months had gone. I was still in pain and nothing was preventing the migraines from coming. I had my abortive pill, which I barely took and I had my complementary therapy such as aromatherapy, but I NEEDED MORE! 

I finally called Dr. Lemay and set up another telemedicine appointment. By this point, she felt like that there was no way that the insurance should deny my claim after almost a year and a half of this ongoing war. 3 days later, I got a phone call stating that my insurance WILL APPROVE MY PRESCRIPTION OF EMGALITY! When I heard those words, tears fell down eyes. Some people choose to be natural and holistic and for the most part I am too, but my migraines are TERRIBLE and I have a 2 year old. I can't have him walking around saying "I'm getting a headache", because that's what he hears Mommy saying. I have now been back on Emgality for a month and I am due for my next injection, which I self administer. 

Insurance companies definitely give us a run around to get our medications approved. It's like they want us to put on a dog and pony show just to get what we need. To me, it is just a bit ridiculous. To all my fellow migraineurs, FIGHT FOR WHAT YOU KNOW YOU NEED. Sometimes, you may lose the battle, but you will win the war.