Blinded by the light

When I was around 12 years old I began to have many hormonal fluctuations which brought on terrible migraine headaches. I am given a diuretic which doesn't ease the vomiting or the extreme light sensitivity and my pediatrician makes the decision to put me on birth control pills to regulate my changing hormones. Fast forward to age 29... The day after Valentine's day I have terrible pain in my abdomen and a fever. I head over to the emergency room where after many, many tests it is determined that my gall bladder needs to go. While they were reviewing my scans they found small lesions on my liver. They are unable to determine whether they are harmless lesions caused by the hormones in my birth control pills, or something more sinister being fed by the hormones in my birth control pills. They decide to follow me every three months with MRI's (with contrast and without) to figure out whether or not they are continuing to grow and merit further investigation. Fast forward another years they have grown, but no one is doing anything about it, but my doctor orders me off of the birth controls pills. A year later, beginning in October of this year, my debilitating migraines come back. I go to my doctor who thinks that it could be hormone or stress related, "difficult to tell the trigger", he says. He prescribes me 10mg Maxalt tablets to "break the cycle" and acupuncture for 6 weeks to cure the chronic condition. He explains that they believe it to be a neurological disorder, but don't have much additional information to provide. I travel to my mother's for a much needed massage which helps my headache immediately, while I await my acupuncturist appointment. I'm really hoping that the acupuncture is successful, because the side effects from my migraine medication make it unsafe for me to drive. I'll continue to post on my progress and any new and interesting research related to migraine headaches. Perhaps I'll donate money in my own name to a reputable migraine foundation as a Christmas present to myself :)