Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Migraine Headaches

When you make an appointment to see a new doctor about treating your migraines be sure to ask the receptionist to book enough time for you to ask questions of the doctor.

Here are some good questions to ask the physician:

In your experience, are migraines treatable? Your doctor should view migraines as a highly treatable (albeit not curable) condition, not something you simply have to live with.

In your opinion, what causes migraines? The doctor should have an understanding of the underlying conditions that cause migraine headaches.

Have you treated many migraine patients? The doctor should have some experience treating patients that suffer from migraine headaches and be familiar with the latest treatment plans.

If you prescribe something that doesn’t work well or that causes many side effects but helps the headache, what would you do? The doctor should be willing to try different medications until one can be found that reduces the side effects but is still effective. He should also be amenable to trying alternative non-drug treatments.

What do you do if your migraine patients don’t get any relief from your recommended treatments? The doctor should have some sort of escalation plan, such as referring you to a different specialist.

The doctor should be open to answering these questions and taking as much time as required to make you comfortable and confident that he/she is willing to help you.

See also: Finding a Migraine Doctor

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  1. Which Doctors Provide Migraine Treatment? | Migraine Symptoms Guide on September 14th, 2008 4:26 pm

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