Image from Pixabay.

I’ve now been using Ajovy, the new biological migraine prevention injection, for 6 weeks. I’ve given myself two shots (1 shot every 4 weeks). It’s very easy – it’s a injection pen, so just need to press the pen firmly against my belly or thigh. The needle stings a tiny bit going in but I hardly feel it although I’ve seen other users complaining about it? Maybe I just have had worse pains to deal with so that compared to them the pen is nothing. It certainly is like nothing compared to my migraine (or Crohn’s pains when they were worse).

My neurologist uses the following criterion to categorize migraine pain:

Intensity level #1 – Mild pain, you notice it but it doesn’t stop you from doing anything.
Intensity level #2 – Moderate/severe pain, lessens/stops you entirely from doing things (often mandatory things like work are done because you need money to live, but more voluntary things like seeing friends, cooking yourself or vacuuming can go on a break for weeks/months.
Intensity level #3 – Migraine attack. You can’t do anything but be sick from the pain, and have to rest/puke/be in dark etc. until it goes away.

The good news is that in January I only had 3 actual migraine attacks (level 3) 😀 Compared to 8-9 level 3 attacks  a month I had previously, that’s good! Bad news is that it hasn’t improved my daily headache much – I still have a “background” headache every day (levels 1-2), but Ajovy seems to have made it so that the intensity of them varies a lot more now than at least all of 2021. In January, of the non-migraine-attack-days, about half was level 1 and half level 2, while previously the whole of 2021, the background headache was pretty much always at level 2. So now I’m keeping fingers and toes crossed that Ajovy continues to work, and gently wishing that maybe it’ll even keep improving its effects as time goes on. But even if it only stays as-is, it’s still an improvement to what was.

Although I don’t know if it’s enough to be able to work again, I’d have to go into rehabilitation again to see how outside home, full-day commitment even one day a week and the stress of being around noise and other people affect the migraine in this new situation. The last time I tried, even one day a week, I ended up with migraine attacks on 2-3 times a week and on sick leave for a year because migraine got so bad again but then I had no Ajovy which may or may not make a difference. So I’m living exciting times for the next several months and have a little bit of hope again  😀 

Also, I just counted today, that the longest time I went, since starting Ajovy, without a migraine attack was 18 days!! I haven’t had that long an interval since the migraine became chronic in 2008!! I had a couple of really bad level 2 days in there, but no attack so it counts!

The neurologist will call me on the 21st of March, and that’s when we’ll see if Ajovy has been effective enough to apply for continuation from KELA. Fingers crossed!