After 33 years, I am finally migraine and headache free, thanks to Apex Headache Clinic
41-year-old Technical Project Manager, David Stoops from Belfast had been suffering from crippling headaches and migraines since the age of just 8. Over the years, he has explored every avenue in the hope of getting even a little relief, but nothing helped. He came to the conclusion that headaches and migraines were something he was going to have to live with for the rest of his life. After hearing about the great success that Apex Headache Clinic was having in treating headache and migraine sufferers, with nothing to lose, David decided to give it a go. Here, he shares how the clinic’s unique regime of specialist manual physiotherapy treatment for headaches and migraines, called The Nelson Headache Approach™, cleared his migraines, meaning that he could finally get his life back on track.
David, when did your migraines begin?
My headaches and migraines have been ongoing for 33 years. At the age of just 8, I experienced my first migraine. Over the years, I have seen various people and tried multiple treatments. During my teenage years, they were attributed to allergies. Every doctor and specialist I saw had a different theory, none of which were right. In a way, I had to try to block out the pain and learn to live with them and get on with life. Between my teens and early twenties, I was getting 1-2 migraines a month. However, in my twenties, they progressively became worse, so much so that in my thirties, I was getting 1-2 severe migraines a week. At this stage, I saw a Consultant Neurologist, had a CT scan, which was clear and was put on more pain medication, which did nothing to help.
How did the pain effect your life?
Living with constant headaches and migraines was crippling. They would hit me out of the blue and floor me. The pain was often 9/10 or sometimes even 10/10. I stopped playing rugby and football and often had to just go to bed and wait for it to ease. It was dreadful!
What led you to Apex Headache Clinic?
My friend is a physio and she heard about the great success that the clinic was having in treating migraine and headache sufferers. Because I used to play such high impact sports, she suggested that my neck could be involved. Desperate to get even a little relief, I booked an appointment.
During my initial assessment, my physio diagnosed my headaches as stemming from my neck. I attended the clinic weekly for treatment. After just 4 weeks, I began to notice an improvement and at 6 weeks my migraines had completely cleared. Like most people, I still get the very odd headache, but I haven’t had a migraine in 4 months now.
How has your life changed?
My wife used to describe me as a tank because I would try to persevere when I had a migraine but it was awful! And even when I did get on with things, I couldn’t focus.
Since treatment at Apex, the difference to my life is indescribable. It has completely changed. I can go out and not worry about getting a migraine, I have started gentle exercise again and I’m sleeping much better. I can even go to the cinema and leave at the end without fear of a headache or migraine developing. Because my attitude was always to keep going, now that I am free from migraines, I realise the massive impact that they had on my life.
What advice would you offer someone suffering from headaches or migraines?
Go to Apex Headache Clinic and get properly checked out. I’ve been through so many misdiagnoses over the years, which was frustrating. Most headache or migraine sufferers don’t think that their neck could possibly be involved but I would definitely recommend going to Apex Headache Clinic because they may be able to help you too.
To book an appointment at Apex Headache Clinic, call 028 9048 4153. No GP referral is necessary.