Checklist
Before your neurologist appointment
Appointments are short. Bringing the right few things means the time goes on decisions, not on trying to remember.
Bring
- Three months of your diary, or as much as you have: how many days had a migraine, how bad they were, and how many days you took each medicine. Counts in days are what the doctor works with. This is what one page of that looks like.
- Every medicine you take, including ones from the shop and supplements, with the dose and how often.
- What you've tried before for prevention: the name, the dose, how long you took it, and why you stopped (it didn't help, side effects, cost).
- What it costs you: days missed at work or school, plans cancelled, days you couldn't do much.
- Anything that changed: new symptoms, a different pattern, a new medicine for something else.
Questions worth asking
- How many days a month of my acute medicine is too many for me?
- Is a preventive worth trying, and how long should I give it before we judge it?
- What should I track until the next visit?
- When should I contact you sooner?
Is a preventive working? Compare migraine days a month before you started and since. Doctors usually wait two to three months before judging one, so keep the diary going even when it feels slow. My Migraines shows that comparison for you.
Sources
- Migraine Canada. Appointment checklist (PDF).
- The Migraine Trust. Keeping a migraine diary.
- American Migraine Foundation. Medication overuse headache (PDF).