Get a neurologist referral, ASAP. My GP is a very good doctor, but she doesn’t have the experience with neuro issues that a specialist does. My neuro was able to come up with several treatment ‘cocktails’ for me to find one that worked, because he was more up to date on migraine specific treatment info. My GP herself admitted she would not have known to use treatment combo we settled on. There is a reason we have specialists. (Besides, if your horse had months on end of mystery lameness to the point of collapsing, and your vet insisted it wasn’t physical, you’d go get a second opinion or get a lameness vet out. Do the same for yourself, you’ve not got much to lose if you’re to the point of passing out at work)
I had a migraine that lasted from April-July, 3 weeks after getting bucked off on my head and getting a concussion. The way you are living is no way to live. Mine are mostly managed now. I say mostly, as I sit here writing this while eating my breakfast at 2pm, because I woke up in bad shape and couldn’t see straight until around 1, several hours post meds. You have to know what you can live with, and I only get it this bad 2-4 times a year now.
There are daily preventative medications out there, and there are interruputors that can stop a migraine if you take it close to when the headache starts. You’re not functioning on the meds you’re on right now alone, and a neuro may be able to help you find another one or a different combo to manage the fibro and the migraines. What’s the point of managing just one, when there’s a second issue ruining your quality of life?
While you wait to see a neuro, start a trigger & pain diary. Write down everything you eat, drink, how much (ex. 2 cups of coffee or 5? A couple bites of cheese, or a bowlful of Mac & cheese?), when you got up, if you napped, computer and other screen usage, if you got a headache and when, how badly it hurt (scale of 1-10 or 1-100, whichever is easier) any other symptoms (vision issues, nausea, lightheadedness, etc), if you took any meds & what you took, how much they helped (pain after taking the meds), and when you got to bed (roughly). And the weather.
Its a huge pain in the arse, but it helps you identify trends you may not otherwise pick up on. Do it for 2 or 3 weeks, a month if you can. As you go, you might start to notice things (when I consume a lot of dairy, I get a migraine earlier or its worse) and then adjust for that and take note of the result. This is a big part of managing migraines, is figuring out what started them and avoiding it where you can.
For example, my triggers include dairy (2-3 servings a day is my absolute limit), too much caffeine, pressure changes (weather changes, air travel, and roller coasters), squinting (I have glasses despite my minute prescription, and always wear sunglasses when its bright out), fluorescent lighting, too much time looking at a computer screen, loud noises for long periods, vibration, most medications, and stress. Some of these I can avoid (dairy) but some I can’t, like fluorescent lighting at school and work. Most people get migraines from having a combination of too many triggers, so when I’m particularly stressed or have a long day at work, I avoid dairy and caffeine and my computer.
Also note that many over the counter and prescription meds will cause you rebound headaches - its like an Advil hangover - if you take it for several days, then stop, you get a headache, so you take more. If you are taking the same med most days for your headaches, and you can try to stop and suffer through that rebound headache (some people can just use a different med to manage the rebound headache, like switching from Advil to Tylenol) then your headaches may improve. Yours sound very severe to be rebound headaches, but if you’re taking that many meds it is possible.
Sorry for writing a novel, but all of these things I wish someone had told me when my headaches had started, I could have gotten it sorted out so much sooner and avoided so much pain.
