A 40-year-old woman, who has lived with painful migraines since adolescence and has tried dozens of treatments without success, is tired of fighting to have her disease recognized.
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“It breaks a life, drops Laurie Fortin-Bouchard, with a tremolo in her voice. I will not have children, I have no social life, because I often cancel at the last minute, no work.
Her migraines even led to her being declared partially disabled by the government. In the midst of a crisis, she says she feels dizzy, in pain so sharp that she vomits and has the impression that someone is driving a drill into her brain.
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like a vampire
“It’s becoming a vampire, continues the wife of Lévis. The only business you want is to be in your bed, in the dark and without noise”.
“I have more than ice packs in my freezer, only food”, launches Mme Fortin-Bouchard laughing, because the cold helps relieve her
Her migraines began in her teens, then escalated until they became chronic in her early 30s. She suffered from it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
“It’s amazing how I tried some [des traitements]“, she breathes.
From drugs for epilepsy, depression or heart disease, to hypnosis and piercing the cartilage of the ear, she lists.
The first victories came five years ago when his neurologist made him try antibodies that inhibit CGRP (peptide related to the calcitonin gene).
CGRP plays a role in migraine and antibodies, injected once a month, can block it.
This treatment and Botox injections in the head and neck have allowed Laurie Fortin-Bouchard to drastically reduce the number of migraines, which last all day, to about two or three a week.
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Not taken seriously
“But you really have to fight and every time it’s a headache,” she says. “Insurance companies and governments do not take this disease seriously,” she rages.
Because Desjardins Assurances initially refused to reimburse him for Ajovy, a CGRP inhibitor, which costs about $600 per month. But then she was accepted as an exceptional patient and every six months she has to start filling out a ton of paperwork again to be reapproved, she points out.
She is refused reimbursement for Botox and she only obtains it with humanitarian doses, offered free of charge by her doctor.
She also recently gave her two pills of Ubrelvy, a brand new drug to stop migraine attacks, which has worked well, she says. It is a gepant, a new class of drug.
But, again, she suffered a refusal from her insurance, for the tablets which cost around $200 for a dozen.
“My body has more than enough to hurt, I’m no longer capable,” she pleads.
Desjardins Insurance maintains for its part that it is “important as an insurer to be able to help people suffering from migraines”. Spokeswoman Véronique Breton says that the evaluation of the drug Ubrelvy is complete and that it will be newly covered as of July 1 without pre-authorization. For Ajovy, the latter requires more verification in order to “follow Health Canada’s recommendations”.