Patient testimonials from migraine surgery in Switzerland

A new life after peripheral nerve surgery to improve my migraines...

In March 2015, I was operated on by Dr Pietramaggiori and my life really changed. For years I had been dealing with horrible migraines that were always a hindrance to all my professional, social and sporting activities.

Since then, there has been a 75% improvement and in July I was able to climb 4000 m in the Alps again, without any pain.

For me, it was a new life after this operation.

Many thanks to Dr Pietramaggiori and his team.

Isabelle Seydoux

Hello Doctor,

After almost 1 year, our life has improved considerablythanks to this operation. It's hard work every day to get back into shape after years of suffering, but progress has been made. Since the operation, I have had no major migraine attacks, nor any real AVF attacks. No treatment except for stomach medication. Only tension headaches due to all those trials of drugs that softened my eyes. With 2 orthoptist sessions a week in the next month or 2, I should be fine.

As for the AVF attacks, they’re just the beginnings of attacks at times, which I manage to control with hypnosis. Sometimes I'm no longer afraid of the pain coming back. You have to work at it!

Next year, I’m off to the South-West for a 4-week training course to get back into the profession. Professional Canine Behaviorist Educator (a profession I’ve always dreamed of practicing).

I can’t thank you enough for making this possible. Thank you!!!!!!!

(History: Chronic migraines with aura, with a permanent painful background, attacks at the slightest effort, attacks on returning to calm, between 4 and 6 AVF attacks per day (atypical chronic AVF because nothing worked), 3h of sleep per night. I've tried 24 different treatments, both for the treatment of my symptoms and for my attacks).

Hello Mr Pietramaggiori,

Here’s a short summary of the change that the 2 interventions have brought me:

I’d been suffering from migraines since I was very young. I remember that during my school years as a child, I sometimes had to go home because of migraines.

As years went by, the frequency of the attacks increased, and even though I was able to manage them better over the years, it became very uncomfortable in everyday life.

I started by having lots of tests, MRIs, X-rays... I went for physio, acupuncture, osteopathy... For a few days, it woul give me some relief, but then it was back to the way it was before. I also tested several medications before finding the one that gave me the most effective relief. I was taking Relpax 80mg, which was very effective in stopping an attack, but it didn’t reduce the frequency of attacks, which was 4-5 times a week.

In 2014, while reading an article in Le Matin dimanche about migraine sufferers, I learned that surgery could be performed on specific types of migraine, and the further I read the article, the more I recognized myself in my attacks. I decided to go for the tests to see if the operation was possible for me, and it turned out that it was.

January 2015, 1st intervention.

The operation went very well, with no complications, a rapid recovery and a huge improvement.

Even if the attacks haven't totally disappeared, they've diminished a lot – once a week, in bad periods twice. This has already changed my way of life, but as migraines are unpredictable, they could be triggered at awkward moments and I always had this fear in the back of my mind... An important day at work!!! A Special Event!!! A trip!!! And that question “I hope it’s going to be okay…” and deep down, I was stressed at the thought of it not being okay...

Over time and with the keeping of a listing of the frequency, location and intensity of the attacks, we realized that the area of pain was always in the same place, which made us take the decision to do a 2^nd intervention.

June 2016, 2nd intervention.

This 2^nd operation went like the 1st, very very well, even if the recovery was a little longer and a little more painful than the 1st, it was worth it...

This 2nd operation really changed my life, even if at first you always have that question in the back of your mind “I hope it's going to be all right...” when you have something special. As time goes by, I think about it less because the attacks have disappeared and, during those months, the only times I had a headache – and I do mean a headache, not a migraine – I took a Dafalgan and it went away.

This means you’re less stressed when you have special things to do, but not only that, because in everyday life it’s the same: when you wake up you don’t have a migraine, during the day you don’t have a migraine, it’s a spiral that goes from negative to positive and that’s not just for you, but for your whole family, colleagues etc... It really does change everything...

Hello Doctor,

I’m writing this email to express my gratitude because my life has never been the same since the operations!

When I came to see you, I had a migraine every other day and you told me that it must be very disabling in my professional and social life. I thought no, I’ve always worked and had a normal social life... It’s only now, 3 months after the second operation, that I realize the difference!

It’s now, looking back, that I realize how much effort and energy I put into “functioning” every day with my migraines. Not to mention the amount of medication, anti-migraine drugs and background treatments! And the deprivations: watch out for chocolate and wine, don't skip meals, go to bed early, don’t stress...

The first image that comes to mind is that I always used to have a dark, stormy cloud in my head. Now, my head has a lovely, light, airy blue sky!

I don’t have any migraines at all! I can even eat and drink whatever I want! But the biggest difference is the energy I've regained: no activity, even after a day's work, requires me to exert myself. It's also a big difference for those around me, because I’m more relaxed and less irritable. You can see it in my face: my eyes are relaxed, my features are less tense, and I've even had clients ask me if I've had my eyelids done...

Now all I have to do is lose my old migraine reflexes: analyze what I eat, deprive myself of certain things to avoid a migraine, check that I've got migraine pills in my bag, refuse the piece of chocolate... but I’m on the right track!

Many thanks, Doctor, and see you at the 6-month check-up!

I’ve been suffering from migraines for 15 years, which have often prevented me from enjoying time with friends or doing my job properly. Whenever I had one, I felt like banging my head against the wall and was forced to stay in bed in the dark, without making a sound. One day, my GP told me about this surgery, and that's when I met Dr. Pietramaggiori. It was the best meeting I ever had !!!! After various discussions and investigations (botox), I decided to have the operation.

It's now been a year (give or take a few days) since I underwent the surgery. I’ve gone from having more than 8 migraines a month to 2 in six months (less intense and which, with an anti-inflammatory + a painkiller, passed in about 20 minutes). It’s changed my life !!!!

So if you’re looking for a competent doctor who listens, I advise you to stop suffering from migraines and meet this doctor! Many thanks to Dr. Pietramaggiori and the team at Clinique de la Source! You are the best! A thousand thanks Dr. Pietramaggiori, you've changed my life and I'm eternally grateful! :-)

Since April 2012, I’ve been struggling with my knee following a fall. 4 operations later, I was still in pain on the side of my inner knee.

On November 3, 2015, I had an appointment with Dr. Scherer for another problem. She asks me a question about my health and I tell her about my knee. She looks at it and tells me: she can do a test to see if I have a pinched nerve. I tell her it’s okay. After an injection to numb the nerve, 20 minutes later I had no more pain and I could kneel on a hard chair, I could bend down normally which hadn’t happened for 4 years. I had tears in my eyes and hugged Dr. Scherer to thank her. But, unfortunately it didn’t last long, as she had told me it would only be a few hours. As it worked well, she told me there was a possible operation.

On January 7, 2016, the operation was scheduled for February 17, 2016.

February 17, 2016, appointment for the operation on an empty stomach under full narcosis because it's ambulatory and waking up is quicker. One hour of surgery and a problem-free awakening, I stay a few more hours in the hospital. Back home without a hitch.

That was it, NO MORE PAINS, I was told I’d have to live with this pain and I couldn’t work standing up for more than 30 minutes. My life has changed, I can go for a walk again and stand without any problem. I can invite friends over without having to worry about how my knee will feel the next day.

I would like to say a big THANK YOU again to Dr. Scherer for her professionalism and for listening to me. She gave me the chance to live like everyone else.

Dear Mr Pietramaggiori,

As promised, here are a few photos and a few words.

Indeed, after 12 years of terrible suffering accompanied by sad and dark thoughts, I have reached the end of the tunnel! And it’s all thanks to you, a wonderful, kind and touching human being.

I would like to thank you and your wife Mrs Scherer from the bottom of my heart.

When I wake up in the morning, I don’t have that lump in my stomach anymore, those anxieties and all those questions – why me? What have I done to deserve this? How am I going to find the strength to go on living? How am I going to cope with my little girl? And so on...

It’s all in the past now. I can go out with my family. I can go to work. I can ski. I can travel. I can enjoy a good meal with a glass of red wine :-)

I can simply LIVE without having, at the back of my mind, the nagging “when that monster is going to come back and get me”.

Here you are Mr Pietramaggiori, thank you once again to you and your wife. My family and I wish you and your family all the best and especially the future baby!

Doctor,

Before your operation, I suffered from severe migraines that could last more than three days. They occurred regularly, almost every week.

I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into when I contacted you. After various discussions and an initial test in the middle of a crisis, you told me I was operable. I decided to put my trust in you and go ahead with your peripheral nerve operation.

I’d like to thank you for your human and professional qualities, and for your mastery of this migraine operation. I appreciated the way you listened to me and took charge of my problem.

Thanks to you, Doctor, I'm feeling much better and I'm beginning to forget the suffering I experienced as a teenager.

Thanking you again for your expertise, please accept, Doctor, my sincere regards.

Link on facebook to the Arnold neuralgia support group: click here.