Prerequisites for ONS surgery

Hi guys and gals.

I'm a 42 year old long time sufferer of what is currently diagnosed as Chronic Migraine, and Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania (previously diagnosed as Chronic Cluster though).  I'm a patient of Dr Matharu at Queen Square in London. I've been suffering for 16 years, and was first diagnosed about 7 years ago. I'm male.

I have been put on the waiting list for an Oxcipital Nerve Stimulator.  I must admit, the idea of surgery doesn't thrill me.  I take a fair amount of medications (Indomethacin, Dosulepin, Pregabalin, Omeprazole, and Sumatriptan) and some of them will have long term effects on ones health, but I have some quality of life at the moment, with the medications.

My issue is this:  to qualify for the ONS surgery I have to not take any painkillers for 6 months to remove the medication overuse element of my pain.  Now i don't claim that this is not potentially present (i have taken sumatriptan everyday for the past 7 years - with no gap) but the issue is that my pain is so severe and frequent that i need these painkillers to get through the day (and night).  IF i could go six months without using painkillers, I WOULDN'T need surgery, would I!??  I mean, if i could go six months wihtout painkillers, how bad could I really be??  Six months without painkillers woud be a dream come true!!  48 hours without painkillers is a dream for me!

I can't go 24 hours without using sumatriptan.  Its the only drug i take that absolutely works - no question about it.  The rest have a cumultive effect - in combination they reduce the severity of the pain.  Sumatriptan has given me my life back, or at least a reduced version of it.  I'm not really employable, but I am able to be a parent to my 10 year old, and can apply myself with limitations to my self employed job as a wedding photographer with my wife (not that we've had any work for the last 12+ months with that).

So how have other people achieved this?  It seems contradictory.  If one can go six months without taking painkillers, surely their condition isn't sever enough to need and ONS installed!??  It seems absurd to me.  Is there something I'm missing??

Thanks in advance,

Julian