I think I've cured my migraines. ( knock on wood.)

In My Humble Opinion
1

There is a small group of great women here on this board that always pipe up whenever a Migraine Thread starts up. An example

FWIW’s and it is worth a shot, I was at the doctor’s office for a physical and was trying to get a bunch of samples of MaxAlt, which is a preventive for migraines like I suffer ( barometric, hormonal, foods,stress, life in general.)

I was also telling the doctor how my feet hurt pretty much most of the time. ( I have torn fascia muscles in both tootsies.)

He recommended an over the counter anti-inflammatory. Anything,really.

I bought Aleve (as they are good for up to 8 hours.) and took two one morning and forgot my migraine stuff. ( I take two different preventatives: one being the RX mentioned that I save for those special skull cracking days of doom and the other an herbal supplement combo that has worked nicely for me and has saved me about $50 a month in RX.)

I didn’t have any symptons at all. I thought it was fluke for the next couple of days, but I kept trying this without changing anything else about my diet or (fabulous) life style.

Ladies, I haven’t had a migraine in nearly a month.

And considering most of my migraines since my daughter has been born have been barometically related and the fact that Michigan has been hit with some massively torrential thunderstorms for the past week and I have not had any problems, worries, or concerns whatsoever regarding these violent barometric pressure fronts makes me relieved and happy as only a migraine sufferer can be.

It’s kinda like, “Hey my head doesn’t hurt. What’s wrong with me ?”
I don’t know why. I don’t want to know the science behind it, not right now, I am too busy relishing and mustarding the moment.

I just wanted to share.

flamingbananas How goes your migraine problems?

2

Congratulations, Shirley!!! As a fellow migraine sufferer, I’m know how miserable they can be.

StG

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Shirley Ujest, You take the Aleve when you feel a migraine coming up? Or every day, as a precaution?

Congrats on the discovery. :slight_smile:

4

I shall have to try this Aleve of which you speak. I don’t have migraines, per se, but I do have elephant sized headaches. The current one has been around for 2 weeks. Mine are also barometrically induced, and I am praying for a major thunderstorm so my head will stop hurting. In the meantime, I am off to the drugstore!

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Yee-haw! Good for you, Shirley!

I suffer from infrequent “mild” migrains. If a regular headache is a mere throb and a real migrain is “head exploding”, mine are more like a railroad spike driven into my skull. Mine are tamed, but not killed, by about 800 mg of ibuprophen.

Maybe I’ll switch. (Or perhaps it’s only effective if you take it before you get the migraine?)

–SSgtBaloo

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That’s really great that you’ve found some relief. I used to take Aleve as my first migraine abortive if it was a mild one, and it used to work pretty well. Unfortunately almost everything stopped working a while back, but I’m hoping that when (if) I get back to my two to four migraines a month pattern, I can go back to relying on Aleve and Imitrex.

The next thing I’m trying is chrnoic pain management, like the one described here - between the migraines and my herniated disk, I think I need a more generalized therapy.

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Congratulations Shirley and thanks for passing on the information. Even though Imigran works well for me, I’m always open to new suggestions. I was even considering Botox? Has anyone tried this as a treatment for migraine?

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One other thing I forgot to mention. You probably already know this, but be careful of rebound headaches if you’re taking Aleve (or any other painkiller) on a daily basis. I think this is part of what turned my 3 or 4 a month pattern into a 4 or 5 a week pattern.

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She definitely seemed to be taking it as a preventative, I can’t see it having an effect after the onset.
Shirley Ujest, if increased barometric pressure sets off your migraines and an anti-inflammatory prevents them, that’s a pretty clear signal (it seems to me) that you have some mild inflammation up there all the time. Has that avenue been looked into? Just wondering.

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Yes, this is my thought and feelings too. It’s like my sinus passages up there are being SQUEEZED from the sides and the top of my head. Not a fun way to operate.

I take two every morning.

11

A new use for an old medication - DH is taking 600mg of lithium per day and has not suffered a migraine in almost 3 months. He normally suffers from cluster migraines (4-6 migraines per DAY for a month or so). After starting Lithium - nada - nothing - and cheap!! A 1 month supply runs less than $35.

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that’s great Shirley. What dosage of Aleve are you taking? I usually limit myself to one 125 mg tablet. I know it’s not much, but it seems excessive to me to take more than that. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to do much for me at that level…

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That seems to be the case here. However, Aleve (naproxen) is generally prescribed as a migraine “abortive medication” rather than a daily preventative, but you need to take it right as you feel the symptoms coming on or you’ll be in pain for quite a while.

I’ve been seeing an internist for my migraines, and she prescribed 1000 mg at the start of the migraine, with 500 mg an hour later if it’s not improving. Obviously this was prescribed by a physician who evaluated me and should not be taken as medical advice.

IIRC, it says on the bottle of Aleve that one or two tablets can be taken at your discretion. Unless you have some kind of medical condition (I don’t know what) that would suggest otherwise, you might want to try two.

And heed porcupine’s advice about rebound headaches - they’re a real phenomenon.

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Lately, my medicines (Maxalt and/or Excedrin for migraines) have stopped working on my horrible migraines. If the solutions in this thread help, I shall bow down before your awesome power.

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As a guy who has had debilitating migraines since childhood, I can shirley sympathize. :frowning:

However, after moving from Atlanta, Georgia to Florida several years ago, I found a doc who has freed me from this awful condition. I was in his office to be treated for a bleeding ulcer. I suggested that the cause of my ulcer might be the handful of aspirin I had been munching almost daily, seeking relief from these terrible headaches. He agreed, and diagnosed the headaches as migraines. He prescribed Zomig, which is taken as a relief, not a preventative. It works like a charm, usually giving complete relief within 15-20 minutes. They are rather expensive (about $12 each), but one tab does the job, and you only take one when you feel the onset of a migraine.

I also tried Maxalt (which my doc said was not a preventative - you might want to question your doc about that), but found it to be ineffective. Maybe results vary from person to person. I have had no success with anti-inflammatories, either.

Incidentally, the doctor told me to guzzle a cup of cheap antacid three times a day, and the ulcer healed within three weeks.

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Just two of these things? And not even a twinge? No laying down in a dark room with pillows over your head? No nausea, no vomiting, no wishing for death?

I’ll be buying some Aleve tomorrow, then. Thanks. :slight_smile:

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Shirley, you’re making a believer outta me. I’m going to get some on my way home today. And yes, thanks to the weather we’ve been having, it’s been a gruesome few days for me. :frowning:

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Shirley, if you find the Aleeve no longer works, or you begin to get rebound headaches, I have a suggestion. With my migraines, nothing would work, not even IV treatments. The doc put me on Topamax, which is actually an anti-seizure medication that has been shown to be effective against migraines. I take it every day, and I hardly even get regular headaches now. The best part? One of the sideaffects listed is 5-10 pound weight loss :stuck_out_tongue:

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Sorry I haven’t been more attentive to this thread. The bottle Aleve was downstairs on the kitchen counter and my computer is upstairs. You know, a great distance away.

The Aleve strength is 220mg per pill. I just take two in the am. So 440mg and I am good to go.

I have been overly cautious about the rebound headaches as I know one of my late brothers suffered very badly from them. I will take the Topomax advice to heart ( especially before swim suit season :slight_smile: )

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Though topomax is very effective for some, it has a slurry of unpleasant side effects for many, including cognitive problems (fuzzy thinking, word-finding problems, etc). I had an episode where I lost my ability to speak that we think was a combination of accidentally mis-dosing on topomax, jet lag, and general fatigue. It also has a tendency to screw with your menstrual cycle and interfere with birth control pills. I was on it for 6 months or so - it didn’t help and the side effects were horrible. My neuro says he generally doesn’t try topomax as a first course of treatment.