Latley I have been getting really bad headaches everyday. So I went to the doctors. He said I had migraines. Dur. Anyway, I have to go see a neurologist. I won’t be going for a week or 2, so in the mean time I was wondering what Dopers do for migraines. Got any special things that make em go away or get better?
Thanks
-flamingbananas
IANAMD. IANAN. IANAL. IANALEO.
(additional disclaimers available on request.)
I (and a few friends) find that marijuana is as good or better than many prescription drugs for migraines. Of course, since marijuana is illegal nobody relies on it for relief, I’m just saying is all. Do not operate heavy machinery…
I’ve had migraines for years, although they’ve decreased in both frequency and severity as I’ve gotten older. I’ve gone off prescription medicines for migraines entirely and now rely on Excedrin migraine to deal with the headache pain. It’s got caffeine in it, as do a lot of the prescription meds I’ve had, and I do find that caffeine is helpful, so I tend to chase the Excedrin with plenty of Coke.
Some of the non-medical remedies I’ve tried (and had very limited success with) include biofeedback, acupressure, hot showers, cold showers, and begging for a swift death.
Nothing much to add for “in the meantime,” and if you’d like to do it the legal way, I’d suggest you ask the neurologist for Topamax and Imitrex.
The Topamax is a daily maintenance drug which will cut down on the frequency and severity of the migraines and has worked wonders for me. It’s hideously expensive, though, so I hope you have a prescription plan. A month’s supply would cost about $450 without my Rx plan. :eek:
The Imitrex is for when you do get a migraine. I use the injectible form, because I vomit with mine and just throw the pills right back up and the nasal spray makes me vomit because it tastes so bad. I take a shot, lay down for about 15-20 minutes, and I feel MUCH BETTER. It’s a miracle drug, IMO. It’s also outrageously expensive; $140 for two doses.
Actually… for in the meantime, try to figure out if there are any trigger foods that give you migraines. Certain foods (red wine, yogurt, raw peanuts, avacados, carrots) give me migraines.
Make sure you get enough sleep, and stay hydrated. When I don’t get enough sleep, I get migraines. Drink plenty of water thoughout the day.
Did your doctor not give you a prescription for Imitrex or something? I would be very curious as to why, if he/she didn’t. It usually works pretty well for me. If I don’t have any handy, I get a friend of mine who is a massage therapist to rub my head and neck. I swear, it works 95% of the time. The only times it doesn’t is when the migraines are hormonal. I’ve got another friend who swears by going to the chiropractor, but I’ve never tried that.
The over the counter stuff usually doesn’t help. In fact, the Excedrin migraine makes me sick.
Just a note… all those OTC “Migraine” products out there like Excedrin Migraine and Bufferin Migraine are basically just the same product in a different label. And they usually cost a dollar or two more. Quite the scam. They are loaded with caffiene, which can help with getting rid of a migraine, but can also cause a “bounce-back” or “rebound” migraine; that is, when the effects of the caffiene wear off, you crash and get another headache.
My neurologist recommends Advil if I choose to use an OTC product. He says the liqui-gels are best, and better for you than Excedrin or Bufferin. Using the liquid gels gets it into your system faster, and Advil doesn’t have any nasty side effects on your liver or stomach like Tylenol and plain aspirin can have.
As usual, IANADoctor, just passing on what my neuro told me.
I get migraines about once a month or so, normally. One time, I got a row of REALLY bad migraines, about 7 in a row. I tracked it down to a $5 5-lb bag of pepperoni I bought at Sam’s Club–was eating pepperoni sandwiches for breakfast and dinner everyday (cheese, sauce, pepperoni on 2 slices of bread, then grill it… hey, I’m single & it was yummy and cheap).
Since then I’ve been avoiding nitrate-containing foods and I do just great. I get cheese or veggie pizza now instead of pepperoni. Nitrate-containing foods include: pepperoni, cold cuts, hot dogs, etc., just about any “mystery” food.
Have you been eating “treats” or eating out a lot lately? Having migraines everyday is definitely triggered by something.
Other than that, there’s just no cure for migraines unless you want to ruin your liver by overdosing on tylenol. It takes around 5 for me to shoot down a full-blown migraine so I try to just grin & bear it.
I don’t get migraines often enough to get a perscription. The only thing that owrks for me is to lie down in a very dark room in compete silence. Sound, light, and movement all make me very nauseous and my head hurt worse when I’m ahving a migraine. (usually triggered by heat and extreme athletic exertion, they most often occur when I’m starting back up a fitness routine after a lay-off)
I am ‘fortunate’ enough to get auras preceding the migraine. So I have a warning to take a dose (single spray) of Immigran before the migraine hits.
I have just started using this drug for my occasional migraine - last one was nipped in the bud - just ended up with a mild headache. Hope this is the case for future episodes, since nothing else has worked.
Immigran is a prescription drug.
My migraines are nearly exclusively menstrual, and no sort of preventative behavior works. I know I’m going to get my period within 24 hours when the headache starts to descend.
Imitrex is a wonder drug.
I get migraines very infrequently, maybe 3 or 4 per year, but when I get them the only thing that works is excedrin and laying down in a dark, quiet place. Excedrin is essentially just aspirin, acetaminophen (sp?) (tylenol), and caffeine all in one pill, so if you don’t have excedrin handy you can take aspirin and tylenol and wash it down with something with a lot of caffeine in it like tea or coffee.
You can check the labels, but I think when I looked, excedrin migraine had the exact same ingredients in the exact same amounts as regular excedrin.
In addition to watching what you eat, I recommend maintaining stability in general in your lifestyle. Anything that changes a bodily rhythm a bit can trigger one in some folks.
A couple of weeks ago I went to the gym and did a full workout at 9pm, when I normally do my workout at 5pm. At 11pm, I had the worst migrane I have had in years.
Oh yes… Be prepared for some whacky stuff to happen when you get one. Tell your doc about any odd symptoms, of course, but don’t get to uptight. When I was a young lad, my boss told me about how one fine day he suddenly couldn’t focus on his drafting board, and one side of his body went numb. After freaking out, thinking he had had a stroke, he went to the doctor and found it was a migrane. Years later, I had one that made my right side go totally numb – the division formed a straight line down the bridge of my nose and my lips. The distant memory of my boss’s experience kept me sane while I calmly called my doctor and told him all about it.
Excedrin migraine and caffiene usually work for me.
I haven’t had any big changes in my life style or my diet, I have been sticking to a pretty bland diet. My doc said to stay away from caffinine and sweets. My period isn’t triggering them either. When I get them I try to lay down in a dark room with no sound, but that isn’t always an option in the middle of the day at school. Normaly I take Motrin or tylonel, but that hasn’t been helping a lot. I’m going to the nero. doc on Thursday morning, and I have been keeping a “headache diary” for the doctor. Nothing is really causing it. My migraines can happen anytime, and anywhere, and with anything in my tummy. sigh
Percoset works great. Course, its pretty heavy stuff so you can use it all the time.
Some people have suggested Imitrex, but you ought to go with the injections, theyre the only one that works…
Often, pain meds work reflexively, and its beneficial to take, say, a Butalbitol back to back with an Imitrex, and maybe a Zofran to ward of Nausea sideffects.
Just what i do, hope it helps
-PK
Every person is going to have a different answer to this question. Triptans (Imitrex, Zomig, Amerge, Frova, etc.) are effective abortives for many people, but certainly not all. I take Imitrex which helps for about 1/2 of my migraines - I used to get better results before my pattern changed to 5 days of headache a week over a year ago. Depending on how frequently you get them, your doctor may put you on preventatives, and again there are lots and lots of different meds that may work. I’ve tried about 10 different prescription preventatives in the last 10 years, from various anti-depressants to blood pressure meds to epilepsy meds to muscle relaxants. I take Norco (similar to Vicodin except less Tylenol) when the Imitrex doesn’t work, or when it starts out particularly painful, but it’s not that effective for me.
As far as OTC remedies, Aleve sometimes works for me, but only for very mild migraines, and only if I catch it very early.
PolskiKing mentioned Zofran for nausea. I’ve had great experience with this med; it’s saved me from ER trips twice in the last few weeks.
Here’s some of my favorite on-line migraine resources:
http://www.migraines.org/
The problem is that there are many different kinds of migraines. My Mom, Sister and I all get what are called atypical migraines which I believe are sinus related. We also have the problem that anti-histimines cause us to get all loopy. In my case, I lose the ability to read and retain when I take them. The only think that works for us in Excedrin or Anacin. Anacin is the same as Excedrin with half of the caffiene.
Haj
vetbridge, do not advocate the use of illegal drugs again. Consider yourself warned.
Since this is more of a survey than a factual question, I’ll move this thrad to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
flamingbananas, do you also write down the weather? Most people don’t think about this (God knows I didn’t), but migraines can be affected by barometric pressure and/or temperature.
I had severe migraines. like, 2 or 3 a week. I was on several kinds of medication, to the point where my neurologist was concerned I was taking too many triptans. Then I moved here, and they virtually stopped. I still get the period migraines, but otherwise I’m doing great.
So I went back through my old diaries and emails and such. . .turns out I could have been a weatherman. Nor’Easter? Migraine. Thunderstorm? Migraine. Below freezing? Over 90? Migraine.
Also, I found that dramamine (you know, for motion sickness) can help with the nausea and light/sound sensitivity.
I’ve been getting migraines for many years. I’d have them for several consecutive days so I was spending 3 or 4 days out of 7 bed ridden in a dark room with a bucket next to the bed. Not good.
If I catch them early enough, a hot shower, caffeine and applying Migrastick helps a little. The only prescription medication that has worked for me is Imigran. The pills take about 3 hours to work but with the nasal spray I start having relief within 20 mins. It has been an absolute lifesaver for me.
I did get some advice from a practitioner who also suffered from migraines though I have not tried this myself - at the first sign of a migraine, take a very small dose of Valium, just a couple of mg. Not the standard treatment but it worked very well for him.