I’m wondering what other dopers take for their migraines.
I’ve been on lots and lots of different meds over the years, and the main problem I’m having now isn’t really the frequency or severity, but the duration - they last for days, or go away for a few hours and come back. Here’s my current drug regimen:
Preventative: Neurontin - 900 mgs at breakfast and lunch, 1200 mg at bedtime. I’m also taking 2 Aleve at breakfast and bedtime mainly for my back, but it seems to help the migraines as well.
Abortive: Imitrix 100 mg, sometimes with a sinus med like Actifed. Followed by Vicodin ES if that doesn’t work. Followed by more Vicodin ES and a sleeping pill and bed if that doesn’t work. Vicodin has very minimal effect on my, unfortunately, but it’s the best I’ve found so far. I’ve tried most of the other triptans, but Imitrix (sumatriptan) so far seems the most effective.
So, dopers, tell me what you take, and anything else about migraines you might want to commiserate about.
I get absolutely dreadful migraines. To prevent them, my doctor actually prescibed an anti-depressent. It’s called Elaville (sp?). I still get headaches, the kind that feel like they’re going to turn into migraines- only, they don’t reach the migraine stage.l
I’m glad you asked this question, Porcupine, because my sweety suffers from them and claims there’s nothing he can take for it (?).
He says the only thing the dr wants to give him for it is narcotics. None of these things which are supposed to ward the headaches off. Is that true? That there are some people who can’t take the prevantatives? He says that by the time he realizes the migraine is coming, it’s too late for anything but narcotic. I don’t believe him, but I don’t know what to tell him.
Should he be going to a different dr.?
Sorry for the semi-hijack, but I really would like to point him in the right direction. He doesn’t get the visual effects when his are coming on, just the whacking pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light.
For me, Advil Cold and Sinus and a few hours of sleep. Luckily I haven’t had a migraine in quite a long time. I was never prescribed heavy meds for them. I guess thats a good thing…
I think I get em.(Ok, never been diagnosed but I do get bad head-aches sometimes with nausea when I don’t have a cold. I can pretty much tell when I get up in the morning if I’m going to have one of those days.) The things that work best for me is rest and exercise.(I guess those two things just make me relax a little.)
I used to get awful migraines a few years ago, but fortunately enough I haven’t had many lately.
When the symptoms start up I grab a couple Indomethacin (that’s what the bottle says) and scurry off to a flat surface, because sleep is the only way to totally avoid the pain.
The best remedy I found was something called Migril. It contains ergot, caffiene, and something to prevent an upset stomach. A couple of these will kill the worst migraine. There are limits to how many you can take during a single episode and during a week though, so don’t exceed them. Really.
Can’t get any good non-prescription migraine treatment over here. I take ‘Migraleve’ which as far as I can tell has acetominorphine and an anti-nausea agent. Crap, in other words. I’m lucky, however, as I rarely get the headache, just the visual disturbances and temporary blindness.
I used to get really severe ones that would last for days. My doctor prescribed pitzofen (I think that’s how its spelt) as a preventative. It worked great, except I absolutely had to have at least 12 hours of sleep or else I couldn’t physically function the next day, alcohol was a big no-no, and it put me into a semi-trance like state - if the phone rang, or the doorbell rang I’d get a jolt up my spine, as if I’d been shocked or something like that.
I actually had the beginnings of a really nasty one yesterday - the first time in ages. It was so bad that when I went to the chemist (they gave me Migraleve as well!), and they asked me what medication I was on, I couldn’t remember the names of my diabetes meds, which I’ve been on since I was 16!
Its still not great, but a couple of Migraleve, sleep, and funnily enough lemon and ginger tea, has reduced the migraine to such a level that I can work again at least.
Another Advil Migraine user here. I usually take 2 when I feel a migraine coming on and sometimes that stops it in its tracks.
Otherwise, I lay down in a dark and quiet room and try not to move for at least an hour or two until the meds take effect.
I may as well just quote your whole post Greywolf73 because what you said is pretty much exactly the case for myself also.
So, another Advil vote over here, then.
I get them, but not as bad as I know they can get. Usually I just get the pounding headache, dizziness, and only a little nausea.
I take Excedrin Migraine and then lie down in a dark room (usually this results in going to sleep, which doesn’t hurt). That’s usually the only thing for it.
Funny you should ask…I left work early yesterday because of one.
Wearia, we may be twins separated at birth. (What year were you born, anyway?)
I take Tylenol Sinus, and two Advil. As long as I catch it early it doesn’t turn into a migraine. This combo works for me even if it does get to migraine status, though. I’m grateful that I’ve never had to take prescription meds, as my migraines are usually focused around hayfever season and don’t last more than a few hours.
I had a few migranes as a teenager … sheer, unadulterated hell … I was prescribed heavy pain meds and they didn’t touch it. I started taking feverfew (a herb) which seemed to help a bit, Then I made several lifestyle changes (not because of the migranes, but for other reasons), specifically, I stopped eating meat/drinking milk, and I haven’t had one since. A few other people reported to me that their migranes stopped as well when they stopped eating meat.
A large price to pay, i know … I’m lucky that it worked out that way for me. As much as the migranes were agony, I don’t think I could have given up meat ONLY to stop them.
I displayed symptoms of migrane as early as 4 years old and have had them on a weekly basis since, real killers, too. I was on a monthly injection at one point which completely did the trick but I was uncomfortable with being constantly medicated. I experimented with alternative preventatives and found Feverfew tablets work for me, as long as I remember to keep taking them, and learnt a few acupressure techniques which seem to help.
I’ve also identified my worst triggers and avoid them like the plague if possible - red wine was the hardest to give up on and I’ve not touched it for years now. Some of my triggers are unavoidable (heavy, stormy weather, stress, interrupted sleep) and over-the-counter paracodal tablets take the edge off the worst of the pain. Other than that, I soak my forearms in hot water, cool my head down with a cold shower, have as strong a cup of coffee that I can bear, then go for as much sensory deprivation as possible (dark room, earplugs, a ioniser on in the room to freshen the air). Usually the migrane will linger for a few days, but I can control the pain if not the aura. Recognising that I am physically addicted to caffiene, and that a migrane will develop if I forget to have a couple of cups of coffee daily, has also helped me regulate the regularity with which I get them, which is about once a week at the moment.
