Bad Migraines--how to deal with them?

[jessika130]

Hello,
I've had bad headaches (migraines, cluster headaches) since I was ten years old; I'm 21 now.  They told me I might out grow them, but I haven't; they've simply become chronic.  I have a history of migraines.  All my aunts had them.  I used to see auras; now I don't but it comes in as an overpowering pressure either in the back of my head or through my eye, which makes me powerless for movement or speaking.  It used to be foods that provoked them; now it is stress, heat, humidity and lack of rest.  This summer I've had a headache that put me in bed every week, usually Sunday through Wednesday.  I have taken Norontan and Amitryptiline; both had negative affects.  Maxalt does me no good.  Feverfew and other herbs like that were not recommended for grown women.  I take nettle tea.  Alieve seems to be the only drug that helps. My doctor said that atmosphere can have a lot to do with it--and advised me to relocate.  Is there anything else that  works which I could take?

[mkh9]

Drugs like Imitrex, Maxalt etc. They all are in the same class of drugs called sumatriptans. These are drugs used to halt migraines.
mkh9

[jessika130]

What is sumatriptan?  (Obviously something to help sleep; but what's it made of?)

[mkh9]

I'll ask him. I think a few weeks is all.

[parth2105]

Have you tried sumatriptan??

[jessika130]

Interesting; I hadn't heard.  How long is it proper to take it?

[mkh9]

FYI you can't take melatonin long term. My husband took it for a while and it started causing problems. I'll have to ask him again what the problem was.
take care,
mkh9

[jessika130]

Thanks for the recommendations.  I'll talk to my doctor about them.  I just got onto Melatonin, which has regulated my sleeping, and also Chlor Tabs which has magnesium and helps allergies.  It has helped a little.  I'll continue to try different things and look into your recommendations.

[mkh9]

p.s., my neurologist also has me on 400-500mg of magnesium and she also talked about a high dose of riboflavin. The two together are supposed to help. I take slomag because the regular magnesium gives you diarrhea. Slomag also has calcium so you can't take too much of that either (more then the daily recommended total amount including what you eat) but it can still give you diarrhea if you take over 500mg. But so far it has been a good combo with the Topamax. But like I said it causes poor short term memory. But, if the migraines affect your life so much then it might be worth a try. My neighbor is a Physician assistant and she had/has daily migraines so she has struggled with them for years. She finally tried IV magnesium (don't know if she got riboflavin or not) and it helped. But, I'm not sure if she stayed on it. I wanted to mention that if you take any of the sumatriptans (Imitrex, Maxalt, etc. whether it is pill, injection, nasal spray etc.) the neurologist said if you take it more than twice a week your brain rapidly gets used to them and causes rebound migraines. So you may want to keep that in mind.
mkh9

[justmetwo]

the Imitrex pills did nothing but make me sick, the Nasal spray is what worked for me,

[justmetwo]

I feel for you, I have them also and have tried almost everything, Imitrex Nasal is the only thing I've found that works for me, I can't take the other meds listed above either. Talk with your Dr about it, it really did help me

[marycarmel]

My daughter takes Co-Q10, an all natural supplement that has essentially no side effects.  It can take some time to work, up to a couple of months.  My daughter has had excellent results with it and now has few migraines.  There's a family history here, too.

[jessika130]

Thanks!  I'll check it out.

[mkh9]

I am so sorry for what you have been going through. I started having migraines when I was 23. They couldn't diagnose me for 8 years because I had no migraine and had vomiting all night (only at night) and abdominal pain. The neurologist did an electroencephalogram and found it was a migraine. I was put on doxepin for a year and that helped but then it didn't work so they finally put me on Klonopin and it went away but then in my 30's it changed to severe migraine and auras. I changed to Imitrex. It helped but didn't take them away either. I find Ibupropin helps a lot if the Imitrex doesn't work or vice versa.  Then I got vertigo in my 40's and I would just fall down. It is due to the migraine not the inner ear. I have become hypothyroid too. They now have me on Topamax which took away my migraine headaches but not the auras and I don't have vertigo anymore either. I also take a half of a 25mg of amitriptilyne still too. They had tried cyproheptadine but that didn't work either. Of course different drugs work differently for different people and different kinds of migraines.  The downside of Topamax is bad short term memory for me and dry mouth. I am on 50mg. You may want to try it. Talk to your neurologist if you have one. If you don't have one I would say it may be good to get one that specializes in migraines. Let me know if I can help further.
mkh9