Migraines please help!!

[nevernotstruggling]

Posting here for traffic please please post anything you think is helpful.

I have reached a migraine crisis point now they are every day. I'm prescribed amitriptyline 20mg daily and I have sumatriptan to use when I get them but it makes me feel drunk and sick.

I'm been referred to occupational health at work but i have waited 9 months and nothing!

Driving more than around town is a trigger so I moved to working locally.

I get my eyes tested regularly I don't need glasses I ruled that out.

Please post anything - should I be cutting out food groups? Alternative therapies?? Anything please I can't go on..

Keep a very very detailed diary. Food, sleep, stress etc. That can help pinpoint triggers.

Chiropractic or osteopathic treatment can help.

As can acupuncture.

DS was getting them daily but his turned out to be psychologically triggered. We did look at loads of things in the hunt for treatment.

Obvs food triggers are alcohol, cheese, dairy, chocolate and nitrates.

Too much sleep. Too little sleep.

It’s really hard to pinpoint sometimes.

I read yesterday that the Keto diet can help some people.

Have a look at the National Migraine Centre website, they are a charity but you can make an appointment with them. We went with DS from Somerset to London. They have useful info on their website I think.

You could look at doing an elimination diet and then if they do clear you can see what food triggers, if any, you have as you add foods back in.

Sympathies I suffer from them but not on this scale.

I’d also suggest seeing someone more specialist as this is having such a huge impact on your life. Please revisit GP and see if you can get a referral. At this level they are very debilitating.

I remember watching something about a woman who stopped getting them when she took up swimming in the sea, something to do with the cold water and the blood vessels in the head/neck. I sometimes find ice wrapped in a wet flannel on the back of my neck, or a cold shower aimed at my head and neck helps (the latter is obviously tortuous as you either have to have your whole body blasted in the shower or tip your head over the bath and tipping makes mine worse)

Anyway I'm waffling but this helps more often than not.

Totally agree with the two other comments

Soluble aspirin and full fat coke at first go really helps, as does an ice pack over my temples

You can refer to the migraine clinic in London too

Have you had an MRI scan to full out anything serious?

I too take amitriptyline and use sumatriptans but they work for me. Have you spoke to your gp about increasing the amitriptyline dose.

I’ve had migraines for 30 and recently found out they were medication induced. By that I mean pain medication such as solpadeine type meds. I would think I was getting a headache so take some. It wouldn’t help so it take more four hours later, then again another four hours later. This actually causes headaches. I had to completely stop using pain meds and just use sumatriptan when I had a migraine. It’s reduced them from nearly every day to one every couple of weeks.

Also check if you’re grinding your jaw which causes tension. I was just lucky that my new gp happened to be a migraine specialist too. I hope you get sorted. They are very debilitating x

My dad suffered really badly with migraines. She was taking daily propranolol but the hospital also recommended taking magnesium, vit b and coenzyme q10 and she eventually came off the propranolol and her migraines have dramatically reduced.

Worth a try maybe?

Oh dear, there could be so many triggers, does wearing sunglasses help if the light is a trigger?
Are you in a position to get a private consult somewhere, I think you qualify for botox on the NHS with the amount you are getting.
Co enzyme Q10 as a supplement is suggested as a prophylactic I believe, you could also try magnesium supplements as many migraineurs are deficient in magnesium.
Can't think of anything else that hasn't been mentioned.
Really sorry you are suffering so much.

Oops cross posted with swift.

I was prescribed a course of topirimate after my gp referred me to a neurologist.

It was tough as the side effects weren't very nice, but I persevered and eventually got used the to drug and the side effects subsided. The course was built up gently to the maximum dose and then I had to be 3 months symptom free and after that you come back down gently until you stop taking them.

I was migraine free for almost 2 years. Now I have the occasional one. I'd recommend talking to your gp.

I would say your preventative isn't working and you need to try somthing different.

Chronic migraine suffers often don't have individual triggers for migranie, ie chocolate often thought to be a trigger, is actually often a carving many suffers get during the predrome phase of an attach. The migranie has actually already started by then. This makes it really hard to try and pick out any single triggers espicaly for frequent attacks, neurologist often go with lowering the sensitivity to migraine and giving rescue medication when needed.

If sumatriptain works but makes you feel sick and drunk then ask to try another triptain. There are about 7 different types all, newer then sumatriptain, which is often given first as it's the cheapest but also not well absorbed and has more side effects generally then the others.

Amitriptyline didn't work for me. Beta blockers have helped me a lot. I take propranolol 40mg twice a day. I feel your pain.

Find your triggers; lesser known triggers are sensory such as smells and tastes, mould toxins, high blood pressure, stress, muscle tension (squinting or arching your neck constantly)

Wondering how old you are? I don’t suffer nearly as badly as you but do suffer with frequent and very debilitating migraines. I’m fairly sure mine are hormone related (I’m mid forties/peri menopausal.)

I've had chronic migraines for 20 years, but they reduced from 2 or 3 a week down to one every couple of months under this regime;

• Identifying chocolate or desserts with high cocoa content as a trigger
• 40mg propanalol + 10mg amitriptyline daily as a preventative
• Sumatriptan + 3 2 paracetamol + metoclopramide (anti-sickness) as soon as a migraine starts

I went years before anyone talked to me about sumatriptan, I feel incredibly frustrated at the thought of the amount of time I lost in bed in a darkened room, praying to die, when one of these miracle pills lifts the crushing agony within an hour.

Yes they do have side effects - they don't make me feel sick or drunk but I do get a constricting sensation in my throat making it hard to swallow, and pain inside my mouth so I can't have a hot drink for a few hours - but I'll take those in place of the pain any day. I understand there are a variety of others to try with fewer side effects, why not give a different one a go?

Good luck, I know they are extremely debilitating and there's nothing worse than thinking that no one understands.

My DS used to suffer terribly from migraines starting around age 8 or 9. He was eventually diagnosed with mitochondrial disease and put on a cocktail high dose supplements which eliminated the migraines and all the other symptoms he was having like cyclical vomiting and weird eyesight stuff, chronic fatigue etc. The most crucial of these supplements were levo-carnitine, Co Q10, magnesium, vitamin D, Omega 3s,and several of the B vitamins., you can find out more if you Google mito-cocktail. There is also information on www.mitoaction.org

Thanks for putting this post on. As a migraine sufferer of 30 years it’s been very interesting to see how others manage.

Thanks everyone going to make a gp appointment and a shopping list

One of my first memories is when I must have been about 6 and I was accused by an adult of faking a ‘headache’ as a way of tidying up my room.

40 years later I have seen neurologists, had scans, tried Migraleve, Amitriptilyne, Propranalol, Ibuprofen, hormone tablets, food elimination and a whole lot more.

My migraines have been named Prolonged Hormone Induced Migraine and seemingly got worse within pregnancy when I was fainting because the pain was so bad.

My personal relief is ice-packs on my forehead in the dark with Topiromate and Ibuprofen.

Even now though I do get the pain confused with sinusitis so if the above doesn’t touch it, I know I have to switch to sinus-related meds.

Bowen Therapy helped a lot and it relieved it for about a year so I do need to get my bum into gear and book another few sessions.

thebowentechnique.com/what-is-the-bowen-technique/

Sorry for your pain. Hopefully you’ll find something amongst these posts that will help.

I’ve suffered since I was 6 years old too, right now I have to take sumatriptan 2-3 times a week. Lack of sleep can be a trigger but to be honest I’ve never really found one. If I don’t take the sumatriptan quick enough I’ll end up in bed for a day with a black eye patch over my head writhing in agony being sick. I’m on 100mg topiramate too. I’ve got a neurology appointment end of the month.

Have you tried cold and sinus flu pills?

Icy full sugar Coke too

Sorry you have to deal with this OP. I get migraines nowhere near as often/bad as you and they make me want to die!

What can provide some relief to me although you’ve probably tried this is peppermint oil on the forehead and temples and also putting a clothes peg on the skin between the thumb and forefinger

There are so many triggers, some are hormone related, and there is not that much you can do, other than take medication.
If you have a family history, it's worth talking about it with your relatives. They probably have the best treatment plan for you.

My migraine is a lot better since I changed my diet to "non processed" food and reduced my meat and dairy intake. I still get them, but not as frequently as in the past.
My nan and a cousin helped me with the diet triggers, for some reasons "our migraine" skipped the boys!

Hi,
Sorry you're suffering. I cut out caffeine, citrus, alcohol and diary as well as losing a couple of stone. Not claiming it will work for everyone but it worked for me. Now only suffer once every few months rather than a few times a week

Biokult Migrea. It’s magnesium and probiotics and works for me now although my migraines aren’t as severe as they used to be.