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..

100mg topiramate daily as a preventative and then a triptan nasal spray on the rare occasion I get a migraine.

Imigran is the nasal spray - quick acting apparently

@Persea can you buy that or is it prescribed?

Physiotherapy. I reached my crisis point about 2 years ago and turned out to be a neck joint problem. The frequency and intensity have decreased massively since I started seeing a physio.

Ugh, I’m really sorry you’re all suffering so much. They really are debilitating.

After trying all sorts (a helpful GP told me to take paracetamol every four hours and drink more water), I got my daith pierced a couple of years ago. I went from getting horrible migraines up to every two weeks to only getting the occasional headache. It really has changed my life. I don’t know whether it’s the placebo effect or not but it doesn’t matter to me as long as it works. My rationale was that anything was worth a try; I could take it out if it didn’t work and no one would be able to see where it had been. Good luck finding something that works for you.

A doctor recent recommended a book for anyone struggling with migraines.

-The billionaires book of headaches

Worth a read it's good

www.amazon.co.uk/Billionaires-Book-Headaches-Raeburn-Forbes-ebook/dp/B077XP3RDN

Pls excuse the photo, it’s a tricky angle! But if you get it done, go for one like this instead of with a ball to close it. The weight of the ball makes it trickier to heal apparently (I learnt that the hard way..,)

Hormones... I get a migraine before every period, funnily enough I didn't get many whilst I was pregnant!

I take sumatriptan and sleep a lot! I'm usually sick with them...

Try a different Triptan. Some others have less side effects. I take naratriptan.
Try a different preventative as amytriptaline isn't working for you. One option that is showing promising results is high doses of riboflavin (vitamin b2). The nice guidelines recommend it as an option, I'm currently trying it after coming off toperimate which I personally couldn't deal with the side effects off.

Forgot to mention!!

I have hormone related epilepsy, I produce too much oestrogen and not enoughprogestorone to balance me out, so with periods when I get a surge of oestrogen that's when I have a migraine.

During pregnancy because I was producing more progesterone my hormones were balancing out... apparently pregnancy & menopause will help my epilepsy & migraines.

@nevernotstruggling Imigran is on prescription

Poor you OP

I have some recognised triggers and other times I get a migraine seemingly out of the blue. I had to get work to move me to a different desk as the fluorescent light above my desk was a major trigger.

I’d say if they are this bad then push to see a neurologist with your GP. Maybe pay to go private if it’s stopping you going to work so Fien.

mine are hormone related generally. I was having a 3 day migraine before/during a period and one at ovulation time. I have gone on the pill to even out the hormones which so far is working well. I take propranolol and triptans too.

That's when mine would come on. Like clock work, 9.10am every morning it would start and by 9.30 I would be in utter agony. On the bright side, my GP said it made it easier to treat with preventative meds as could time them to work more efficiently! I'm unable to take beta blockers so he out me straight on Topiramate and it was a life saver. Started on 25mg and increased to 50mg which I've been on for a year now and seems to be working. I did try weaning off but started getting headaches again (I get daily headaches which build up in intensity to daily migraines) so went back up to 50. If I start getting regular headaches, I can increase my dose to 50ng twice a day but so far been ok. Def make an appointment!

Dd recently tried blue light blocking glasses from RA Optics Australia.

Despite having no expectations she has gone from daily migraines to two in the last 8 weeks.

Amazing.

None of the things you mention have worked for me. My migraine started when I was 16 and I would be out for 3 days at a time. My son also has migraine and was prescribed Naramig. I ask for this and it has changed my life. I have not had a migraine for 10 years.

I meant a full blown migraine I take a tablet at the first sign, and it prevents it developing

Hi everyone just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to post. So far I have bought magnesium and dextrose and the soluble aspirin and I have shopping list for Holland and Barrat in the morning when I'm back in town. I will be making a gp appointment as a matter of urgency this week. I've installed a diary app to record what's going on to look for triggers I will report back in progress.

With sincere thanks

The other thing I'd add is that it's mostly women who get migraines, so some GPs see it as a female problem, and therefore one not really worth taking seriously.

Not all GPs of course, but you might have to insist that this is affecting your life in a serious way, and you really do need to see a specialist.

The day I saw a neurologist about my migraines for the first time was quite amazing. I have a GP who is very very up to speed on migraines (his daughter gets them very badly), but the neurologist was able to offer me preventatives and treatments that he could not.

I meant a full blown migraine I take a tablet at the first sign, and it prevents it developing

I also wanted to agree with this. I take Rizatriptan at the first sign of a migraine, and it goes away. It tries to come back the next morning so I take another one, and the same the next day. I've never had to take one for more than 3 days in a row. I've had very very few migraines that have not been successfully treated with Rizatriptan, and I think most of them were actually part of a larger infection or trauma of some kind. I am always interested to hear about other triptans that are available, as they are quite different to each other.

Finding a treatment that works for you is very important, and there are lots of options.

Bath and wash face in Johnson's soothing baby vapour bath.
Stick a menthol inhaler up your nose
Suck on a peppermint
Alll three after each other

I have a friend in the USA who has Botox for migraines, don't know if that is possible in the UK?

I have a friend in the USA who has Botox for migraines, don't know if that is possible in the UK?

Yes it's available but not sure if it's offered on the NHS. My friend had it but it wasn't successful for her.

Going on the pill to balance out my estrogen helped enormously with my migraines. I used to get them every month the week before my period was due. Once I went on the pill (in my early 40's) I stopped getting them all together. In my early 50s a doctor tried to take me off the pill and switch me to hormone replacement. It was a disaster for a variety of reasons including getting migraines again. I went back on the pill and I no longer get the migraines.

I used to get Hemoplegic migranes( numbness and blindness down one side with difficulty in speech followed by classic migrane symptoms.They started at 14 years and the beginning of puberty for me.They went on at regular intervals after that.At age 26 or so I had a Status Migranosis (10 days of non stop migrane attacks , one leading in another and I was hospitalised and CT scan /EEG done .Went to a headache specialist who said that my migrane was completely hormonal and advised me that pregnancy would make it way worse or way better.I suffered on and was pregnant once at 32 years and again at 34 years .I had a Status Migranosis in both pregnancies .Since the birth of my kids and I am now 54 years old and in menopause I have only had occular migrane about twice a year.Nothing like the awful debilitating ones of my younger years.Maybe check out if is hormonal.