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..

Full fat coke is a trigger for my migraines! As is most fizzy drink to be honest. My main trigger is actually garlic, which is in more things than you'd think, I found this out after keeping a very detailed diary like a PP suggested. Food, drinks, sleep and general activities in the day. I find if I go to bed late and sleep in late can be a trigger too, even if I have the same amount of sleep as usual. To help them I get an Bath as hot as I can stand it and run the cold shower over my head and neck, granted it usually makes me vomit but does help enough that I can get some sleep to help

Feverfew is a plant. It grows wild on scrub land etc. and has a pretty daisy like flower. It's very bitter, so best taken as capsules.

Just be careful with feverfew as it can interact with other medications.

Topimarate has worked miracles for me. My migraines had been escalating badly and I was spending days on end flattened by them.

I hate amytriptyline as it makes me useless, and sumatriptan gives me chest pains and does nothing for the migraines. I’m on 80mg propranolol anyway, so I begged my GP for something else. He suggested topiramate and it’s literally changed my life. I’ve found the sweet spot of 75mg and I’ve gone from migraines every day to a month without one.

Sorry if I've repeated anything already mentioned. For me the following helped:
Taking iron supplements,
Daith piercing,
Cutting out refined sugar (this has had a huge effect on my migraines and other health issues - I would highly recommend!)

Ginger powder is believed to have the same effect as triptans without the side effects. Take 1/8 of a tsp mixed into some water, and take it as soon as you feel the migraine coming. I take this with some ibuprofen and it works just as well as sumatriptan.

I also keep a hot water bottle in the freezer. If the migraine is really bad use a hot water bottle on your forehead and a frozen one on your neck.

Hi everyone just an update.

I have a referral to neurology gp was quite helpful.

I'm taking the magnesium - no effect as yet.

Couldn't afford the co enzyme.

Not started the feverfew yet but I can take it with amitriptyline I've checked

Ooops presses send to soon.

Been change over to Rizatriptan. Takes much longer to work. Doesn't make me feel sick but causes visual disturbances and doesn't make me feel as drunk but feel floaty enough to worry about driving. Sigh

Mine are hormonal. In my 30s they were awful. I had dreadful dizziness and vertigo as well which I now realise were vestibular migraines. My life was impossible. As my hormones changed by my 40s they have got a lot less. My remedy was ibuprofen and full fat coke at the first symptom.

I think you may be dealing with peri-menopause.

i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/113666670/perimenopause-lead-up-to-menopause-very-uncomfortable-and-poorly-understood

Only a small thing and not a huge amount of help but I found taking half a sumatriptan helped me, rather than a full dose which knocked me out.

I took them for years and they gave me my life back as I was previously getting horrendous migraine every other day. Citrus was a trigger for me, even 'hidden' citrus in a jar of mustard! Also pork and, sadly, chocolate. Agree with a pp who mentioned full fat coke, no idea why it should help but it did.

Hormones need to be checked I'd ask for a blood test,
Also vitamin D get that checked!
I find having a coffee can help for me even though they say caffeine is bad.
Definitely more sleep.
A hot shower sometimes help.
Also there is an ear piercing you can get which has been said to help the pain, I haven't tried that yet but worth a shot.

I'd ask to be referred to a neurologist if you haven't already and possibly be asked if an MRI scan could be done.

OP I was in the same predicament this time last year. Sumatriptan was the only medication that worked for me but came with quite bad cognitive disfunction to the point i convinced myself it was MS. Long story short my neurologist suggested a daily high dose of Vit B2 (400 mg). I also take magnesium and Q10, and the incidence and intensity of migraine episodes has reduced substantially. I buy them off Amazon, and it is not exactly cheap, but well worth it. Loads of water, good sleep and stress management also helped.

I suffer with them and they’re awful. During one horrendous bout (5 days running) I decided that I was getting a daith piercing. I’m already on amitriptyline for something else, and it doesn’t work as a preventative for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not been a miracle cure, but since having it in besides one awful 3day migraine and the odd ones here and there, I’ve been free. And whether it’s placebo effect or not, I’m glad I made that choice.

I’ve also noticed that downing a coffee after my sumatriptan meds somehow helps it work for me and I don’t get the side effects and it helps shift the migraine.

Good luck, I hope you find something that helps you

Thanks folks I've had the daith piecing 2 years already. Looks cute though it's a little heart ring 😀