Severe migraine pain- in hospital

[HomeTutor]

Sat in hospital with my poor daughter (19) who is having the second horrific migraine in 48 hours.
Shes currently hooked up to IV painkillers and a saline drip because of the amount of vomiting.

Over the years we've tried anti sickness drugs, naproxen, codeine, rizatriptan, nasal sprays, daith piercing, cut out 100% of chocolate, artifical sweetness and scented candles.

She takes an antihistamine daily for allergies and is on the progesterone mini pill as we thought it might be hormone related (she also had bloody awful periods with sickness and severe pain).

Starting propranolol tomorrow.

What else can we do? I cannot stand seeing my kid in so much pain she wants to tap out of life. Her job is at risk as she is unreliable when the migraines hit she has about 20 mins warning before the vomiting starts.

Will try anything. I wish it was me 😔

i tried progesterone as part of an hrt regime becase mine are hormonal - it made things much worse so progesterone may not be helping your DD.

Propranolol really has helped me though, so fingers crossed it helps her.

If it doesn’t, you need to try one more preventative and if that doesn’t work, the GP can refer to neurology and then they can look at CGRP treatments.

Although tbh your daughter’s migraines sound so awful that if you can, a private neurology appointment might be worth looking at just to speed things up a bit.

sending lots of good wishes to you and her - migraines are fucking hell.

@WetBanditsI don’t need it for contraception, I’ve gone on it soley to stop migraines.

Another vote for sumitriptan. I get terrible migraines and have done for 20 years. This is the only thing that almost always works for me.

Having said that, last time it didn’t and I ended up in A&E with dehydration due to the constant sickness. I dread having the next one and really feel for your daughter.

Also magnesium ? I've read low magnesium can lead to migrane I've started to take some magnesium

I was finally referred to a neurologist after trying so many preventatives that didnt help. They gave me botox which I used for 3 years which helped reduce frequency a bit but made my face look funny and caused atrophy of some muscles so i stopped. I still have droopy eyelids from the botox 2 years after stopping so just beware.

However my neurologist switched me to a montly injection called Aimovig that you self administer and it has changed my life. In the last year I have had only 3 migraines. This is coming from someone that at the worst point was getting them 4 or 5 days a week and being hospitalised.

Try and get a referral to a neurologist and discuss the options. I have had great success with Aimovig so it could be something your daughter could try.

@LittleRobins I tried it for the first time last month and it was like a miracle !

It doesn’t matter what you use it for. The risk is the same! It may well have stopped your migraines but your risk of an ischaemic stroke is about 4x higher as a result 🫠

@YesterdaysQueen why where you being hospitalised

I would also agree a neurology referral would be helpful. For example idiopathic intracranial pressure is often confused with migraine . Which specialty is she under at the moment?

@Lougle how much is the national migraine center please.
Ive also taken your advice down there thanks

Hospitalised probably wasn't the right term to use. I was having such severe migraines at times that I had thought something else had to be wrong so called 111 and ended up in hospital as they wanted to check for meningitis. Another time I had a severe one and half of my face went numb, I thought I was having a stroke but it turned out just to be a migraine. The other times were from vomiting for days on end and becoming dehydrated.
So maybe not "hospitalised" but I just meant that they were bad enough that I went to A&E.

Thankfully while I'm on Aimovig and while it continues to work, that's all a thing of the past for me. It has been truly life changing.

There's a voluntary contribution. I'm not sure what the maximum is. Private consultations are £229, by the look of it.

My sympathies to your daughter.
this is what worked for me: Topiramate taken daily as preventative and Sumatriptan taken early can stop an attack.

Hopefully the propranolol works. It worked fairly quickly for my dd. For reasons unrelated to the migraines she had to switch to pizotifen and that works as well. When she does get a migraine she uses Zolmitriptan as a nasal spray, so it's delivered even if she's vomitting. Your digestion slows down during a migraine, which is why pills are slow to work unless you can pop them straight away. I don't know how true it is, but I've heard taking magnesium during an attack can really help the situation.

Someone else I know has had a lot of success with botox injections. Higher temperatures, humidity and thunderstorms make the frequency and severity of migraines worse for my dd.

Another thing to do is to go to the dentist. It sounds strange but there is a joint in the jaw that can get very tight causing migraine/headaches. If this is the case for your daughter tthe dentist can make a mouthguard for her to wear at night, and show her a few exercises to loosen her jaw.

Just to echo, you really need to be careful here. The combined pill is NOT suitable for migraine sufferers due to risk of stroke. I’m really amazed it’s been prescribed to you for any reason whatsoever

Has she tried amitriptyline or epilepsy drugs? That's what stopped my cluster migraines. Mine are stress, weather and dehydration but getting more and more intolerable. Touch wood not had a migraine in about five years now..

I feel for your daughter, ive be in hospital twice for migraines.

Ive a 2 day migraine so far woke up early after a twisting turning alnight broken sleep,
With out the head pain but with a stiff kneck and shoulder, i feel like ive been through a tumble dryer.
Its the come down from the migraine, so i will spend the day indoors doing little to nothing all day.

I live in sunshades and my migraines are worse in summer time, can not wait for winter.

I’m not in the Uk so there may be some differences in what would be prescribed, but I had debilitating migraines for years. I’m now on monthly injections (Ajovy) which have been life changing, but I wanted to mention that I suffered really badly with vomiting like your DD and similarly struggled to get any meds in as a sip of water or even just slight movement would start the vomiting and it could go on for up to 9 hours. I was prescribed Ondansetron wafers, a sickness medication that melts on your tongue and works pretty quickly, I kept them next to the bed (my migraines generally started overnight) and would have one as soon as I was aware of the migraine, moving as little as possible! Then I could take a triptan shortly after and have a chance of getting the migraine to a manageable level.

In terms of prevention, I tried several meds, I’ve been on propranolol for around 8 years now but its not enough on its own. The criteria to see a neurologist where I live is 15 or more headache days a month with at least 8 of those migraines and tried 3 different preventative meds, then I was offered monthly injections or Botox.

Does she attend a migraine clinic?

One of my siblings has just started their first round of Botox, after an infusion of some drug (can’t remember what) failed. But it something they got through the neurologist. 32 injections.

Thanks again all

No specialists and no clinics. Shes only ever seen her GP. She has autism and is very literal- she has been told they pass and so she grits her teeth, does the puking and then deals with the pain in bed.

These two have been off the scale though.

Shes now home, looking wiped out but head pain is now only level 4/10.

Definitely migraines as they run in the family and she gets the numb hands/loss of vision etc.

Shes taken her first beta blocker, and is resting and hydrating. The plan is now an antihistamine daily, 2 x propranolol daily, and to keep her rizatriptan with her 24/7 for immediate action when she gets the migraines signs (numb hands and funny vision).

Will track food, and reduce red meat, strawberries and tomatoes etc.

God love the poor sausage 😢

I don't know if this will help, but try feverfew capsules. Both my dcs used to get migraine, ds2 still does, and feverfew has always helped them. Ds2 takes one daily, but has two a day if he's feeling like things may ramp up. His migraines have lessened both in terms of frequency and severity. I get the capsules from ebay and they're not expensive. Ds1 grew out of his migraines once he reached adulthood, as did I. My mother had them all her life and took clonidine each day to prevent them.

Very severe migraine can be a disability. Don't kmow if it's any help in terms of work but my DD suffers appallingly every day. Her employer recognises it as a disability and makes adjustments. DD has botox and CGRP - they help but are absolutely not a cure.

I have had similar problems my whole life. I would suggest speaking to the Migraine Trust. I wouldn’t be working without them. I had to quit a job after my 2nd child because they were so bad.

I now take Riboflavin and magnesium and coq10 and I’m definitely having fewer migraines than before. There is a migraine supplement that combines all 3 - I’ll try and see if I can remember what it’s called.

I would start with the migraine trust as they are so helpful.
https://migrainetrust.org/

Dolovent - that’s what’s the supplement called. I don’t take that as I have other health issues so take different strengths but it might be worth a try.

btw mine have been terrible last few weeks too (and were a lot better). I’m not sure if it’s something to do with the sun/weather.

how is she doing now?

Hope she feels better soon.
I found Propanolol worked great for reducing the number of migraines I had. And sumatriptan taken at early onset was very efficient at never getting too painful/vomiting stage.