To ask for urgent help with migraines

[GetOffTheRoof]

I'm at my wits end and have no more ideas.

Always had migraine, but these are the worst they have ever been. I wake up at either 0215 or 0440 on the dot feeling like I've been stabbed in the right eye with a pitchfork, hot pain which shoots through my skull and neck on the same side.

My triptans do work, but I shouldn't take more than 6 per month and this is happening almost daily. I have 3 pills left for the month.

I'm already on preventative medication which isn't working and I'm having Botox on a month, but how the hell am I going to survive the next month?! I'm in agony today. Phone is on dark mode before the naysayers start.

I have a full time job, I need to be able to drive and I need to be able to get up and take my dog out each day / interact with her etc. No kids. DH is in the military and away for the next 4 weeks.

AIBU to ask for any remedies, cures, tinpot ideas others have managed to make work for their bonkers migraine attacks?

I have put an online request into the GP this weekend for any meds they can give me, but won't hear back until Wednesday.

I have a Cefaly which works on normal migraine, but not on these. I use it daily. I also have all sorts of aromatherapy oils, a massage device thing I use on my neck and shoulders, I've changed all my pillows, the bedding, have a fan on in the bedroom, all windows open, take antihistamines, wear a tooth grinding night guard, am hydrated, no caffeine, no alcohol, recent eye checks and tests, take high dose VitB.

Gah. Thank you for reading!

Someone has to suggest it but CBS oil in high doses maybe speak to your neurologist as over the counter cbd oil is too weak to have any real effect.
Also lsd is highly effective and can be prescribed for migraine treatment by neurologists and will be easier to get.

My friend had her daith pierced too and said it really helped. Considering it myself.

I take magnesium which works to prevent hormonal migraines... as long as I remember to take the buggers. If I don’t, I can guarantee a 2-3 day migraine will ensue.

My triptans aren’t cutting it either so I’m really tempted to try a daith piercing; lots of people seem to be saying it helps!

www.fedup.com.au/factsheets/symptom-factsheets/headaches-and-migraines

There's a cold /cool pillow that works wonders for me, it's called a "Chillow" and it's made by Soothesoft. (There are fakes out there, the real thing is about £30 and it's worth it)
I am not sure how it works scientifically, but it's a miracle for me! The bliss of a cold pillow that remains cold!
You can either put it inside the lining of your top pillow or lie on it directly.
It takes about a day to set up (and is a very wet job, so set it up on the bathroom floor and have spare towels to mop up spills) but it's very much worth it and the coldness you get from each "fill" that you carry out lasts in your Chillow for weeks and weeks.
Each Chillow lasts for years.

You poor thing. Could the warmer weather be bringing them on? I know it does for me.

Luckily my migraines aren’t as frequent as yours but mine can be pretty severe when they happen. I hadn’t had a migraine for months when I was struck down while abroad on holiday earlier in the year. The worst of the migraine was on the travel day from hell. I must have looked pretty strange wearing sunglasses in Grenoble airport while there was a snowstorm outside. Then once in the air my head felt like it was going to explode Worst was to come. I missed my next flight from Gatwick (don’t think I could have handled another flight anyway) and had to book a hotel and replacement flight while travelling solo and suffering this extreme migraine. Miraculously I managed to book a flight to the right location for the right day but managed to lose my credit card in the process...

I’ve had an increase in migraines since this incident. I’m very sensitive to light and tried to get a dimmer light fitted near my desk at work but they just put a different colour in which didn’t work. I’ve since moved desks which has made some difference but I still find the light too bright. I’d be interested to see if these coloured glasses would make any difference. I’ve recently been told that another migraine suffers in the office is having the same issues with the lights so at least I know it’s not just me.

Good luck with finding a solution.

I've DM'd you a suggestion, good luck with it all.

A friend's husband had to go on a low-histamine diet for some reason. Friend ate a lot of the same meals because she couldn't be arsed to cook separate one and found that her migraines improved massively.

www.healthline.com/health/histamine-intolerance

It may be a long time off for you, but one consolation of the menopause is that lot of women find that migraines improve afterwards. Mine are far less frequent and less severe when I get them, my late mother stopped getting them altogether.

bluetongue, fluorescent light is one of my triggers. At work they moved my desk to next to a window so that I had max daylight and removed the fluorescent tube that was right overhead.

Our H&S people regard migraine as a disabling condition and view that as a reasonable adjustment.

Hey you sound like me. I’m on topiramate with zolmitriptan. Also have an ineffective daith and an infertile husband. I’ve also tried all drugs going. This is my second time on topiramate.

Anyway, it does sound like cluster headaches. My mum gets them. Mention it next time you see the neurologist although that doesn’t help you now I now

Hope they piss off.

I’ve had the Daith piercing and it does not work , didn’t for my sister either .
Have tried all sorts of things and nothing helps me

Have you tried taking a B2/riboflavin supplement? If you google B2 and migraines there's loads of info on the web about it. Taking a daily supplement has reduced my sons migraines dramatically from 3-4 a month to 1 every 2-3 months. And when he does get one they clear up much more quickly. It's transformed his life. You have to take for 3 months before it fully works but we saw an improvement in terms of severity pretty much straight away.
Good luck I hope you find something that helps it's such a horrible condition.

This thread resonates with me. I have tried all the preventatives - no success. My migraines also strike at night, which means I don't recognise the warning signs until it's too late. Triptans give me seriously worrying side effects in any case.

My triggers are garlic (near impossible to avoid in anyone's cooking but my own ) and lack of sleep and it's so easy to get into a vicious cycle when the attack's come at night. Interesting about sugar and caffeine - I instinctively reach for a shortbread biscuit and mug of very strong tea when the pain is bad. Assuming I can get downstairs to the kettle.

In terms of relief, i agree with a former poster - pain killer suppositories work for me. I use indometacin which is old fashioned but strangely seems to work within an hour or two. I also used to have occipital nerve injections every three months - but now I'm taking part in a new drug trial (injection every four weeks) and have no idea if I'm on the placebo or the real thing but the results have been pretty spectacular - down to around three attacks a month from many many more. And these are milder and go more quickly.

More research money is being poured into migraine all the time. So harangue your neurologist! I hope you find some cranial peace.

Meant to add that feverfew tablets are worth trying.

For all those who have had daith piercing - I'm so tempted but isn't it absolute agony and awful to heal? [apols for temp thread hijack!]

I cut out caffeine to stop mine, have you looked at your diet?

Have you had your neck alignment checked?

I was having 24 hrs break between migraines which was totally debilitating. A visit to a chiro showed my neck was locked up ( fell off my horse too many times!). That was corrected and the migraines disappeared over night.

Now I only get them occasionally when they get triggered by low blood sugar or hormones but one every couple of months I can cope with

I didn't find the daith piercing particularly painful or hard to heal. The piecing stab is momentary. It did feel very hot and rather uncomfortable for the first 24 hours or so but painful would be over stating it.

It had no effect whatsoever on my migraines and I've since taken it out.

Can't add this to my watch list but I need it- sorry!

This is a bit late - but if you quickly drink something really freezing like a large thickshake or slushy- it does something to the constricting of your blood vessels and it really helps. If caffeine helps try a Coke slushy. Really works for me. Plus I take a Triptan first.

Have you heard of aimovig? I’ve been on it for 5 months and it’s life changing.
Contact the national migraine centre for more info. It’s not on the nhs yet so you’ll have to pay but it’s knocked me down from 5/6 a week to 1/2.

Occipital nerve blocks have changed my life with injections at the base of my skull once a months. I had migraines daily for 2 years and wanted to die. 4head stick helps a bit, as does a hot water bottle at nape of the neck, Epsom salt bath, 2 paracetamol & 2 ibuprofen, codeine. It’s hell, I’m so sorry for you. Just struggle through til the Botox best you can

Feverfew. My nan, who also suffered when she was younger, swore by it. No doctors ever mentioned it to me. Started on 100mg a day, substantially brought the severity of the attacks down and the frequency. I went from 18 migraine days a month, some as long as 7 days in a row, to just 4 or 5. I started on 100mg, then I feel they start creeping up more after a year or so, so I increased the dose. I'm on 380mg a day now. Life changing and the best thing is it's herbal, easy to get and zero side effects.
None of the preventatives worked for me and the side effects made me a zombie. Worth a go.