to be absolutely sick of migraines and to ask if preventative medication is any good

[TinasCrockeryPot]

To sum it up im lucky if I can go a week without getting a migraine, I've been suffering one for three days now, it started with a headache on saturday night that was gone by the time I woke up yesterday but reappeared last night and hasn't gone since. I feel like I'm going to vomit constantly and it really hurts my head and face. I've taken zolmitriptan but the side effects I get are horrendous I.e tight chest and extremity numbness/weakness. I also can't take this when I work sue to it making me drowsy so want to speak to go about preventative medications, does this make anyone drowsy? And how effective is it?

@Gobbycop

Why is the first port of call always fucking drugs.

Consider seeing a chiropractor, physio, osteopath.
Fix the problem rather than masking it.

That’s quite rude. I was unaware the people you’ve listed are specialists on brains. Not all headaches are equal. You seem to think that migraines are like shoulder tension; if you just have a chiropractor do a neck adjustment, the migraine will go away. Lovely if it works for a few people? But if that were the case for the majority, there would be a LOT more chiropractors and the NHS would be funding them by the bucketload to save all the money they have to spend on migraine treatment. And in truth, they may STILL just release tension that the migraine caused, but not treat what started the migraine. Also, migraine sufferers can actually get migraines from things like chiropractic manipulations. Of course, this is if you get a chiropractor or osteopath who isn’t a quack.

The reason migraines cause 86 million lost work days per year, and £8.8 billion lost from the economy is because they’re incredibly difficult to stop. Migraines are a neurological problem (having migraines with aura, like mine, doubles your chance of having stroke)*, not a physiological problem. You need a neurologist and neurological treatment. What is it you think someone like a physio could possibly do for someone suffering hormonal migraines? Migraines with aura? Migraines caused by food intolerances, such as wine, cheese, or chocolate? You don’t need physio, a chiropractor, or an osteopath for any of those. You need a neurologist to help you figure out your triggers, you need to know how or if you can avoid them as much as possible (period migraines obviously not a choice), AND you need to find a drug to stop the migraine (which may still happen completely at random sometimes) when it starts so you aren’t incapacitated for 2-4 days. You also need a neurologist just to make sure it’s not a more serious condition.

Honestly, is this part of the same MN brigade that says to never call 999 or an ambulance? So now - Never take drugs for diseases that should be treated with them? Never get checked out by a medical specialist for an actual brain issue?

*Anyone with migraines reading this, or who is new to having them, the rule of thumb is: first or worst. You need to seek urgent medical care if you are having either a first major headache unlike any you’ve had or the worst headache you’ve ever had.

@Gobbycop before going on the 'fucking drugs' I had seen an osteopath, a cranial osteopath, a physio, a clinical herbalist, two homeopaths and an acupuncturist, each for several months. I had travelled across the country three times to see a specialist private physiotherapist and stuck religiously to the exercises set. I had spent hundreds of pounds on a mouth-guard from a specialist dentist. I had eliminated all known triggers from my diet and gone gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free and stuck to it for over two years. None of it helped at all. I had lost my career and had to give up driving. Sorry if I hadn't tried hard enough for your liking, but it was 'fucking drugs' or suicide, and that's no word of exaggeration.

@Dillo10 - yes, I've seen three NHS neurologists now and a private one who specialises in vestibular migraine, as I have peripheral vestibular dysfunction as well and it's all tied up. The first (private) tried pizotifen and propanalol, which were both awful for me. The second (NHS and amazing) tried topiramate and then pregabalin (which has been the best so far), and referred me to the third for Botox. He was a bit useless, but then he retired and my current neuro, who's doing my Botox, is amazing. He's trying to get me onto a trial of Aimovig because the Botox is helping but not quite as much as we'd like.

@spiderlight thanks for the info. Are you back working/driving? Would you say the groggy feeling is like a vague lightheadedness? Haven't heard anyone say they have similar to me before with migraines

Gobbycop, have you ever had a migraine? No, didn't think so.

If you had ever read these threads that pop up on Mumsnet from time to time, you will see that many people (including myself) suffer extremely debilitating migraine symptoms. I would wager that probably 85-90% of us have tried many different treatments/pills/diet adjustments over the years to try and eliminate them with no success. Many of us have exhausted many different avenues. The migraines I suffer with are hormonal, and do not respond to non medical treatment (believe me I have tried). Next time you respond on a thread, ensure you are more informed and far less judgmental.

Anyway OP, back to the thread. I am currently on Candesartan as a preventative and it has worked wonders. I get migraines much less frequently and when I do get them, they don't hang around.

I tried all sorts over the years. Regular acupuncture only thing that worked for me without side effects. It is recommended by NICE. It took a few weeks to work.my acupuncturist said that daith piercing only works for a short time if at all.

DD had daith piercing done 2.5 years ago. Before having it done, she used to get 1 or 2 migraines each month, since, she has only had 2 migraines in total.

@Dillo10 - I'm working more or less full-time from home but my head is still nowhere near clear enough for me to risk driving and I'm resigned to never getting behind the wheel again. My weird-headedness varies from lightheadedness to sensations of unreality to crushing drowsiness to spinning vertigo, but I always feel spaced out to some degree even on days when I have no head pain. It's difficult because it varies so much that I can't adapt to it and convince myself that it's the new normal, because it can change overnight or with a sudden change of light or something. I saw Prof Linda Luxon in London (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery) who told me it was vestibular migraine. There are lots of people on this FB group with the same issues.

@HoldMyLobster, they never seemed that awful at the time, because I was used to them, I guess. The pain I could live with, but the constant vomiting got very tiresome. A boyfriend timed the interval between bouts of vomiting once, and it was every 10-20 minutes for 16 hours.

But my mother had them too, so it was normalised, in a way. She once had a migraine that lasted 3 weeks, the GP arranged for the district nurse to call twice a day to give her anti-emetic shots.

I had my first migraine aged 6 and I’m now 45 so had them almost 40 years, would be quicker writing down what I haven’t tried yes I’ve tried all the fucking drugs going, all the herbal shit and the chiropractor/osteopath/reiki/acupuncture stuff as well.

Currently getting by with topiramate and sumatriptan. Also take dihydrocodeine and paracetamol daily for fibromyalgia. Haven’t tried Botox yet though oh and have a diath piercing that did sod all. HVe a healthy vegan diet, magnesium and calcium supplements too.

Never found a trigger, I get the full aura, lights, zig zags, double vision live in constant fear of the next one it’s a bit rubbish really.

Propranolol is a life changer for me. So is the piercing

And acupuncture around the ears

Propranolol worked for me but GP took me off it as I am asthmatic and first GP shouldn’t have prescribed it .
Amitriptyline worked for a while but I was totally exhausted and put on loads of weight so came off that when migraines increased again.
Gp refused to prescribed Topiramate as it causes birth defects and I am of child bearing age- I’m 46 FFS, on the pill and a long history of not being able to conceive and miscarriage so it wasn’t going to be an issue but still no prescription!!!

Take sumatriptan for an attack, topped up by Naproxen if first tablet doesn’t work.

On New GP advice I looked at Migraine Trust website for advice and Joe take B12, q10 and magnesium daily; my migraines have halved in number.
Awaiting my neurology appointment in November at the moment.

I'm so sorry that Zomig doesn't work for you. After 25 years of trying lots of things, a combination of that and topiramate twice daily have changed my life.

@Gobbycop you really have no idea how debilitating migraines are do you?? I wake up with a mild migraine every day ( paraplegic migraines ) then when it’s bad I’m in bed for up to 14 days and believe me I have tried everything in the book as probably most other posters have too!

What a totally useless and ill informed comment

Another vote for beta blockers here, I was on then for a few years but have stopped now and don't seem to get as many as I used to. I use migraleve pink when I do get them which help if I catch it quick enough

Botox is amazing for migraines

@babybythesea

I took beta blockers for years and they worked a treat. No side effects. I stopped when I was planning a baby and after I had her although I still get migraines they are nowhere near as frequent, so I don’t take them now.

I did the same but they made my asthma worse in the end. But I'm now on an implant (and basically past it reproductively) so they have stopped due to that I think.

TinyCrockeryPot
I believe MSG is a trigger for me too. A few weeks ago I had some chips and dip which both contained MSG. I got a terrible sinus migraine that day, my sinuses got so inflamed and it felt like my cheeks and forehead were on fire. I also felt sick to my stomach.

So for me MSG, hormones before my period and massive drops in temperatures/ drastic weather changes are a definite migraine trigger.