To ask what helps your migraines?!

[PitifulPrincess]

Since I had my second child 2 years ago I've been getting migraines on average 3 times a month. I get awful nausea and vomiting every time. I haven't pinpointed a cause but it's probably stress related. I have a busy life and a child with autism whose behaviour can be difficult, 'managing stress' isn't really an option.

Please tell me any miracle migraine cures you've found that actually have worked for you to lessen a migraine once it's started or prevented them!

Things that help with mine (migraines with aura):

Give myself an orgasm asap before the main pain hits. I discovered this quite randomly myself but then googling showed it's actually backed by some science. I was raging no medical professional had ever even hinted that it might be worth trying. https://biologyinsights.com/does-an-orgasm-really-help-relieve-migraine-pain/

Then also a complete change in lifestyle. When I'm eating low-carb, zero processed food, getting lots of sleep and not getting stressed, then my migraines decrease in frequency and dwindle to almost nothing. It's never sustainable long-term though since life always gets in the way. It's still nice to know it's theoretically possible - gives me hope for retirement! :)

I’ve got the cool cap that someone mentioned upthread - £15 on Amazon and is also lovely in this heatwave just as something cold to hold onto!

What has drastically reduced my frequency of migraine though is vitamin D (prescribed by GP) and magnesium glycinate gummies. One or the other has had a dramatic effect and my migraines are suddenly a lot less frequent and a lot less severe which has been amazing, frankly.

Amitriptyline works like citalopram etc. - it changes your brain chemistry but takes 2-3 weeks to work. So, if you are just taking it around your period, you are either lucky and it's just a coincidence, or you are taking it for just long enough for it to start working. You really need to take it every day.

I’ve discussed this approach with my GP and he seems happy, although he’s against prescribing amitriptyline at all for migraines and says there are now other better treatments. It generally makes me very drowsy and if I can feel a migraine developing I find that it helps.

if it’s a placebo effect then I don’t mind as long as it works!

Sumatriptan, a cooling hat and sleep

Is it known what physically causes migraines?! It's comforting but also shocking to have so many people commenting and suffering the same thing

I think that we are a long way from understanding migraines. Oddly enough a friend sent me a link to an article on migraine in The New Yorker and it repeats something I’ve read a lot - that it has been historically under-researched and under-funded as it has been primarily seen as a female affliction.

I work in the US and have been lucky to have a neurologist (also a migraine sufferer) and she told me that migraines often get “turned on” or “turned off” at the major hormonal phases of our life - puberty, pregnancy and menopause. In my case although there is migraine in my family if I had a year with 2 migraines it was a bad year, but it surged and became chronic when I hit peri-menopause. Being in full menopause hasn’t helped.

I’ve taken a lot of the things on this thread. Some worked for a time and then seemed to wear off (I read of this a lot). Sumatriptan was my wonder drug for a few years and overnight seemed to stop working. I take Naratriptan now.

Yesterday I had my first dose of Aimovig - a monthly injection which a friend at work says has worked miracles for her. I also have Botox injections every 3 months. They definitely help but have not been a cure-all (the injections are in the scalp and neck and hairline on the face - I dare say I have a very un-wrinkly scalp).

When I come back home to the UK I very much plan to go to the Migraine Trust for help. Having doctors who take the pain seriously and who are used to trying out combinations of remedies to find the right one has really been a life saver for me.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/18/the-headache-tom-zeller-jr-book-review

There is a lady called Angela Stanton who categorically states they are caused by being out of electrolyte balance and the genes which cause migraine make you susceptible to electrolyte imbalance. Her followers follow her protocol which is a special diet and balancing electrolytes and say that they become migraine free. I don’t know if it’s true or not but it’s an interesting theory.

I used to get one every one to two weeks. Had the medical (not normal) daith piercing over a year ago. Not had one since.

when I feel one ‘coming over the horizon’ twiddling with the piercing stops it happening.

Daith piercing seems to work in around one-third of sufferers.

Oh wow that’s so interesting! And makes a bit of sense to me. I stopped taking electrolytes (the dissolvable powder ones) as I had several instances where I felt unwell quite suddenly and I felt like I do after I’ve had a migraine (shaky, sick, cold sweats, weak, head felt the weight of a rock) but never was hit with the starting symptoms (so didn’t take my medication). The migraine never came and after a lie down I was fine in an hour or so. It took me a while to connect the dots but I realised every time this happened I’d had an electrolyte drink an hour or so earlier, so I assumed I just didn’t agree with them and stopped taking them and that was that. Hasn’t happened since. I used to take them the morning after a heavy workout if I felt a bit dehydrated, every few weeks so not very often, so I just don’t any more. I wonder if the electrolyte imbalance theory has some weight, as I’ve never known any friends to feel unwell after taking them - I asked around as I was new to electrolytes so thought maybe it was a known thing! Maybe taking extra ones messed me up a bit if I already have an imbalance 😂

Caffeine, ibuprofen, and a cold cap from the freezer changed every 30 mins (buy two)