Is anyone on medication for migraines to prevent them ?

[Mortigua]

Had a GP (call ) appointment and they offered something that prevents migraines but it causes weight gain (so I said no-it was the first side effect listed and I have been struggling with my weight a while but finally getting somewhere) then they offered beta blockers but warned they would make me tired and slow me down exercise wise.
Is anyone on anything that doesn’t cause awful side effects ? I am so fed yo with having migraines half of my life but I think better to carry on with treating them than have side effects that make me feel worse. I wonder if it’s worth me trying anything else?

Some preventatives the GP prescribed, others I've had from neurologists/headache specialists. The candesartan was one of two or three recommended by my neurologist and the GP prescribed it based on the letter.

I was prescribed mine through my GP. Shes bloody fantastic. I hadn't seen her for a few years, always seen the other GP at the practice and he never did anything about my migraines. Then I had an appointment which happened to be with the female GP. I told her how long, how often and how bad I had been suffering and she gave me propranolol straight away.

In no particular order, i've had various over the years as I have long term chronic migraine. Propranol I slept around the clock and woke up and back to sleep, I didn't surface for weeks.

Depakote was ok but didn't help.. Topamax was ok for a while but kidneys were not happy. Gabapentin / lyrica / clonazepam were no goes as With the former I went into a psychotic episode and was so desperate that I tried lyrica with a good break in between but the anxiety levels I had was ridiculous and was going mad and my migraine attacks were worse than ever. Clonazepam made me hyper all the time so I lost a lot of weight as wasn't sleeping or eating. BOTOX wasn't a success either as had severe side effects from it which are very rare but affected me big time for the best part of a year.

Finally I took a break from it all, worked on relaxing and trying to get thru it, I use a Cefaly device and also find the migracap good as the cold and the pressure in just the right areas, I got the implant back in and that helped alot, started on meds for blood pressure which are double jobbing for migraine (Candasartan) which is really helping, gone down from 21+ days a month to under 7.

I now hydrate better, have reduced my stress big time. I eat better, small and often.

Triptans are a no no due to the type of migraine I have. Anti sickness meds help when needed, vertigo meds for that, muscle relaxants in large numbers and intense physio, ot, salt and neurology input, bowel meds and finding an outlet for my worries.

I was hospitalised at least every other month over 7+ years, so it's a big drop. I've had drips of Dhea and iv chlorpromazine which helped break some attacks. it has been a long journey to get to here but it can be very trial and error. I also tried burbur and feverfew.

Have a look at Severe headache expert, he has a free e-course and a book,I found it helpful, it's what he would advise and treat someone with a billion pounds budget to fix it and it's under a tenner,

Dunno if any of those rambles help, but hopefully

About eight years after five years of hell, Moorfields diagnosed migraine, As I was for a check up anyway, I went to our local Gp, he said keep a calendar month diary I did, five in a fortnight first tablets put the weight on I said after a month no way am I taking these I hate my body as it, propanol was prescribed, much better. So for those struggling to get help keep a diary, I’m doing post coil as I’ve had days of agony. The diary’s seem to make all the difference.

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. I will read through again tomorrow and will also get my prescription, hopefully I could be lucky and it will work ok without issues but I didn’t realise how many options there were ! I’ve got some googling to do !
Holothane sorry if I missed it but what were the first ones you had?

To the PP who asked about being diagnosed/medication , I was diagnosed a few years back and given triptans (sumatriptan) and advice on how to manage them etc and told to consider preventative drugs if that wasn’t working. Then today I spoke to a GP again and he thought it’s time to try the preventative ones .

That’s jogged my memory, I was on Propanol Beta blockers. They were especially handy as they lowered my anxiety. After taking them for 2 years I came off them and have gone from having a migraine 5/7 days a week to almost having none nowadays

That’s really good to hear . I am much less anxious since being on anti depressants but still do get quite stressed especially at night time so would be a good bonus if they helped

I tried amyltriptyline and then nortriptyline, getting up to 100mg a night but no migraine improvement. I gained lots of weight and had a horrible dry mouth.

I'm now on lamotrigine and in three months I've gone from 1-3 x a week to once every three months migraine wise. I was sceptical when I first googled it but I'm thrilled with the improvement. Good luck OP

I was on propranolol for migraines for six months. I felt awful, really sluggish and exhausted all the time, and put on three stone, which I haven’t been able to lose.

I would really recommend having a consultation with the National migraine centre. They are carrying out consultations via video call and telephone at the moment. I feel like I have a really good treatment plan at the moment, and feel like I might finally reduce my migraines. A consultation costs around £240 for them, but it is a charity so you are able to pay just what you can afford.

@Caribbeanescape that happened to me too. 6 months on propranolol and 3 stone weight gain.

Couldn't stick topiramate either, the non-fizziness of fizzy drinks was just too weird!

I thought mine were bad, but some of your stories are terrible
I did try some preventative migraine medication (can't remember what it was called now) but it didn't work.
During a hospitalization for something else, I was put on amlodipine which lowers blood pressure. My migraines stopped!
My go tried me on a different blood pressure reducing tablet and the migraines came back.
I've gone back onto amlodipine and never get migraines unless I forget my tablets! Don't want to change.
I'm sure pressure in the blood vessels in the brain has something to do with migraines. Amlodipine was not a medication for migraine at the time, but is now recognised as an option

Everyone's migraines are different and there doesn't seem to be a panacea for all. FWIW I cant see any side effect, although I am heavier, this might just be my age!!

My daughter takes pizotifen 2 tablets at bedtime every night, if she misses we know about it . She also takes 10mg amitriptyline for nerve pain and they seem to work well together. We have been keeping an eye on her weight (without her knowledge) as she's only 11. She also gets sumatriptan to take on the onset of a migraine too

I'm on propranolol and pizotifen for migraine prevention, as well as sertraline (an anti-depressant) for anxiety and OCD.

My friend is on topirimate! Certainly hasnt helped with dieting but has drastically helped migraines!
She says it did affect her in regards to comprehension she sometimes forgets spellings or knows words are wrong but can’t always work out why ( she’s always been a good speller) But she’d take that everyday as they reduced significantly and how long they lasted.
She said it was a bit of trial and error over a year to find the right dose, but it’s been many years now and she’s doing great.
Hope this helps!

Thank you all for the replies , it’s really helpful to hear the stories here.
Woke up with what I hope is the end of this one (third day of it) as I’d say I now have a headache rather than migraine. The sun is a major trigger for me though so in sunglasses already (indoors!)
Worrying about the weight gain Caribbeanescape, DreamingofSunshine and FjorGynAndHotWater. That’s what worries me as I know from experience how hard it is to lose and how that affects me and I’m already a bit overweight still .

I hadn’t heard of the migraine centre, thanks will look it up. Stressedmummyoffour I’m glad that works for your DD, in a similar situation with monitoring weight with my DD due to different medication and it’s tricky isn’t it !

I’d be more than happy with anything that helped with the migraines and just left my weight out of it , I’d tolerate other side effects better than that as I am used to them to an extent after being on and off various anti depressants. Obviously the less the better and weight loss would be lovely but I’m desperate for this to not be ruling my life.

I’d definitely consider paying to speak to the Migraine centre Orangesandlemons82 . Can I ask though , can they help with medication or is it all lifestyle type treatments ? I really think I’m in need of medication now partly because my triggers are so hard to avoid (light is the main one ) and partly because my life at the moment makes it too hard to make some of the positive changes that I’m sure would help. I’m going to have a watch through the videos on there to see what others have had help with now .

I can’t remember the first ones, before propanal

Following this as also suffer.
Tried propanalol and amitriptiline so far with no improvement at all.

Sorry to hear that Timetopullmyhairout! Mine seems to have lifted finally (I get two types , the ones I prefer are the ones that start with wiggly lines /lights because then I get warning and can pre empt- the others are often days long and when they lift it’s amazing .

The GP said I’d need to take propanol the whole time to prevent them but in reality I mainly get them half of my cycle (short cycle though so that’s often 1.5 weeks out of 3) so I wish I could just take something then . I wonder if I should try some more treatment type ones as I’ve only tried sumatriptans so far, they did work but make me feel ill and they seem to be working less well now.

Zolmitriptan worked for me after many years of migraines. It Is not taken daily only use when you have migraine symptoms coming on.

Reddoor that’s good to know , I’ve definitely got more options treatment wise then . Sumi triptan did used to work really well but is just not as effective lately

Seems like theres a few options that should hopefully help you OP.
I take Sumitriptan when I get a migraine and like you they make me really ill but they do help my head.

Thanks Peppasmuddypuddles, yes a few things to try I think . I will try the propanalol and see if I feel ok then re think if not but it’s been really good to see there are so many other options