Migraines

[Dogzombie]

I’m a migraine sufferer and take sumatriptan which mostly gets rid of it unless it’s a pre menstrual migraine then nothing seems to work.
Is there anything I can do to stop these pre menstrual ones? They last three days 😢

Do you take a preventative too?

Have you seen your GP about them? Been referred to a neurologist?

If no to any of the above, it is probably worth seeing your doctor for some advice.

As weird as it sounds, I've found that I can reduce the intensity of mine by eating either a bacon sandwich or a packet of pork scratchings. It doesn't take the migraine away but it brings it down to a more tolerable level

Agree with this, lots of salt and a really sugary drink helps, especially with sumitripan and a migraleve

No
Tried beta blockers but that didn’t really work.
seen GP already. I’m under a neurologist for something else and have 6 monthly MRIs for this.

This is the best advice ever. Any excuse for a bacon sandwich! X

Daily magnesium has worked for me
It takes a few weeks to make a difference

I get the awful hormonal migraines and I’m currently trialling taking both feverfew and magnesium. Separately they didn’t seem to make any difference but together seems to be having a real effect.

I’m trialling a B complex vitamin to see how that works, recommended on here so worth a shot.

I'm prescribed Pizotifen (preventative) as well as 100mg sumatriptan, as I have BRUTAL migraines.

I second magnesium, there's an excellent triple complex I buy from Amazon that helps with more than just migraines, I'll find the link for you!

@BeautyGoesToBenidorm I came here to suggest Pizotifen.
Honestly it changed my life.

Migraines aren't completely gone, but they are so much more bearable.

I will go back to the GP as this is miserable.
strange question but do any contraceptives help these horrendous pmt migraines?

Bacon sandwiches aside, I was put on the mini pill which did reduce the frequency for me.

i take amitriptyline, topiromate and have something called 'relpax' which i have to take right at the start of a migraine.

make sure you lay off the opiate based pain killers, these are the worst thing migraine sufferers can take.

i found that as i have aged, my migraines have changed and after suffering for many many years, they have now decided that i might have MS!

I take a fairly high dose of topiramate, morning and evening. My neurologist says topiramate is the Marmite of migraine medications. For me it has been incredible, after other drugs either didn’t work or had bad side effects. With the split does I have no side effects.

My migraines are reduced in frequency by well over 90% and in intensity by over 80%.

Bacon sandwiches sound like more fun however!

topiramate for me morning and night has also been the game changer after trying so many other things. Much less frequent and intensity also much less, wouldn't be without it now. No awful side effects!

Unlike a pp I find a codeine painkiller effective alongside the sumatriptan.
nurofen plus (pharmacy only) has something like 12.5 mg of codeine in each tablet. Not everyone responds to codeine so may not help.
I take them very occasionally on average 4 or 6 tablets per month. Prior to this I found I was taking regular paracetamol or anadin extra and it wasn’t touching it but it was upsetting my (empty) stomach. So now I have just 2 tablets that actually work.
when recovering I also rate a salty, protein based snack, for me a cheeseburger is optimum.

Boots does a cheaper own-brand version, ibuprofen and codeine 12.5mg tablets (behind the counter).

I was suffering up to 3 a week and worse around my period. Tried absolutely everything on prescription, the only thing to work (and continues to) is a combo recommended to me by the Migraine Trust - B2 (riboflavin) 200mg 3 x a day, plus Co Q10 150mg a day, plus magnesium 400-600mg a day (at night as makes you sleepy).

I also figured out that tomatoes (especially sun dried) some nuts and citrus were major triggers. For any time I accidentally have any of these I take Cetirizine which decreases the severity and duration.

I found it helpful to use an app to track my migraines. It helped me realise some triggers and some things that helped that I wouldn't have spotted otherwise, plus it was good data for my conversations with my doctor. I used Migraine Buddy but I knot there are others out there.

I tried the combined pill and it had no effect on my hormonal migraines. The mini pill has had a positive effect though. Much shorter duration of migraine and they usually respond to the triptans.