My migraines are getting out of control..............been to the GP...beta-blockers.

[girlandboy]

Went this morning because I am now on day 10 of a migraine/headache.

I usually have to take 1.5mg of Pizotifen every day to prevent migraines, but they don't seem to work like they used to.

A week last Saturday, a migraine started. It was bad until Monday and then went down a grade to just a really bad headache. A few more days of this and it has now reduced down to just a headache.

The Gp has taken me off the Pizotifen, and has prescribed beta-blockers. These are called Half Inderal LA (Propanolol Hydrochloride) 80mg. I have taken one, and am hoping for the best, but I seem to have a bit of nervousness about taking beta-blockers. He says that I am getting migraines and also a chronic daily headache (he's not kidding!) and that the new pills should help.

Does anyone here take beta-blockers for migraine????

I also mentioned that I had had a few instances of chest pain, which I had assumed to be heartburn/indigestion. I've now got to have blood tests and an ECG next week! I've also got to phone for an ambulance if I get it again!

I came out of the doctors and had a little weep in the car. I'm sure that I felt tearful because of the never-ending head pain, but actually I feel a bit better just writing this down.

Anyway, the main question is about the beta-blockers.

Anyone??

I can really sympathise with you about migraine, they are absolutely awful to live with.
I take beta blockers (propranalol)for migraine prevention, and have done for about 3 years. I posted in desperation a few weeks ago as nothing could stop me from having a permanent headache and the slightest thing would tip it over into a migraine that lasted up to a week.

I have tried all the triptans and the only one that works for me is Rizatriptan if I take it early enough. Its a wafer that dissolves on your tongue and the brand name is Maxalt.

Mine are mostly hormonal too, but
my thyroid levels being out also triggers them, as does my epilepsy.
The beta blockers do work at preventing them,and the only side effect I've had is mild depression on a high dose.
Hope you can find something to help you soon.

Ah, I had some wafers just before I started on the Pizotifen.

The doctor gave me 3 of them! He said that they were really expensive and wouldn't give me any more than that. Now because he had told me that they were expensive I was in two minds whether to take them or not. I had to take one at the first sign of a migraine, but I don't get the classic warning signs. I didn't know if it would turn out to be a migraine or just an ordinary headache. By the time I knew, it was too late to take a wafer. I seem to think that it was called Maxalt too. I also remember it didn't work too well, but that may have been because I wasn't taking it at the optimum moment!

Perhaps I'm a bit thick

girlandboy - My experience of propranolol (though many, many years ago), mimics AtheneNoctua's. It did help with the migraine, but the side effect was something not far off hibernation. As the dose was lowered to try and shift the lethargy and dizziness, migraine returned. Like Athene I also have low blood pressure - so perhaps that's why I had a bad reaction.

Have you told your GP that you prefer to take a daily preventative medicine? It just seems strange not to have explored various triptan medicines first. After the chest pain has been investigated could you perhaps see a different GP, or self-refer to a migraine clinic if you're not too far from a city? I could be getting the wrong impression, but it sounds like your GPs budget is getting more consideration than your wellbeing.

I have a very similar pattern of menstrual (pre-menstrual and time of ovulation) migraine as you. I respond well to Sumatriptan/Imigran, but the headaches nearly always return and can drag on for nearly a week at a time. I have recently found out that Sumatriptan has a half-life of only a few hours, so am no longer surpised that this is happening. I keep meaning to make a GP appointment to see if I can change to a triptan medication that stays in the system longer.

Migraine may not be life threatening, but it can stop people from holding down a job, being able to safely and reliably care for their children, fully lead their lives. I've spent many years fighting for appropriate medication (due to cost), but once met a lovely GP who told me she'd not restrict medication for migraineurs any more than she'd withhold insulin from a diabetic. You deserve to be taken seriously.

Good luck

has anyone mentioned mercury fillings?

If you have any at all you should have them removed. They are toxic and cause migraines in people after about 15 - 20 years in situ. A friend of mine resolved her migraines completely after biting the bullet and paying to get her mercury fillings replaced. She can't believe that she didn't think of them earlier, she had migraines for YEARS but they were getting basically continuous.

hi there
I took half inderal until I got preggers and found that it worked fairly well.Didnt stop migraines completely though. Didn't have horrible side effects as compared with amytriptiline (as discussed in the Vogue article) which made it almost impossible to get out of bed in the morning.

I have been to the City of London Migraine clinic where they told me that because I was taking too much Zomig (for the migraines the half inderal couldnt stave off)I was starting to getting rebound headaches. Instead, they suggested I try taking soluble aspirin as soon as I felt a migraine coming on and unbelievably it works a treat. Cheap and cheerful soluble aspirin was a lifesaver!They also gave me lots of advice about drinking lots of water, never letting myself get hungry (a license to snack-yipee) and getting enough sleep. Of course then I got pregnant and had to stop both the half inderal and the aspirin and so had a hellish pregnancy. Had a migraine almost every day till I got to 5 months when they miraculously stopped. Now that Ive had the baby I only get one once a month which for me is a small miracle and completely life changing.

Thanks everyone for all your supportive and helpful replies.

As I wrote earlier, I am going to print off this thread, so that I don't forget all the suggestions.

I am interested in the mercury fillings idea (it was also on the link at the start of the thread), though I dread to think how much money I will have to save to change them all.

Magnesium is another route to try.

I will give the soluble aspirin a go as well - it's worth a try.

I think I was feeling so tearful this morning because of a combination of pain and the chest pain investigation thingy. I feel alot better having just put it all into writing, and by having had such lovely responses. Thank you all .

By the way - I actually think the headache has gone! So that was just the 10 days then!!! Phew........

How does one know if her fillings have mercury in them?

if they are shiny silver fillings they have mercury in them

tooth coloured ones don't

nor do gold ones, obviously

Oh jeez, I have a mouth full of fillings (one is a gold inlay, one is a gold/titanium crown, and the rest (like 10 or so) are silver (mercury!).

I've always thought that my migraines were rather suspicious since not another sole in my family gets them. Not parents. Not grangparents. Not syblings. Not cousins. No on!

Oh God, it could all be down to my metal mouth.

Now, must go research this link. Is it controversial or is it generally accepted in the medical community that mercury filling cause migraines?

I've just had a google and couldn't really find a connection between mercury and migraines. Can anyone post a useful link for me?

Thank you!

PS Looking forward to meeting you on the 22nd, Princess P.

They're certainly not good for you - but remission during second and third trimester in two pregnancies, and during initial few months of heavy-duty breastfeeding confirm a hormonal cause for me as far as I'm concerned. How did others get on during pregnancy?

I didn't find anything changed during pregnancy. I have laso spent quite a few years making lists and racking my brain to find a connect between any food I eat, and sleep pattern, hormonal correlations, etc. The only thing I can find a positive correlation with is a post stressful event. For example, if someone makes me raging mad at work (which does heappen from time to time), after I have calmed down is when a migraine might hit. And that's it.

The only thing that I am allergic to (and know of) is cats. Oh, and probably MSG, but I think that is quite common and I'm not sure it's really an allergy but more of a normal human reaction to large doses of msg.

MSG is evil. But thankfully now removed from Hula Hoops!

Avoiding stress and annoying people... that's an altogether harder proposition.

(BB, new name)

MSG only bother me in huge quatities. But it is rather unpleasant.

Girlandboy. Your gp won't suggest imigran until you have tried cheaper alternatives. It is very expensive as my gp repeatedly informs me every time I ask for another prescription. One even told me if I took it too often it would stop working. I have trawled the internet looking for any evidence to support this claim and can find nothing. I even asked a different gp how many was too many and he just said if I was having to take more than 6 a month they would look into other treatments because of the cost. No mention of them stopping working. The thing is I have looked in to the cost and, yes, they are dear but in relation to me being unemployed and unable to work fulltime because my migraines are that bad surely it's more cost effective for me to have the imigran.
I've been keeping a "headache diary" to take with me when I next go to gp and in the last month I've had 12 migraines. If it wasn't for imigran I would have long since lost my job

Every GP is different. Mine is pretty good about prescribing the triptans. When I wen on pizotifen she reduced my monthy triptans (I take naramig rather than imigran) from 12 to 6. So far, it seems okay.

But I am now very very interested in this potential link between the mercury in 9 fillings and my headaches. As much as I dread the thought of what it will cost to do a complete refit on my teeth, I think I might sell one of the kids to pay for it. Just have to decide which one.

Kiddiz - apologies if I'm going over old ground here, but I'm researching headache recurence or rebound headaches after taking triptans and thought I'd share the following:

NHS advice to GPs regarding Triptan use in patients whose headaches return

A bit complicated to follow but I think you may find it useful if you can wade through it.
Triptan rebound headaches and newer triptans with longer half-lives

Apparently, Sumatriptan has a half life of only two hours (so within two hours half of the drug will have left your blood stream), which means if your migraines typically last 48-36 hours, it is small wonder that you need repeated doses. Frovatriptan at the other extreme has a half-life of 26 hours. Goodness knows how much this drug costs, but I'm going to my GP soon to beg to try it!

This one won't link:
Text: When we talk about headache recurrence, we refer to the return of an episodic headache within 24 hours of the initial treatment response. So by that I mean a patient would take a medication, have complete response of their headache, and then within a 24-hour period the pain begins to build back to where it was prior to the treatment. Recurrence can occur in a number of patients who treat their headaches and it can be prevented in a number of ways. I've just shown you that the earlier a patient treats the pain and by that I mean when the pain is mild the less likely they are to have recurrence of their headache. Should that happen anyway, often the doctor will add a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory to the medication in patients with repeated bouts of recurrence following a triptan. Another way to make sure that recurrence is lessened is to ensure that the patient is taking the optimal dose of the triptan that they're using. The triptans come in a number of different doses; the correct dose typically is the higher dose. We would only decrease the dose if they had side effects, rather than increase the dose if they had recurrence. The goal is to treat with the higher dose right off the bat, the reason being if a patient has side effects, they are much more likely to decrease the dose whereas if they have no effect, they would be much more reluctant to try the drug again even if it was at a higher dosage. In those patients who those options fail to work and the headaches continue to recur, the use of a longer-acting triptan, meaning a triptan with a longer half life, often will prevent the recurrence.

We see here the different triptans and you can see that triptans can be divided into 2 broad classes, those with a long half life -- the long-acting triptans, frovatriptan and naratriptan, and those that work quicker, but have a shorter half life, almotriptan, eletriptan, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, and zolmitriptan. And you see for the fast-acting triptans, their half lives range from 2 to 4 hours whereas the longer-acting triptans, naratriptan has a 6-hour half life, frovatriptan has actually a 26-hour half life.

This slide looks at the recurrence rate for the different triptans and you can see the low recurrence rate with frovatriptan, the triptan with the longest half life, vs about 50% or slightly less recurrence rates with the other triptans.

IAteAllThePies ...Thanks for that. I'm going to talk to gp about that as recurrance happens alot with me. The migraine goes with imigran but within a few hours it's back again and I have to take another tablet. I have to save my Imigran to take on days when I have things that I have to do such as work etc. Otherwise I just take painkillers and go to bed till it wears off a bit.

Just read through this post and had to comment. Ive been battling headaches/migraines since the middle of july. its been all day every day. been back and forward to the docs many times. 1st few visits i was told to try paracetamol and co-codamol. then after another week, i was back again cos i was having terrible pains in my jaw and neck and was getting worried. told me this was just due to stress (!). explained to him that i was anything but stressed .

anyway, since july, ive tried 6 different types of pain killers

paracetamol (did nothing)
co-codamol (nothing)
Propranolol (was only taking for a week before i was told to stop)
Metoclopramide Hydrochloride (basically paracetamol with an anti sickness even though i wasent sick)
Zolmitriptan (nothing)
Tramadol (only pain killer that works but im allergic to something in it, so have to take an anti histamine at the same time)

my headaches do vary from day to day. most of the time i know its there but im able just to continue. other days i can wake up crying cos the pain is just so severe! i remember one time i couldnt get from my bed to the toilet without breaking down crying.

I seen the dentist aswell who said that if i was grinding my teeth through the night it could cos a headache so i had a gum shield made up to wear while i sleep, but that done nothing either to help.

After a few months of nothing helping, i had blood tests and my gp sent me to have a CT scan just to rule out everythihg. Tests all came back fine and CT scan was clear.

So i had a referal to a specialst last week. she went through everything and has put me back onto Propranolol. Ive to take it for atleast 6 months starting at 20mg and increasing it by 20mg every 2 weeks. She said it will probably knock me for six, but i have to be on it long term to notice it working. She also told me that certain foods can contain alot of chemicals and its possible that they dont agree with me and so can cos pain. These foods include cheese, choc and wine. 3 of my faves!!!!

My headaches did stop for about 3 weeks in october, but are now back again so im ready to give this a go. reading by most of your comments, this seems to be the pills that is working for you.

Interested to hear how being on propranolol long term has affected you, if any. Just hope im not like a walking zombie taking them! the week that i was on them, i was in my bed at night by 8pm cos i was just so tired!

I'm on day 3 of taking the Propanolol, and so far I've not really felt any different.

The headache seems to have gone! Yayyyyy! But I'm not sure if that's due to the beta-blocker or that the headache has just run its' course (until the next one!)

I sat taking my pulse this morning to see if it has slowed, and it was 50 beats per minute. So the pills have done that! It's usually about 70 per minute. I have been aware of yawning a lot, but to tell you the truth, the last 10 days of pain have worn me out, so I'm thinking the yawning could be that. Who knows?! I'll just have to wait and see.

GroovyRach - I feel very sorry for you. It's so debilitating being in pain for so long. You have my every sympathy.

I think we all ought to be molly-coddled a bit more.

Groovy, have you thought of an osteopath or chiropractor? Such a sudden onset and lasting for so long does not sound like a typical migraine sufferer to me. I have taken to exploring things I think are only remotely possible to cause my headaches. I wonder if your spine/neck/head might be abit misalighned and maybe pinching some nerves.

The fact that Zolmitriptan did nothing is an indication that your headaches are not vascular (i.e. migranes).

someone did suggest going to see a chiropractor but it wasent ever suggested by the doc. i may look into it though!

the only times that ive ever had migraines before now was a few years back. i would have one that lasted 3 days when i stopped taking my pill for the 7 day break. after a few months i went back to the doc and she put me onto a different pill and they stopped. ive stopped taking my pill completely round about july which was when this all started. i did wonder if it was related, but i dont think so.

girlandboy - how r u finding taking the propanolol? ive been reading up on them and im still not sure about having to take them for 6 months!

athenenoctua - what other things have u been finding out that u may be causing your headaches? im glad to hear im not the only one who has been suffering such pain for so long!!

ment to add aswell. i went into holland and barratt the other day and spoke with the woman in there. she suggested i try calcium and magnesium supplaments. ive bought some and will started them at the weekend. good to see it was also suggested by someone on here!

My dh gets migraines and tried all of the medicines going. Eventually a gp suggested soluble aspirin (I see it's been recommended on here) and it was like somebody flicking a switch. It makes a huge difference. He still gets migraines and sometimes he doesn't get to them soon enough and loses a few days to it but aspirin is amazing for him. The GP said to take a mouthful and hold it in his mouth for 5 minutes until swallowing and to continue doing this until he'd drunk the glass. It absorbs through your cheeks apparently and is the quickest way of getting it into your system.

My mother had hormonal migraines exactly the same as yours. She had a hysterectomy for other problems in the end and the migraines went. It was horrible to see her in crippling pain so often.

I know how you feel I also have 2 menstrual migraines a month and have had these since years. I take naramig for them and it usually goes within a few hours, been taking magnesium for about 3 weeks now but cant see a lot of difference.