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First migraine in about 8 years.


UncleEJ
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So I got a migraine today. The first one I have had since before I got pregnant the first time. It took my really off guard and scared me a bit. With my previous migraines I would have a visual aura, as well as weakening/numbness in my arms and the inability to speak clearly. This one came with the aura and arm weakening, but with a new symptom as well. I could not read. I always get online to read the forums in the morning and I couldn't read. It was like I could see the word and know that I knew it but it wouldn't make sense in my brain. That really scared me.

 

Anyway, I'm feeling better now and was wondering what the new scoop in migraine treatments are. I plan to see my doctor if I get another one, but was curious if there is anything new out there that is helping folks. My kids are little and my husband works out of town three weeks in a row. I am alone with them a lot and if this is going to be a problem for me, I need something that will help.

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Aggggg, I just typed a short book and accidentally deleted it all. 

 

So, here's the abridged version.   Several of us here get major, all consuming migraines. My life has been forever benefited by the 'triptain family of drugs. They can stop a migraine in it's tracks. If you get another one, get to a doctor and ask about the different migraine abortive drugs.  They need to be taken early on to have the most benefit, but they have changed my life. 

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Aggggg, I just typed a short book and accidentally deleted it all.

 

So, here's the abridged version. Several of us here get major, all consuming migraines. My life has been forever benefited by the 'triptain family of drugs. They can stop a migraine in it's tracks. If you get another one, get to a doctor and ask about the different migraine abortive drugs. They need to be taken early on to have the most benefit, but they have changed my life.

Thank you. In the past I knew one was coming because of the aura symptoms. I was able to take some Tylenol, Advil and go to bed and usually sleep off the worst of it. Obviously, that is not an option now so it is good to hear that there are meds that can help stop them.

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Obviously, that is not an option now so it is good to hear that there are meds that can help stop them.

 

Oh, I remember those days when I would get one that kept me in bed for three days. There were times my husband had to stay home from work because I couldn't see to walk from room to room. It was soooo hard with little ones.

 

When 'triptains were first available, you had to take it by injection. Now, it's tablets and one form is even a generic. So, it's not even terribly expensive. But, in the midst of a migraine, no amount of money seems to much to pay, does it.

 

Glad to hear you are feeling better. Know that there are several good drugs available that can make migraines more of an inconvenience.

 

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Axert here. It's been the best for me, though it doesn't make the migraine disappear, just makes it bearable. At night, a Valium along with it (for muscle spasms).

 

I take Tegretol as a preventitive. But my migraines are actually trigeminal neuralgia. Not sure that Tegretol works for regular migraines.

 

Oh! And Vit D levels - low levels are linked to migraines.

 

Good luck.

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I can't take triptans, so in addition to my preventive meds I have Fioricet to treat my breakthrough migraines.  A lot of my migraines are triggered by my occipital neuralgia, and like Spryte I was on Tegretol to help control that.  For breakthrough migraines that don't respond to Fioricet I have Toradol injections.  

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Can we talk about preventative medication?

 

My doctor has been warning me that if I keep needing more triptans, this might trigger medication-induced-migrains at which point we have no choice but to start taking preventative medication. Taking medication every day, while my migraines are hormone related (so twice a month) scares me. And I'm also afraid of side effects, I keep running into people who tell me they got terribly depressed and/or got lot of anxiety from those medications. (These are mostly older people, so I don't know how much has changed with maybe newer medications?)

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Can we talk about preventative medication?

 

My doctor has been warning me that if I keep needing more triptans, this might trigger medication-induced-migrains at which point we have no choice but to start taking preventative medication. Taking medication every day, while my migraines are hormone related (so twice a month) scares me. And I'm also afraid of side effects, I keep running into people who tell me they got terribly depressed and/or got lot of anxiety from those medications. (These are mostly older people, so I don't know how much has changed with maybe newer medications?)

If I'm reading correctly, you are only taking triptans twice a month. At that frequency it seems a bit premature to worry about rebound headaches from the meds. I'm not a doctor, but I am a migraine sufferer who sees a neurologist. My doctor is pleased if I stay below the 9/month the FDA recommends. Of, course, your doctor may have other concerns but twice a month doesn't seem like it would be a problem.

 

As for prophylactic meds,There are several options. Generally they are beta blockers, antidepressants, or anti-seizure meds.  I've been taking Inderal, a beta blocker for years. It doesn't seem to cause depression. The neurologist chose a different med for my daughter because she is an athlete and beta blocker can keep heart rate from reaching a peak level - so not great if you want a burst of speed!

 

He prescribed an antidepressant for her. It a low dose. It keeps her migraines fairly well controlled. Some people have drowsiness at first.  She didn't. He added it for me and I've also not had any side effects. A different daughter takes topomax, an anti seizure med. She has great success with it. It made me an aphasic, apathetic zombie. I hated it.

 

Point of all this is, there are many prophylactic migraine meds to try. If one doesn't work or has unpleasant side effects, there are other options.   But, if your doctor is worried about taking triptains twice a month, you might want to get a second opinion. 

 

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Thank you, Tammi K, it's good to hear that you have a good experience with preventative medication! I have been worried and this eases my mind considerably :).

 

I'm in the Netherlands and the protocol seems to be that you can not take more than 2 triptan tablets a month.

With 9/month, I think I would be fine. But 2/month has been a disaster, so now my doctor has reluctantly agreed to prescribe me more. That is, I now have 10 tablets at home, for a two month periode, so 5/month.

 

My doctor talked about beta blockers and/or anti depressants, I have never heard of antiseizure meds being prescribed. I will keep that in mind.

 

Are your or your dds migraines hormone related or not? Just curious.

 

 

 

If I'm reading correctly, you are only taking triptans twice a month. At that frequency it seems a bit premature to worry about rebound headaches from the meds. I'm not a doctor, but I am a migraine sufferer who sees a neurologist. My doctor is pleased if I stay below the 9/month the FDA recommends. Of, course, your doctor may have other concerns but twice a month doesn't seem like it would be a problem.

 

As for prophylactic meds,There are several options. Generally they are beta blockers, antidepressants, or anti-seizure meds.  I've been taking Inderal, a beta blocker for years. It doesn't seem to cause depression. The neurologist chose a different med for my daughter because she is an athlete and beta blocker can keep heart rate from reaching a peak level - so not great if you want a burst of speed!

 

He prescribed an antidepressant for her. It a low dose. It keeps her migraines fairly well controlled. Some people have drowsiness at first.  She didn't. He added it for me and I've also not had any side effects. A different daughter takes topomax, an anti seizure med. She has great success with it. It made me an aphasic, apathetic zombie. I hated it.

 

Point of all this is, there are many prophylactic migraine meds to try. If one doesn't work or has unpleasant side effects, there are other options.   But, if your doctor is worried about taking triptains twice a month, you might want to get a second opinion. 
 

 

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Are your or your dds migraines hormone related or not? Just curious.

 

Older daughter, yes. Younger daughter, not as much. That is, they are worse during her period but she gets them other times as well.  Every single one of my kids gets them. DH gets cluster headaches. I get frequent migraines. My poor kids never had a chance. ;)

 

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Older daughter, yes. Younger daughter, not as much. That is, they are worse during her period but she gets them other times as well.  Every single one of my kids gets them. DH gets cluster headaches. I get frequent migraines. My poor kids never had a chance. ;)

 

 

Oh my! I liked your post, but obviously there is nothing to like if you have so many migraine sufferers in your family :grouphug:.

 

 

 

 

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I'm sorry, Melissa.

 

I had relpax for my migraines. The problem was I had to take it right away, as soon as the migraine started. That was fine if I was awake but sometimes I woke up with a migraine.

 

I never found a trigger except for Dairy Queen. Weird. I got them without eating DQ, too, but for a few years I couldn't eat it at all. Now I can, but I am kind of paranoid about it bc I associate it with pain.

 

I seemed to have outgrown the migraines, though. I did have a bad headache for 3 days a few weeks ago that I finally went to the ER for. It was nothing like the migraines I used to get.

 

(((Hugs)))

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I'm sorry, Melissa.

 

I had relpax for my migraines. The problem was I had to take it right away, as soon as the migraine started. That was fine if I was awake but sometimes I woke up with a migraine.

 

I never found a trigger except for Dairy Queen. Weird. I got them without eating DQ, too, but for a few years I couldn't eat it at all. Now I can, but I am kind of paranoid about it bc I associate it with pain.

 

I seemed to have outgrown the migraines, though. I did have a bad headache for 3 days a few weeks ago that I finally went to the ER for. It was nothing like the migraines I used to get.

 

(((Hugs)))

I thought I had outgrown them too. I could never find a trigger, they came so very randomly, but once I got pregnant with my first DS, I never had another one. Until yesterday.

 

While I really hope and pray this is a one-time deal, I am not counting on that. I am just super bummed right now about it. I have a long list of some-what minor health issues that all add up to kind of a lot. Migraines where one of the ones I thought I was done with :-/

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I've been on various antihypertensives (beta blockers & calcium channel blockers), antidepressants, and anticonvulsants for mine.  There are some that have much worse side effects than others, but it varies a lot from person to person.  I think my biggest piece of advice would be to keep trying even if the first one or two (or 10  :glare: ) don't work.  What works great for one person could be completely ineffective for another, so the key is just finding the one that works for you.

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I don't know if you'd be looking at preventative meds after just having one, but I'll tell you what has worked for me. After trying a number of things, I've finally been able to manage my nearly constant migraines with Topiramate. It has a very scary list of side effects, but the main thing I experienced was an increase in anxiety during the starting out period (they gradually increase the dosage over time). I already have mild anxiety, so if you have issues with that, I would just be on the look out. And a some hand tingling, but that's about it. But it pretty much knocked out my headaches. The ones I do get I can just take an Excedrin Migraine and that takes care it, which otherwise would not touch it. I did not have any weight loss or other appetite side affects, which some people seem to be super excited about. Oh well. :) 

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There are really a lot of options available to you. My advice is to have a good Neuro & keep trying things until you find a medication that works for you with side effects that are tolerable. At only a couple of migraines a month I am not sure is use a preventative, but you'll have to decide how much they are impacting you & your family. At my worst I had an insurance override approved & got 30 relpax per month. I know, sounds like a lot but for me that's only 15 migraines a month. I have far more than that. Currently my script is for 15 a month but I have other options to manage them. I have Fiorecet, Tortodal, Tylenol w/codeine and some muscle relaxers. I don't take all that at once but my Neuro gave me a list of how best to combine them to break a migraine. For years I was on topiramate (200mg daily). It wasn't effective and I hated the side effects. I've seen recently that the name brand drug Topomax is very effective with much fewer side effects than it's generic (topiramate). In fact a friend of mine had horrible side effects with topiramate & recently switched to topamax & she said its night/day difference. Oh, I also do Botox for migraines but I've been told you have to be in the top 3% of migraine sufferers to qualify. I do t know how that's handled outside of the US though. Best of luck in finding something that works well!!

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My middle daughter is on:

 

Cambia-rescue med at onset. Can be followed immediately by other migraine meds if it doesn't work right away.

 

Midrin-a rescue med with pain reliever and sleep aid.  It was off the market for a while, but it's being manufactured again. This is what she uses if Cambia doesn't work right away.

 

Metroprolol-a daily headache preventative for some people.  It's also used to treat neurological tremors (hers is in her hand-she's a competitive archer) and blood pressure. It can aggravate asthma in some people. She needs a daily inhaler instead of a rescue one now because it affects her asthma but not enough to make her not want to use it.

 

She used to be on:

 

Cyproheptadine-a daily antihistamine that is a headache preventative for some people.  It's believed to balance seratonin (sp?) levels in the brain.

 

But then she developed the tremor and changed meds.

 

Her pediatric neurologist at PHX Children's Hospital recommended all her headache patients see a chiropractor and an acupuncturist in addition to her. Now she sees a regular neurologist since she's over 14.

 

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I was just wondering if any of you might have some advice...

I have been feeling nervous about driving places with just me and the kids -especially longer distances. I keep thinking I'll get a migraine and won't be able to see to drive home. I know I could usually just pull over till the aura goes away, but I still feel nervous!! Anyone else like this? Advice?

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I was just wondering if any of you might have some advice...

I have been feeling nervous about driving places with just me and the kids -especially longer distances. I keep thinking I'll get a migraine and won't be able to see to drive home. I know I could usually just pull over till the aura goes away, but I still feel nervous!! Anyone else like this? Advice?

I don't know. All the migraines I had in the past, and the one now, have all started right I after I woke up. Like within about ten minutes.

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