Migraine Headaches Support Group

I don't take that kid of med for mine here is one you might want to try. Its generaly used for people with epilipsy but it works great ..I have been on it for 6 yrs and have not had any majro migraines, I do get the normal stress headaches buts that ok. The name of the medication is called TOPIRAMATE.

You start at a low dose until you at a doseage you are comfortable with.. I take 4 a day and they are a 100 mg and its been a long time since I've had a migraine....I hope this helps but if you try this med you have to go see a nuerologest for it...Hugs Greg

Hi Melodious, I remember unending migraines, and being given this kind of medication, it is usually a base med. for people with chronic pain, it helps their sleep to deepen so that thier body has a chance to rest and heal. I can tell you that it may be an antidepressant but the dose is so low it wouldnt be very affective for someone with mood disorders. another thing I would advice is to check for other areas where you have pain or stiffness.. there might be something fixable triggering your migraine... chiro treatment or massage.. I have a bad neck and when the headaches are severe I have to use mechanical treatments.
the after affect you are having with this drug is normal... it does take a little bit of time to get used to. I wasnt able to stay on it because I just never got the drowsiness. It does help a lot of people I know though. Most of us with Fibromyalgia have migraines and are given this drug at the beginning.
It is a good thing to research all the meds you are given to be aware of how they work and what they are for.... be your own advacat where your health is concerned... I hope the pain goes away soon.

I have had migraines for 20 years and this past year I started getting acupuncture. Now, I am not cured but I take herbs to prevent and if I do have a migraine, my acupuncturist has been able to stop or significantly reduce the pain. I used to not be able to function at all with a migraine, now I can get through the day as needed. I never had any success with medications and usually the side effects ended up being worse then the migraine (long term anyway).

wow,,,thats a long time for a migraine! i would have gone to the ER, they can give you instant pain relief.
I once had a migraine for 5 days..went to my dr ..he gave me Relpax ( sp) & within 2 hrs it was gone.

I get constant headaches & was just put on nortriptyline...its kind of a last resort, since i cant aford to take relpax every day.
good luck~~

Melodius,
It's time to talk with your doctor about someting to break that migraine. It may actually be the same headache you're getting every day. If you take a pain reliever such as tylenol for heaches you can actually end up with rebound headches, where your head aches when you don't take the pain medications. It's a really cruel cycle.

Amitrytiline is a very old tri-cyclic antidepressant that is rarely used for depression (and when it is used for depression needs to be used in very high doses, much higher than is prescribed for migraine prevention or sleep disturbances). So please don't be concerned about takinga mind altering drug; it's not going to work that way on you. It will make you tired, so it's essential to take it at night before you go to bed (it will help you sleep and you may feel a bit groggy in the morning, a feeling with should get better in time). If the am grogginess persists, talk with your doctor about reducing the dose for awhile and slowly building up to the therapeutic dose. We all respond differently and while a 10 mg dose may knock you out, a 75 mg dose has no effect on me at all (but does help me sleep and helped alleviate some pain from fibro and reduced my migraines as well).

Also talk with your neuro about some good migraine rescue medication or another medication for your headaches if they're not migraines (e.g. Fioricet). It's essential to take the rescue medications AS SOON AS you feel the headaches starting; don't wait till the headache is full blown or it's usually too late.

You also need to up your fluid intake. Amitrytiline can cause you to get cotton mouth, that dry mouth feeling in the morning. In addition, being even slightly dehydrated can cause and exacerbate headaches, so keep up with your fluids, especially good old fashioned water.

Keep trying the amitrytiline and hopefully in time it will help. It's not a magic bullet and won't work immediately, but give it time and work with your doctor on the drownsiness if that persists and some pain meds if you need something new or different as well. And drink more water.

Hope you start having some pain free days!
Ruth

I was just prescribed Elavil today after no relief or success with Topamax. I am starting on 25mg a night for 1-2 months. I am nervous about the possible weight gain, but I will see how it goes. My doctor also asked me if I wanted to try Topamax again while taking the Elavil at the same time. Not sure about that, the less drugs the better. Keep me posted on your progress with this since we're both new to it.

The most common way good doctors use to break a Status Migrainous (Meaning a migraine which has lasted more than 48 or 72 hours) is a high dose, tapering course of a Corticosteroid.

Decadron, Prednisone, or, the drug which works the best for me, Medrol Dose Pack, is taken with a high dose then tapers each day. You take 6 pills the first day, 5 the second etc. Medrol actually is set up on a card, so you don't forget what day you are on, or how may to take.

Amitriptyline for an ACUTE headache is ridiculous. IF it will work, it will take weeks or months. It is NOT protocol for ACUTE Status Migrainous.

Is your doctor a Neurologist or a General Practitioner? Internists and Family Doctors do NOT have enough knowledge, experience or training to treat REAL severe migraines. A neurologist is your best bet.

Antidepressants (tricyclics, like you are on, as well as SSRIS and even sometimes quadracyclics) ARE used as a long term preventive for some migraine sufferers, it is standard practice, but they do NOTHING to "break" a Status Migraine. In fact, although they work for a lot of people, they should NOT be started when you are acute. You need a baseline of as little pain as possible, to assess whether they work for you, as well as the fact that they simply do NOT break a non-stop headache in it's tracks like a course of Corticostreroids and nice big doses of Opiates to get you through until the steroids kick in.

It seems like your doctor is a little uneducated on how to treat you, which means you need to see someone else. Today tell him you NEED a corticosteroid to treat the status. If he seems unwilling or doesn't know why you would need that, RUN do not walk to a good Neurologist immediately OR go to the Emergency Room where they can treat you.

There is no room in the lives of pain patients for doctors who play "shot gun medicine" without knowing how the real protocol works.

I hope you can get some treatment and feel better, now.

Alayna,
I would try the Elavil for a couple of months first and see if that helps before giving the Topamax another try. I'm a firm believer in trying one thing at a time to see what works and what doesn't. If Elavil helps to alleviate some of your migraines, or at least helps you sleep better (which does a world of good in helping you feel better overall), but doesn't give you the migraine prevention you want, then you can talk with the neurologist about trying Topamax again, in addition to the Elavil.

The problem that occurs when you try both at once is that you'll never know what is working and what isn't and may end up on a medication that is completely ineffective and not know it. Is it the Topamax or is it the Elavil? Who knows?

So try one, and if needed, then add the second or try the Topamax titrated up to the full migraine preventive dosing. And hopefully one or the other or the combination will work miracles for you!