Cefaly gives me headaches!

[Cat00]

Hello everybody,

I've been using a Cefaly device twice a day for a week. Once a day for preventing migraines and once a day for the sedative effect. I have chronic migraines about 20 days a month and am an insomniac, I usually have Botox and meds but I am pregnant so can't have anything. My migraine doctor said they didn't think the Cefaly would be that effective on my migraines but might help with my 'sleep modification' however I find every time I use it it gives me a headaches and makes my face hurt for the rest of the evening, does anyone else find that?

It says in the instructions to use it to the highest intensity you can handle bc that is directly proportionate with how effective it will be, obviously I'm highly motivated to make it work as best it can!

[designer111]

Didn't get the 'hurt face' thing, but I didn't find it worked at all so I claimed my money back. Just wasn't seeing a difference.

[Cat00 in reply to designer111]

Hello designer111,

That seems to be the most common response I've read about. I did used to try and stick TENS straight on my face, against all advice, and that was considerably more painful than the Cefaly at least!

Cheers,

Cat

[Cally01]

Hi Cat00, when i first started using mine it was for 3mths twice a day, didn't think it helped at all, 3rd setting definitely helped me sleep but 1&2 just done nothing but hurt my face. This highlighted that i had a problem with my jaw.

I stopped using it for a while but recently went back to using it on level 3 for 20mins, quite intense but does help me sleep.

I survived on migralieveall through my pregnancies.

Hope you feel better soon 😆

[Cat00 in reply to Cally01]

Hello Cally01,

Thanks for the reply! I'm not sure if I'll know if it helps or not bc everything is so different when I'm pregnant anyway, this pregnancy is already very different from the last one. Last time I was in enormous amounts of pain and hardly slept at all, my migraines were just as frequent but milder though. This time i'm not really in pain but i feel sick almost continuously! I'll probably end up keeping the device either way just in case it does make a difference when my hormones aren't clouding the picture. I'm glad it helped you sleep thats encouraging!

I didn't know you could take migralieve when you were pregnant so i'll look into that.

Cheers,

Cat

[Cally01 in reply to Cat00]

Awe Cat, yeah i lived on them. I had constant migraine with aura.

Yip, hold onto cefaly and try it again once your baby's here 😆.

Even if i had a chronic migraine i used level 3 for 20mins, my head feels numb to touch and that helps me sleep 😆.

Let us know how you get on. 😘

[Cally01 in reply to Cat00]

Meant to mention-- i was continuously nauseous too and the doc gave me tiny white tablets to leave to melt between my teeth and gum.

They were brilliant 👍

[LarryDahlka in reply to Cally01]

sounds like rizotriptan also called maxalt mlt that seems the best of the triptans at least for me and the lack of a need for water is a plus when your on the move.

[Cally01 in reply to LarryDahlka]

No its not a triptan it's an anti-sickness tablet. Tiny tablet 😆

[Cat00 in reply to Cally01]

Cheers,

Had a killer migraine so couldn't reply (typical) used the Cefaly 3 times didn't make any difference but I understand its a cumulative so I'll have to wait I guess.

There is Domperidone (Motilium) is the anti-nausia tablet most commonly given for nausea in migraine but there have been no trials for it in pregnancy but has been known to have be given anyway with no known adverse affect on the foetus. However they have started to restrict the amount you can take of it because it has been linked to heart problems. It is a very tiny tablet but it doesn't work on me anyway, not a lot does really!

[Cally01 in reply to Cat00]

Gawd Cat it's bad enough having migraine but with pregnancy and hormone fluctuations it's even worse 😔. I have 2 girls and had migraine for the whole 9mths twice!! Honestly, migralieve saved my sanity!! Speak to your GP.

As for cefaly, well it is said to take 3/4 months b4 you know if it's helping but that's too long in my book. If i used the setting to prevent migraine it gave me a headache so i just used it at bedtime on number 3 for sleep.

Good luck, i hope you get this under control 😘

[Cat00 in reply to Cally01]

Pregnancy is SO hard, I have 7 different 'functional disorders' which means I have chronic pain that has lowered my pain threshold over the years. I'm so sensitive I can feel my womb growing, which hurts of course. I find midwives just don't know what to do with me so I can't say I'm looking forward to all that again. At least when its all done I can start having Botox again which was fantastic YAY!

[Cally01 in reply to Cat00]

Awe 😢 good luck huni. I hope it all goes as easy as possible for you 😘

[seawarrior]

I had the Cefaly device for a very short while. It gave me intense pain and then cut out totally. It was a complete and painful waste of time and money. I sent it back, got my refund but also a comment that my trigeminal nerve was to blame by causing feedback! Hmmm....

[Cat00 in reply to seawarrior]

Yeah I've heard about that before they seem to think some trigeminal nerves aren't compatible.....

[seawarrior in reply to Cat00]

That's a bit like blaming the patient if a medicine is ineffective or if the doctor isn't efficient enough. That response made me quite angry. It lets Cefaly off the hook!

[Curtis33]

Try amitriptyline worked wonders for me

[Curtis33 in reply to Curtis33]

Apologies i misread the part where you said "I can't take anything" my bad!

[Cat00 in reply to Curtis33]

As it happens I'm being weaned off Amitiptyline at the moment I'm down from 170mg to 40mg, I miss it, I barely sleep without it!

[seawarrior in reply to Cat00]

For me, that's a secondary problem with amitriptyline - I want to sleep all the time.

[seawarrior in reply to Curtis33]

Tried it. Doesn't work for me.