Hello and I welcome any help

[70loopylou]

Hi everyone. I am totally new to this sort of thing but like all of you my migraines have driven me to look at lots of alternatives. It is nice to hear I am not alone and that there are people out there that understand. Know one in my family suffers them like I do. I have suffered them on and off all of my life but they progressively got worse about 4 years ago and then October 2015 they really changed for the worse. I now have a wide range of symptoms and after an incident I feel unwell for about 10 days. It good really bad last summer and I had lots of tests and a MRI scan, thankfully everything came back fine. I started on some propranolol tablets 10mg twice a day as I have low blood pressure. It really seemed to help and I didn’t have a migraine from October 2016 until January when the tablets made me really tired and were affecting my everyday life. I am now on one a day and looking to come off them. That said in early March I and had a chronic migraine that was really bad. The pain killers I am prescribed don’t help me and often a mixture of ibreofen and paracetamol help but nothing did this time. I was very sick and had a upset stomach, the pain was unbearable. I am now very frightened of having another one and find that I am watching what I eat and drink all the time. I am avoiding some social activities in case it sets it off. Stress is a big trigger for me and I am trying hard to manage it. If anyone can recommend anything I would be grateful. I was looking into acupuncture. Thank you.

[babs1234]

Hi I had Accupuncture last year and it did help initially but like everything else it was short term. Could be different for you. I have also had a daith piercing which worked for 3 weeks but then the headaches came back, though not as severe as they were. Had a nerve block last Dec. No help. Amitriptalyne worked for 9 months but side effects were awful. I'm now on the Gammacore trial. That seems to be working so far but I'm not holding my breath as I'm only in the first week. Also seeing a chiropractor which is helping to free my neck. Can't take triptans or pain killers anymore as my specialist has advised against. ( I was taking too many) Good luck I hope you get relief. I do know many people swear by Botox. Might be worth asking your Doc about that x

[70loopylou in reply to babs1234]

thank you for getting back to me. Interesting what you say about daith piercing as I was thinking about that but am a softy. I was on propranolol but reduced the dose as was feeling very tired but not feeling too good on the reduced dose. I hope Gammacore works for you. I take samatrapan (not sure how to spell) but with mixed results. if I take it when I am in a full blown attack then it doesn't work at all. However I often don't get a sign before hand and just wake up with a full on attack.

[babs1234 in reply to 70loopylou]

How often are your headaches? Mine were almost daily and like you, usually woke up with them. I have been diagnosed with Hemicrania Continua. I can promise you the daith piercing is not as painful as any migraine and as the cost is only about £30 you really have nothing to lose. Xxx

[70loopylou in reply to babs1234]

does the daith piercing it make any difference? As for headaches It depends sometimes I have them everyday for about a week or so and them nothing for 2 weeks. I can cope with the headaches although they are annoying it is the migraines that I struggle to cope with as the pain is so bad and then I feel so rubbish afterwards.

[babs1234 in reply to 70loopylou]

It made a difference to the severity of mine but not the frequency. Everyone is different though

[md5299]

Don't go down the wallet draining road of alternative therapies,been there lot poorer no change you may feel a little better at first but it's only in your head.Kept food diary for ages but you will find out over time the only thing you can consume will be water as there probably will not be a pattern,get yourself a Migracap instant relief but not a cure and find what works for you because someone else's shoes will not necessarily fit you.I'm not a pill taker but 10mg of Propranolol morning and night helps stick with them and the tiredness will ease,1x500/8 co-codamol 1x200 ibuprofen eases mine,don't take any notice about becoming addicted to codeine because as we all know here if it gets rid of the pain you will not abuse it,as one doctor said 'if you don't take them then you must be addicted to pain'.Mine are always arrive with a pain in the left eye and left neck pain which will ease sometimes if i'm able to go for a walk,try not to withdraw from things you enjoy(big mistake),I also found eating boiled potatoes helped,don't ask why only thing I can think of is the potassium content.As I have said everyone is different find what works for you like baking a cake find the right recipe and hopefully jiggle it a bit,only my experience but we are all on here hopefully to pass on something helpful.

[70loopylou]

thank you md5299 for you advice. I think you might be right about the Propranolol, I really wanted to come off them but perhaps it is now the right time. I exercise and find it hard when I am on them and that was one of the drivers behind it. Might try codeine as so far nothing I take eases the pain when I have a attack. looking into getting the Daith piecing done as heard mixed things about it. I am at the point now where I am scared to do things in case it sets it off and I have had enough of that.

[md5299]

Maybe you need to accept it and try deal with it as best you can rather than looking for the magic pill.I took that approach and it seemed to help after all if someone argues with you and you don't argue back they will soon get fed up and give up it is hard but give it a go try and do a little when you don't feel up to it,all the best.Let me know how you get on.Mike.

[chelsea00]

hi,

I use a heated wheat bag as my pain can be on the top of my head or the back of it or the side of my face,which goes numb, or all of tha together. I find it it is very comforting. Sometimes i just go to sleep with it and other times i have to walk around the house with it on. Not very flattering but it works for me and my son. Other people use something chilled, however cold is a trigger for me.