Preventative medication

[Lynne75]

Good afternoon hope you are all well.

I’m after some advice I get severe migraines occasionally a few times a month,I wake upto a really bad headache which gets more severe usually over the left area of my face,I have been to my GP numerous times for medication when these attacks happen.

My problem is a get severe vomiting with these migraines so the medication I take I bring back up within a minute or so.

I have to just vomit until the pressure eases and go back to bed.

After a few hours of sleep I have a mild headache so I can then stomach any food,fluids or medication.

Is there any preventative medication I can take on going to bed to reduce waking up like this as it affects my life including calling in sick to work.

Thank you

[asmckay]

Hi Lynne, Do you supplement magnesium? It can have a very positive effect on migraines, and I think it could be worth experimenting. Many of us are magnesium deficient - it isn;t in our soils and food as it should be after 150 years of intensive farming. You could try a mix of magnesium threonate (good for the brain) and magnesium glycinate /bisglycinate. In total, as women, we need around 300mg ELEMENTAL magnesium. Watch labelling - often refers to the the amount of the compound rather than elemental magnesium. 750mg magnesium glycinate will give you around 100mg elemental magnesium. I would supplement around 200mg,. I take 2 of these / day amazon.co.uk/s?k=magnesium-... . As a migraine sufferer, I would also take a little mag threonate as well. If you can't take tablets you van have lo9ng epsom salt baths, or use a magnesium spray, but these are less effective.

[Gambit62]

some triptans can be delivered nasally or as wafers that dissolve on the tongue.usually though these need to be taken early on so may not be suitable.

there are some medications that can be taken as preventatives.

Think it might be a good idea to self refer to the National Migraine Centre as it may be that some lifestyle changes are also needed

healthunlocked.com/migraine...

you might also find their podcasts useful

nationalmigrainecentre.org....

[Cat00]

Yes as Gambit62 has said, I have a Nasal triptan as I get too sick to take oral meds. But like others have said it sounds like you should be on a preventative as well. I'd ask for a referral to a neurologist.

[Katya3]

I suffer from upto 3 migraines a month and have taken various GP prescribed daily preventatives. These are low dose variants on beta blockers, anti depressives (amitryptiline) and anti- epileptic medications. Thye had side effects but significantly reduced the frequency of my migraines, If your GP has not prescribed daily preventatives for then I would recommend your ask for them as your first course of action before seeing a neurologist. If yuo don't get a helpful response I would consider changing my GP and moving to one which gets good patient reviews. How GPs deal with migraine is a good test for how they will deal with other potentially life threatenign conditions. You do not want to be stuck with a stupid, overworked or can't be bothered GP. I had to move house to get access to a decent GP but the service has improved immeasurably - and the neighbourhood is nicer as well

[Francesca21]

At 48 i was given propranolol and amitriptyline to take daily and worked so well for10 years as preventative. I now know that nortriptyline is better as dosnt make u sleepy. Eventually they failed and ive had continuous chronic migraine for 17 months and am working my way throu everything and nothing worked yet. Was recomended on here a Professor Anne McGregor, who gave someone else progesterone and it worked- thats my next step if I fit the criteria. I hope you get sorted as theyre so debilitating arnt they? Good Luck

[Cavapoochonowner]

Hello, I have had migraines since I was 14 and I too am violently sick for at least 24 hours.I have tried many things from over the counter to prescription.At one time I was on a triptan I squirted up my nose but I began to get excruciatingly painful rebound headaches so had to stop.About 7 years ago they came back with avengance when my son was seriously ill and my GP prescribed a preventative.10mg amitriptyline every night. This made a great difference.I had to go up to 20mg about 3 years ago as it wasn't as effective.They have started to come back again and so I have also been prescribed 20mg proprananol 3x a day as a preventative .I have graves disease which affects my thyroid and therefore many other functions of the body which is why they've got worse.When you get so many a preventative is really the best thing to try.I have also bought a cervical pillow and I think that has helped with my neck as sometimes I felt as if I had slept scrunched up with my teeth clenching and that was no good for me.Hope you can find a way forward.Good luck.

[Onthemove1971]

Curious.. have you had a sleep study? Do you wake up tired or get really tired late in the day..Many times if you wake up with a headace it could mean you might have sleep apena ( I am no doctor) but I hope you get this looked at.

[headachequeen]

The preventive meds include Aimovig. There is another one out there too. They protect receptors in the body that react to triggers. Look up Aimovig to start. It has changed my life. I am 95 % migraine free. I used to take 18 triptan per month.

[MrsSussex]

Dear Lynne, I too suffered badly from migraine and was prescribed sumatriptan for years. It did work for me if I caught it in time but if you are sick I can see it would be no good. My clever GP prescribed me Atenolol, a cheap effective Beta Blocker and I took 2.5mg every day for about 2 years. I’ve come off them this summer and have to tell you that my migraines have stopped. I have never had high blood pressure and had no side effects whatsoever. It is a recognised treatment for migraine and I recommend it. You don’t have to take propranolol, which can make you dizzy, this little pill worked for me.

[MuddyPawS77]

Hello All I take sumatriptan for migraine attacks but am often nauseous/vomiting copiously in addition to the pain so the tabs then re-appear !!.

I once lost 7lbs in 24 hours during a migraine attack due to all the vomiting + inability to keep anything down,even water , so my GP prescribed METOCLOPRAMIDE tabs for the nausea/ vomiting element of migraine . Im very wary of taking any tabs so have only taken this medication on one occasion after I had vomitted back the s/triptan & just couldnt face hours of vomitting in addition to head/face pain ; pleased to say it worked well... no more vomitting , just made me sleepy (as does sumatriptan itself ) so I took another half-sumatriptan (as I didnt know how much of the original tab might have been absorbed before it re-appeared ) &went back to bed .!

In addition to treating nausea/vomitting which may occur with migraine, the package leaflet with METOCLOPRAMIDE says it can be taken with painkillers in cases of migraine to help painkillers work more effectively ...I havent used it for that so cant comment ..

[Onthemove1971 in reply to MuddyPawS77]

Have you tried Imitrix in an injection? This is the best thing that really stops me from going to the Emergency Room.

Please consider Magnesium glycinate 3x a day, at a high dose. I also take Feverfew 2x daily.

[Oestwing]

Hi Lynne75Hopefully previous comments have brought you some relief, but if not please refer to my post of yesterday.

Take care

All the best

[Francesca21]

Could u try nausea tablets that melt on upper gum? Buccal. Personally i find ondansatron better than stemetil but stemetil are the ones that come in buccal melting form

[Francesca21]

Im not sure if ive already said to you or not that propranolol and amitriptyline worked well for me for 10 years as preventative. Then stopped working. Nortriptyline dosnt knock you out as much as amitriptyline.

[Redneckyard]

Hi Lynne, I'm on a low dose of amitriptyline for migraines. It's worked wonders for me. I tried magnesium supplements it hasn't help unfortunately. I never wanted to take amitriptyline in the beginning but it's given me my life back. Hope this helps. Good lunch 😉

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Redneckyard]

Just curious how often did you take magnesium? It take at least 6 months to help. Also it is important to take it often my lunch dose helps the most. I take it 3x a day at 400mg. This has changed my life! I also take Feverfew and it has really helped a lot.