Migraine link?

[v2tena]

My partner has had migraine for years and when we got together he was on 80 mg of amitriptyline a day and still had attacks where he ended up taking a triptan. He is now off the amitriptyline and no worse. He is constantly 'heading off' attacks with a cold cloth and Anadin. Sometimes it works, but often it comes back again and ends with a triptan. He has tried omitting all 'triggers' from lifestyle and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't make any difference.

I'm convinced my partner's migraines are mainly driven by what's going on with his neck. His neck is quite thick and muscles/tendons appear tight as he doesn't seem to have a good range of movement. I would be really interested to hear what other people's thoughts and experience are on this.

Migraine is such a mystery and behaves differently from one person to another, but this seems to be the best clue. Thanks in advance!

[Blearyeyed]

If you are a sufferer of Migraine you are still going to get the odd attack even with the best effort to avoid your triggers and you won't always get a good response to normal painkillers and need Migraine specific treatments.One positive about your partner is that they have been able to control their migraines and taper off daily medication , another us that when they do need Triptans they work.

If your partner feels that you may be right and that new Migraine attacks are connected with a neck issue they should go to the GP explain the symptoms they have and neck problem and ask to have this x-rated just to check if there are any joint or facet issues causing a nerve impingement.

If there aren't any they may still benefit from some gentle daily neck stretches , as long as these don't trigger new head pain.

If they haven't done so already they could look at their posture while standing , sitting and walking as often poor posture or being hunched at the neck , rolled shoulders or bent in the lower back , while at work , looking at phones or in general can increase neck and head pain problems.

[troy04]

I agree with what the previous post (reply) has said. There are quite a few migraine prophylaxis (preventatives) your husband's GP can try to see if any one of those make any better. It doesn't have to be Amitriptyline but migraine patients do need some form of preventatives to manage the condition. All medicines have side effects but on the balance - it's better to be on a treatment. You need to find out which one is better, it's a long process and need patience. Try a different GP if the current one does not have empathy.

[Brychni]

Hi - with migraine there is an underlying cause and then triggers. There is no evidence that food triggers migraines. I went through all that years ago and at my first ever neurologist appointment the consultant told me in no uncertain terms it was all rubbish. I pointed out to him that I just wanted to be able to say that I had tried everything. He was right though; if it were that easy then there would be no migraine sufferers. he explained that people often crave certain foods or tastes when an attack is looming and that we wrongly make the connection that there is a link between the two.

I also have joint pain and a lot of pain in my neck and shoulders and although my migraines and cluster headaches are random, when the pain at the top of my spine is really bad it creeps up and can lead to a migraine even though that is not the cause.

Amityrptiline is usually prescribed as a muscle relaxant and for long term pain like in sports injuries so if your partner has issues with muscles and tendons in his neck then that should help. Has he always had migraines?

[Rachmaninov2]

I have spinal stenosis and I think this may have caused my last migraines. I think they are called cerviogenic headaches.

[Pingez]

This is an interesting post and mirrors my case in some way. I've always had a tendency to migraine but has worsened as I've got older with more neck issues.Unfortunately my case has become chronic and has been made worse by over reliance on triptans, since preventative medication offered over the years has failed to work, including amitriptyline, the same as your husband.

I attended physiotherapy over many years and initially this helped but always returned after a short period of relief. I then found a good physiotherapist who specialised in headaches and practised something called the Watson Technique which is based around neck movements.

This worked brilliantly for my neck pain. In fact my problem was much further down my back, which we were able to work on and now I have full movement in my neck with no pain at all.

Unfortunately I can't say the same thing about the migraines. I still have these and continue to work on a solution for these, including a combination of CGRP injections and Botox.

However I do feel that if I'd been able to solve the neck problem sooner I wouldn't be in this mess now. There was a definite point where my migraine profile changed a few years ago and this is where it became more intrusive and debilitating.

I would suggest that you pursue this route if you have the capacity to. It can't do any harm and may improve your husband's situation. It took me 3 tries to find an effective physio, so you may need a bit of trial and error. The technique I described is by an Australian called Dean Watson and there are some physios that adopt this approach, definitely one in Sheffield since this is where I went. Hope it all works out for you.

[bennevisplace]

Firstly, I'm amazed your partner can tolerate such a high dose of amitriptyline. 10 mg per evening is enough to give me a good night's sleep. Though I'm also on Topiramate for my chronic migraine, which developed a couple of years ago after years of episodic migraines. I have tried triptans too. None of these drugs has done more than perhaps dampen the worst symptoms that migraine can throw at you. The headache etc persists. I also have issues with my neck, and a traceable arc of pain from there, left side, through base of skull and around back of head to the trigeminal nerve. So next week I am going to see a consultant in cervicogenic headaches healthline.com/health/heada...

You can get the NHS physio/MSK department to treat this, but it's a long wait and I don't think they investigate, so you just get a generic programme of exercises to do. I'm going private this time.

Good luck, keep in touch.