Migraines and relief

OK, so I'm back from the doctor and he has prescribed some new medication. He has given me Coenzyme Q10 for a slightly elevated blood pressure and symptematic relief of migraine headaches. I have a 2 month course. He also prescribed Migrex for when I feel an oncoming migraine.

He was reluctant to try the blood test route, but did advise a trip to the Optometrist. He also did advise me to get a CT Scan done when I had the money. Hopefully this medication works and I won't have to go down that route, but we will see.
 
R13... said:
How about a visit to the head ache clinic (if you can afford it)?
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Don't waste your time there. It's a scam. The only benefit you might find there is ruling out any other complications since they do a battery of other (expensive) tests.
But at the end of the day they will try and sell you one of their stupid useless mouth guards.
 
OK, so these are the things that trigger my headaches/migraines...

1) Pork = although I love pork, it is a no-no for me. I wake up with a massive migraine.
2) Bright Pulsating Lights or Strobe Lights, Pounding Vibrating Sound = Instant migraine - obviously I stay away from night clubs.
3) Heat, sitting in a hot car or sauna for a few minutes = instant migraine.
4) Wrong Pillow = I have a pillow that works for me.
5) Working while bending down = instant headache.

These are the drugs that work for me...

1) Those Headache Relief Kits or Packs whatever they are called. You get various cocktails.
2) Maxalt (also known as Rizact) = I get it cheaper in generic form from some friends in India.
3) Migril = Ergotamine
4) Naproxen = an anti inflammatory
5) Voltaren and Valoid taken together = you can get generics of these.
6) Ibuprofen
7) Syndol = generic form is Lenapain or Adco-dol.
8) Myprodol = generic form is Gen-payne
9) Synap Forte = has been taken off the market again now
10) Dixarit = for the long term treatment of migraines
11) Pur-Bloka = A beta Blocker - also has long term benefits for the relief of migraines.

These are all the things that work for me as relief (sometimes a combination of these is even more effective)...

1) Cold Ice = a Blue gel substance from Dis-chem pharmacies. Rub on your head and temples.
2) An ice pack = obviously applied to the head and go lay down.
3) darkened room and a cool breeze.
4) A cold shower with massaging water to the head.
5) A swim
6) A facial massage from my wife or other willing party! :p
7) physiotherapy and/or Chiropractor therapy
8) Go to the doctor or emergency room for a voltaren and valoid injection = next time I will ask them for pethedine! :D
 
copacetic said:
Didn't know that, glad to hear it. We always get the dangerous crap no one else wants.
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It is not dangerous. Something like 3 people in America had heart arrythmias using it so the FDA pulled it. I'd prefer to take my chances and have more effective pain relief.
 
Sinbad said:
It is not dangerous. Something like 3 people in America had heart arrythmias using it so the FDA pulled it. I'd prefer to take my chances and have more effective pain relief.
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There are many painkillers you can take, if you choose to take one that has been deemed unsafe and banned in most of the world, be my guest.

I love that stuff though, and not for painkilling, it must be said. :o
 
copacetic said:
There are many painkillers you can take, if you choose to take one that has been deemed unsafe and banned in most of the world, be my guest.

I love that stuff though, and not for painkilling, it must be said. :o
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Most doctors I have spoken to are battling to find a replacement for synap forte.

Yes, I would choose to based on my experience but I can't as I'm being nannied ;)
 
Garyvdh said:
OK, so these are the things that trigger my headaches/migraines...

1) Pork = although I love pork, it is a no-no for me. I wake up with a massive migraine.
2) Bright Pulsating Lights or Strobe Lights, Pounding Vibrating Sound = Instant migraine - obviously I stay away from night clubs.
3) Heat, sitting in a hot car or sauna for a few minutes = instant migraine.
4) Wrong Pillow = I have a pillow that works for me.
5) Working while bending down = instant headache.

These are the drugs that work for me...

1) Those Headache Relief Kits or Packs whatever they are called. You get various cocktails.
2) Maxalt (also known as Rizact) = I get it cheaper in generic form from some friends in India.
3) Migril = Ergotamine
4) Naproxen = an anti inflammatory
5) Voltaren and Valoid taken together = you can get generics of these.
6) Ibuprofen
7) Syndol = generic form is Lenapain or Adco-dol.
8) Myprodol = generic form is Gen-payne
9) Synap Forte = has been taken off the market again now
10) Dixarit = for the long term treatment of migraines
11) Pur-Bloka = A beta Blocker - also has long term benefits for the relief of migraines.

These are all the things that work for me as relief (sometimes a combination of these is even more effective)...

1) Cold Ice = a Blue gel substance from Dis-chem pharmacies. Rub on your head and temples.
2) An ice pack = obviously applied to the head and go lay down.
3) darkened room and a cool breeze.
4) A cold shower with massaging water to the head.
5) A swim
6) A facial massage from my wife or other willing party! :p
7) physiotherapy and/or Chiropractor therapy
8) Go to the doctor or emergency room for a voltaren and valoid injection = next time I will ask them for pethedine! :D
Click to expand...

Sound like blood pressure may play a role in your case.

Also for me

traveling in heavy traffic .
Red wine.
Lack of sleep or to long a sleep.

Relaxing sometime helps but to get to that point is an effort and most times hell.

I experienced the same with many of the items in your list.
As for the injection my Pharmacist is cheaper and quicker, R30.00 per shot, no consulting fee no waiting.
 
Go see a specialist and have more tests done. Six years ago a mate of mine keeled over and died from a brain aneurysm, he always complained about migraines for as long as I knew him.
 
Alan said:
I have the same problem also above the right eye. In my case I'm 99% sure it's sinus, I find if lie on my left side it eases the pain after a while.

No harm in trying a neti pot to flush out your sinus. I've been looking for one for ages

Try Dischem or most health shops
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Sinbad said:
Most doctors I have spoken to are battling to find a replacement for synap forte.

Yes, I would choose to based on my experience but I can't as I'm being nannied ;)
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Fair enough.

As for being nannied, medical professionals have an ethical responsibility to provide medications for which the benefits outweigh the potential harms. Perhaps they made a mistake in this case, as you suggest, but I can understand why they did what they did.

Although, thinking about it for a second, blithely prescribing this stuff for 2 years while it was banned in other countries makes me wonder...
 
i have suffered with blinding migraines for as long as i can remember. in 2001 i was hospitalised for 6 days in a dark room because of one. i had to be in a private ward because it was so bad i couldn't have any noise around me at all. i had a neurosurgeon come see me who did a scan on my brain to ensure that there was nothing sinister going on. when this was established he put me on a tablet called "topomax". i have never looked back since then. just 1 a day is all i need. i have tried coming off these to try and see if the migraines return, but it would seem that this medication controls the migraines.

perhaps speak to your doctor about putting you on this tablet. i promise you, this is the answer to all your migraine problems.
 
Celine said:
i have suffered with blinding migraines for as long as i can remember. in 2001 i was hospitalised for 6 days in a dark room because of one. i had to be in a private ward because it was so bad i couldn't have any noise around me at all. i had a neurosurgeon come see me who did a scan on my brain to ensure that there was nothing sinister going on. when this was established he put me on a tablet called "topomax".
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:eek:

Must have been terrifying
 
Have it checked at onset of a migraine. Your BP changes constantly...
 
Wife suffered from migraines from the time she was 9 years old until she smoked pot for the 1st time at age 17.

She missed half of her school career and the Dr's started her on morphine (nothing else worked anymore) at 15. Funny to see how she scraped through every year until matric (when she started self-medicating).

Smokes a little bit every evening (not enough to make her high or anything) and the migraines stay away (she's 33 now). If she stops a migraine is guaranteed in 3-4 days.

It probably wont work for anyone but its safe and cheap and the same dose has kept on working for 15 years.

PS: This is just informative and I don't suggest anyone break the law bla bla....
 
Sinbad said:
Have it checked at onset of a migraine. Your BP changes constantly...
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I'll try that. Might have to buy a BP tester and get the wife to do it, even late at night.

But I am definitely going to try that Topomax!
 
lestoran said:
Wife suffered from migraines from the time she was 9 years old until she smoked pot for the 1st time at age 17.

She missed half of her school career and the Dr's started her on morphine (nothing else worked anymore) at 15. Funny to see how she scraped through every year until matric (when she started self-medicating).

Smokes a little bit every evening (not enough to make her high or anything) and the migraines stay away (she's 33 now). If she stops a migraine is guaranteed in 3-4 days.

It probably wont work for anyone but its safe and cheap and the same dose has kept on working for 15 years.

PS: This is just informative and I don't suggest anyone break the law bla bla....
Click to expand...

Cannabis was the treatment of choice for migraine in the last century , and modern reports [ii] have echoed the traditional view.

Anecdotal evidence of using cannabis for alleviation of migraine symptoms is provided by Ogborne et al [iii] , Williamson & Evans [iv] , and Schnelle et al [v] , who found 6.6% of surveyed medicinal users reported using cannabis to relieve migraine.

Volfe et al [vi] found cannabinoids blocked serotonin release from platelets in migraine patients. Russo [vii] , reviewing the historical evidence, concluded "Cannabis, or Marijuana, has been used for centuries for both symptomatic and prophylactic treatment of migraine. It was highly esteemed as a headache remedy by the most prominent physicians of the age between 1874 and 1942, remaining part of the Western pharmacopoeia for this indication even into the mid-twentieth century. Current ethnobotanical and anecdotal references continue to refer to its efficacy for this malady, while biochemical studies of THC and anandamide have provided a scientific basis for such treatment. The author believes that controlled clinical trials of Cannabis in acute migraine treatment are warranted.'

Heinemann [viii] reported incidence of headaches among users of hashish. El-Mallakh et al [ix] reported "Onset of migraines occurred prior to onset of substance use, while onset of tension headaches occurred after onset of substance use'and suggested "migraines may play a role in the genesis of substance use'


Summary:

Other than pain relief in general, there is as yet insufficient scientific evidence to indicate whether or not cannabinoids may specifically relieve, or indeed exacerbate, symptoms among migraine sufferers. Lowered blood pressure is a common systemic effect of cannabis use which could potentially reduce the risk and/or severity of migraines. There are widespread anecdotal reports of benefits, and cannabis products did play a role in treatment of migraine in the early years of modern medicine.
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http://www.idmu.co.uk/canmigraine.htm

And to think, there are cretins who would put her in jail for that. :rolleyes: Pathetic.
 
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