Propranolol for preventing migraine

[kittykat]

Hi all,

Just me posting again.......i was at the doctors this morning and was telling him about my migraine symptoms ( which ive posted about previously on here ) and how they are really scaring me especially the pulsing sensation in head when standing up seemingly he said caused by the blood flow etc, anyway he gave me this med called propranolol to take as a preventative measure to try for a month , now i dont know much about this med thought it was an anti d or beta blocker and am just wondering if anyone can tell me what it is or if they have gotten it for this purpose, he's put me on 160mg once a day which seems quite high and im scared of the side effects as i dont have any other probs like fast heart rate etc, im panicking and ive not even taken it yet and the pharmacist has put the tabs in a bottle with no advice label :wacko:

[JaneC]

It's a beta blocker kittykat. Headaches (although not migraine) was one of the reasons I was prescribed it and it really helped. If you feel up to it, I'd go back to the pharmacy and get them to label it (how hopeless are they at times?). I have to say your dose does seem to me to be quite high but maybe there are others on here who take that sort of level. The dose I was started on made me very drowsy and I had to drop down a good bit but in general I can't take very high doses of anything. Hope this is of some help x

[ZoJo]

Hi KittyKat

I have had them for anxiety and migraines. Just looked at my packet and they are 40mg three times a day. They helped me a fair bit and it did take me a few days to pluck up the courage to take them! Get the chemist to stick the label on the bottle too.

[kittykat]

Thanks for tht guys ....just thought tht it was quite a high dose .....always scared in case the pharmacist has misread the docs handwriting or made mistake x

[gypsywomen]

i have take 10mg a day for 3 years there very good dont be worried:hugs:

[kittykat]

Yeh, im a bit scared of any side effects from them as ive read some mixed reviews and just feel 160mg is a high dose but i suppose the doc knows best maybe it needs to be like this for to prevent the migraines, the thing is cant even half them cause its the granules inside the capsule thing to swallow x

[gypsywomen]

is it an 80mg cap

[kittykat]

No, its got 160mg to be taken once daily x

[Going home]

I take propranolol (mine are called half-inderal) for a combination of raised blood pressure and migraines. I take an 80mg slow release capsule once a day with my breakfast. Ive got used to them now but did have a few side effects at first like no energy, and have to agree with the others that 160mg seems alot although it depends on how bad your migraines are and how often you get them. I still get headaches from time to time but not so severe so even at 80mg they havent disappeared completely so your dose might be the right one for your headaches if they're really bad. I asked my doctor about 80mg being alot and he said no, that they could be pescribed up to 300mg daily :ohmy: but if you're not sure about them call the doctor's surgery and just check on the dose.

Anna xx

[alicegreen]

That does seem like a fairly big does. Does the bottle have anything like "MR or slow release" written on it?

[kittykat]

Hey Anna ,

Looking at the bottle it does say 160mg M/R capsules ....any idea what that is .....i just opened the capsule and tipped half out so ive taken roughly 80mg just now . Hate taking meds that im unsure of .

[Going home]

Yes the capsules, and mine are capsules too, are usually slow release. The regular pills are usually pescribed to take one 2 or 3 times a day but these tend to deliver the effects in peaks and the side effects can be more noticable this way, so the slow release caps are much better. Are your migraines really bad when you get them? and how often?

Anna xx

[kittykat]

My migraines really unnerve me ,it usually starts with a pulsing sensation in my headnow this can happen for up to 1 /2wks before i actually take one i then get the visual disturbance of jaggy outline which flickers when that moves away half of my vision is obscured and i cant see the end of words and one side of peoples faces also looks weird this can all last from 30mins to an hour , i never used to get a headache but on saturday i did and was in my bed from 7.30 onwards. I get them in clusters can take them for about 2 wks running then get nothing for a while, but i asked the doc for a preventative med because they just really scare me epecially the visual disturbances and just leave me feeling of balance for a few days .

Shirley x

[Going home]

Well going on what you say about your migrainess, this is prob the reason for giving you 160mg. Although they can be caused by stress, they can also come on with other stimulants as you probably know, and they are vascular so can be affected by anything that affects your blood vessels such as too much heat or cold. They can also be affected by the pressure of our blood pumping through the vessels, which is why propranolol etc (beta-blockers) can help with them. Beta blockers block adrenaline receptors, and if the adrenaline can't get through so quickly this calms your heart down which in turn eases the pressure of the blood through the vessels, which in turn eases the migraines...:)

Anna xxx

[alicegreen]

"MR" is modified release meaning slow release over a 24 hour period.

[kittykat]

Thanks for the advice Anna didnt know all tht and thanks alice for telling me what MR means :), i took a tablet yesterday and am about to have another one just now....its all good so far just feeling a bit tired but hey that could be anything!! , i just hope that overtime this will help the migraines but if not im sure there are other options xx