severe migraine - any medication actually help?

[Chrissie21]

hi everyone and happy new year! ( Almost)

I am very fed up with my migraine headaches. 2 1/2 years ago they took over my life and I have struggled to get any of it back. it brought with it anxiety and panic, due to the fact that the migraines give me tons of symptoms, aura, eye disturbances, dizziness, vertigo, sickness, nausea, and the worst worst headache i could ever imagine that lasts for 3 days at a time, which I get 3 - 4times a month with lots of smaller attacks in between, as my head almost feels 'bruised; from the regualr big attacks. I have two small children and it is really hard to cope. I have had CBT and what it has taught me is to try and face things. I am a medication phobic, but have decided to fight this head on, and take whatever i need to to get the migraines under control. So far I have been given propranalol, which has done nothing to alleviate the pain. I am now feeling a little despondent after trying it for 2 months with no success. am going to docs next week to talk about the next steps with medication. would love to hear from anyone who has had any luck with reducing their migraines with medication..and what did you take in the end that worked? sorry for the long post and thanks for reading..XXX

[paula lynne]

Hi Chrissie, Ive used Migraleve for years but they tend to make a lot of people very drowsy. Last month I tried Neurofen Migraine (purple packet), they are excellent, half the price of Migraleve, and you can pick them up off the shelf in any supermarket. They work really quickly, and wont knock you out. x

[blueangel]

Hi Chrissie

I'm a third generation migraine sufferer - my mother and grandmother had them as well. I've had them all my life but they got much, much worse for me when I went perimenopausal. There is a big association between hormone levels and migraine, so it might be an idea for your GP to get your hormone levels looked at.

It's a shame that the propranolol haven't worked for you (I've been on them for about 10 years) - I think the success rate of them is 50-60%, but there are other things that can be tried. There are a number of other beta-blockers that can be used, as I suppose it's possible that one of the others might work. Other treatments that can be tried include amitryptiline and an epilepsy drug called sodium valproate. There is also a newer drug called topiramate but I'm afraid I don't know anything about this one.

There are also prescription drugs that can be taken to alleviate the attacks themselves, such as sumatriptan, but I've never tried these either.