Migraines everyday, all day, for 9 months. Help!!

I have suffered from migraines since I was 9.  These are the drugs I have tried:

 -Metoprolol which did nothing just lowered my already low blood pressure

 -Topamax, it worked amazingly until my hair started falling out

 -Amytriptyline which worked but all I wanted to do was sleep and eat

 -Nortriptyline which gave me a headache

-Wellbutrin, worked until I had a Steven-Johnson reaction and am still waiting 4 weeks later for my taste buds to grow back.

Then my doc wanted me to try depakote, which I drew the line at! All of these toxic medications and I was back at square 1.  My hubby did research and out of 300 reviews of BUTTERBUR (all natural), they were almost all positive.   It did say might take a month to work also.  I was having migraines daily. The first day I took it, no migraine. I was shocked and relieved.  I am now on day 8 and yesterday I had the teensiest migraine ever so I also took a feverfew, which according to Dr Oz and internet research, helps with migraines.  It went away.  I hope this is the solution. So tired of medications with horrible side effects.  Butterbur is also used as an antispasmodic/muscle relaxer and I have noticed since taking it i have had no back pain, and I sleep so sound at night (used to wake up 4-5 times a night).

I have suffered from migraines since I was 9.  These are the drugs I have tried:

 -Metoprolol which did nothing just lowered my already low blood pressure

 -Topamax, it worked amazingly until my hair started falling out

 -Amytriptyline which worked but all I wanted to do was sleep and eat

 -Nortriptyline which gave me a headache

-Wellbutrin, worked until I had a Steven-Johnson reaction and am still waiting 4 weeks later for my taste buds to grow back.

Then my doc wanted me to try depakote, which I drew the line at! All of these toxic medications and I was back at square 1.  My hubby did research and out of 300 reviews of BUTTERBUR (all natural), they were almost all positive.   It did say might take a month to work also.  I was having migraines daily. The first day I took it, no migraine. I was shocked and relieved.  I am now on day 8 and yesterday I had the teensiest migraine ever so I also took a feverfew, which according to Dr Oz and internet research, helps with migraines.  It went away.  I hope this is the solution. So tired of medications with horrible side effects.  Butterbur is also used as an antispasmodic/muscle relaxer and I have noticed since taking it i have had no back pain, and I sleep so sound at night (used to wake up 4-5 times a night).

Hi I realize your post is from a year ago but I am having the same exact problems as you were for about four months now... Just wondering what you did to alleviate your pain or if anything has worked for you now. I've tried various medications and everything possible just as you mentioned.  Thanks so much! 

Hi becky what did you fwhen you got your MRI my girlfriend is suffering from the same thing shes getting one done tomarow please tell me.

So sorry to hear about your pain. I'm 38 and have had headaches coming and going for 5 months. I've had a clear MRI. Dr told me migraine. I've tried beta blockers which did not help. A friend with medical contacts says I need to get a second opinion, so now I'll try that. I'm very scared too. 

All the best,

Penny

Hello,

I have had migraines almost everyday for 2 1/2 years. I have tried lots of meds as well as spending thousands $ on quacks, gaps practitioners, Kinesiologists etc. I am now with a 3rd GP after seeing supposedly the nest migraine specialist in Australia. Without going into her experience, after bloods she put me on propanolol (beta blockers) 2 x 40 mg a day. My migraines dont completely go,but the propanolol alleviates it to such an extent that I get get a days work done most days.  I now know one of the triggers (coffee) and am going tom increase the dose to 40 mg x 3. May I suggest that you do a search for propanolol + migraine and see some of the blogs that come up.

Here is one https://patient.info/forums/discuss/propranolol-and-migraine-38571.

Good luck, I have you are able to get the relief I have finally started to get after 4 weeks of being on it.

I understand exactly how u feel I'm a  20 year old female also who has had tension headaches for the past 2 months straight and nothing takes the pain away I've been to several doctors none of them able to prescribe anything that helps. And the MRI and all the other tests have come back normal. These headaches have taken over my life I'm a college student and I haven't even been going to class or doing work because the headaches don't allow me to focus.  Anyways I know how you  feel and all we could do is just hope that either the headaches stop or find a doctor who cares enough to find the problem.

Hi, Becky-Louise,

My son had continuous migraines when he was a teenager.  In the end, they probably weren't "migraines" as classically understood, but became a pain pattern that took on a life of its own.  While he was (apparently) accurately diagnosed by a pain specialist at Stanford (in California, USA), ultimately, the type of headache is determined by its sensitivity to certain meds,  In his case, Indocin (indomethycin) worked like a charm, at least for several months.  After that we went to "Plan B", which was a nerve block (trigeminal nerve (sp?).  This was extremely effective, but the doc had also suggested botox, which we didn't try.  After the first nerve block, he felt relief within 24 hours and that lasted for several weeks; the 2nd block was effective for several months and he only had one more block and hasn't had any headaches since of that kind.

Here's the thing: you may not have what my son had, but his headaches were predominantly on the left side and the locus of the pain seemed to reside just above his left eyebrow.  He was extremely sensitive to chemicals- if he got a whiff of the lab chems or cleaning fluids he would pass out.  This suggested that the nerve in question was in the sinus, and the trigeminal ends in that area.  In any case, once your nervous system has responded to a particular stimulus with pain, it becomes a pain pathway that doesn't go away when you take away the stimulus.  The original problem may have resolved itself (say, a hormonal issue) and your nerve is still sending pain signals.  This is extremely common in chronic pain sufferers.  This is why a nerve block or botox are so effective in certain cases.  They give the nerve a chance to reset.  A block contains fast-acting lydocaine and slow-acting cortisone, and remains very localized.  It isn't systemic, so there are very few side effects.

My son was on all kinds of meds, but Topamax was FRIGHTENING.  It's horrible.  He would lose motor function on his right side whenever he got a flair up of the headache and be unable to grip anything and would start to stumble walking.  Plus, it didn't work.  

I would also see an acupuncturist, both for the pain and for the sleep.  I'd skip the herbs if prescribed- if you throw up because of the headaches, I guarantee these will only hasten that tendency.  In any case, acupuncture can be very effective, but you may have to try out two or three to find one who is good.

Lack of sleep is exacerbating the pain and attacking your resilience.  You need a new GP and a really good therapist who will help you with the sleep issues.  Self-hypnosis can be a God-send in this case, so someone specializing in meditation, deep relaxation techniques, or bio-feedback (this last can be somewhat dicey, but in the right hands, really works) is what you should look for.

FWIW, I find that I don't tolerate melatonin as well as valerian, but any of these, including prescription meds, are less effective the more you take them.

God bless you.  You are in my prayers.

I think I should add that speaking to someone who will reassure you and encourage you from the point of view that your life is valuable, infinitely valuable, is terribly important.  I am Catholic, and our tradition is very, very life-affirming.  You are not alone, and you are loved.  To have a doc who turns away from you because you are becoming hopeless is horrible.  Every person on this thread cares: you must fight for your life, Becky-Louise.  It's not over, and it's worth living, even in pain.  

Please take good care of yourself.  My prayers are with you tonight.

Hi Becky,

Sit back and let me tell you a story.

When I was about 30 years old I got my first migraine. It was a frigin doozie and lasted for more than a day which wasn't what I was used to for a regular headache. After the third day I had ingested about 50 asprins which sort of toned down the pressure in my head, but made me dizzy and nauseous. Finally my mom gave me some kickass pain pills which knock me out. I slept all night and awoke and the headache was toned down to a dull roar. After being what felt like being in a torture chamber for 3 days a dull roar was pretty good.

Okay, here is the p*sser side of the story. I am now 61 years old and still have the same migraine. It has never gone away in over 30 years.

I have had 3 CAT scans, 3 MRI scans, been to a headache clinic where you check in for one week. The put you up in a bed, take all your vitals and feed you all kinds of special foods and drugs to see what reaction it has. Each day they had me visit different rooms with specialists in them. There was a Nutrisionist, a Neuologist, a Therapist, some sort of brain doctor, and what ever else they could put you through. Each day I had tests done by each of them. There were 12 of us patients in the clinic all with migraines of differing intensities. After the 6th day they had me get dressed and go visit with the head doctor in charge. I sat down and he went over piles of paper and test results. then look up and me and said "Son, we allways find something that helps all of our patients, but every now and then we run into someone that we cannot help... and you are the one this time".

So, over the years I have accecpted that this is my life and deal with it the best I know how. Here is a list of things that I have tried. Some good some bad.

The doctor terms my migrains as a 1, 2 or 3.

A one is - It's a dull headache, but you can still function without much distraction.

A two is - It's now pretty heavy, screws with your thinking, slows you down, but you can still drive a car and function.

A three - The pressure is soo bad all you want is for a large truck to run over your head to end it all Just shoot me!

1. I found that taking Enderal-LA (Propranolol) 120mg twice a day has allowed me to at least go to work and manage my life. It is not a pain medicine, but has something to do with how you blood flows in the small veins. My understanding is that 240mg per day it really high compared to many that use it, but my Doctor had me start at 50mg a day and increase it each week. It is not something that shows results right away like a pain pill but has to build up in your system for a couple of days to feel if it's helping. Once I reached about 300mg per day I noticed a difference and slowly backed down to 240mg pr day. I have been taking them each and every day for about 24 years now.

2. Being that the Inderal doesn't get rid of the migrane it just helps manage it, my typical day is waking up about 3AM with a "one". I get up and taked 2 asprins. I get up to goto work at 6:30. Still have a "one". Eat breakfast and get to work. About 11AM my "one" starts to be a "two". I take 3 more asprins. Noon time I head to lunch. After lunch I try and make it to about 3PM and take another 3 asprins. Now I'm in asprin overdose feeling. Have that sicky almost nauseaus feeling. I make it through the day and go home. While making dinner my migraine is getting real close to a "three" but I know better than to take strong stuff on an empty stomach. After dinner I sit down and relax. By then I usually give in and take either a couple of real strong pain pills, or one of the made for migraines pills or shots. Then sit down, but don't lye down because I find that lying down allows more blood into my head increasing the pressure. I fall asleep wake up a 3AM repeat previous day.

The migraine pills I take for the "three" days are:

1. Imitrex (sumatriptan) 35mg either in a pill or shot form. The shot works really fast and you use a hand held spring loaded injector.

2. Maxalt (Rizatriptan Benzoate) 25mg pill.

3. There is another one in the same family, but it doesnt come to mind right now.

In short, my life sucks. I'm sure you know exactly what I mean.

There are a few things that I found that seems to make it worse.

1. Management, keeping it lower than a "two" is real important. Once my get above a "two" it is all down hill from there.

2. Obvously, alcohol of any kind. Vodka, beer, wine, whetever. Difinitely stay away from.

3. If it stuff myself and waddle away from the table that is a pretty clear indication that I'm going to get a "three" before the night ends. Yep this has been a real tough one for me. I sit down all hungry and have to stop right in the middle of an enjoyable meal. Cover it up and eat the rest later on. I doesnt make any difference what I eat. If I stuff myself my migraine gets really bad.

4.  Flying. If I get to the airport and my migraine is bearly a "one" I have learned to take an Imitrex ASAP. Something about the lesser air pressure at altitude that will blow my head right off.

Over the years there have been several times where I was praying to the toilet for 3 days. Couldnt keep anything down. My head was hurting soo bad that I couldnt even breath, much less stand. I had already taken two Imitrex injections without any releaf. I ended up thinking it was all over and I was going to die. Was taken to the hospital where the immidately put me in the emergency room. Took MRI scans CAT scans, you name it. Then finally gave me a intrevenous drip of Morpheen. The Morpheen kicked my butt. I have been down that path 3 times. Because it costs so darned much even with insurance I now take a hand full of pain pills and a strong seeping pill. Then sit my ass down in a comfortable lounge chair and try my best to fall asleep. If I can make it through about 24 hours, then I am back to a "one".

I hope something in this message helps on one way of another. I will keep you in my prayers. 

Hi Gang. I wrote before as being a Migrane sufferer from the age of 10 and now 52 and the Migranes are 24/7 and all drugs have failed to the degree my Nurologist referred me to a Nuro-Surgeon at a Univercity hospital. This is the interesting part which GPs don't know about or have little knowledge Occipital Nuralgia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occipital_neuralgia . I know many of you will relate to the syptoms. I am now being considered to see if I am a candidate to have an inplant place under the skin at the back of the head also a battery inserted by the collar bone and a remote with 3 setting to send a electric discharge to the Occipital nerve found in the back of the head which reduces or stops the headaches. There are two / three proceedures over a period of weeks to check if I am a good candiate for the implant as its £15000 of NHS money. I have had first proceedure of Occipital nerve stimulation and after 10 to 14 days and patien should have  a result, they don't get headaches for6 months but in my case the first two days the pain of the headaches were more painful then for four days less painful then pre treatment which was short lived as I am now back to having them bad 24/7. That is good news as we know that the implant may work and now for the second proceedure in December 2014. I will keep you updated. My Mum and Sister get Migranes which are less frequent however treatable with Sumatriptan and Amitriptyline. The reason why Meds may not help alot of folk is that some headaches could be Occipital Nuralgia and  Migranes with Cluster Headaces in the mix as I have. Sumatriptan tablets do reduce some Headaches with Amitriptyline and Cocodamol . More later...................

Hi - I know how you are feeling. My headaches started back in March this year, to be told for four weeks that I had sinus problems and tension headaches and that there was nothing wrong with me. I now visit an osteopath every couple of weeks and take Topamax which is keeping the tablets under control. We have since discovered that the problems seem to be coming from my neck and not my head, now waiting to see my neurologist to confirm what is happening! Hope you get sorted!

I haven't read the entire thread, but despite this being a comprehensive discussion of migraine suffering, Deseril hasn't been mentioned anywhere.  This is the only medication developed to prevent migraine, and the only one that ever worked for me.  It was discontinued in 2013, but is now being imported and prescribed as an unlicensed medication.