All you need is Aspirin

When I went to the famous headache doctor in NYC for botox (no help) he gave me a sample of a "new formulation" that he just "happens" to be selling. It's - hey, guess what? 500mg of aspirin along with 75mg of magnesium. I looked up the price online - $20 for 20 pills. Seems easier to walk down to your local Walgreens or the pharmacy of your choice. The equivalent is probably about a dollar for a bottle instead of a pill. Three 325mgs tabs is 975mgs- close enough for my money). and the magnesium could easily be added- cheaply. If it were that easy, why would we still be seeking help? (I also developed an ulcer from aspirin and/or ibuprofen as I just wanted to be out of pain and be able to function. Not it's not a drug I can take without severe stomach pain.)

When I was little (6 or 7) a dose of aspirin seemed to work for me (that was before we knew not to give aspirin to children). I'd take some and go to sleep and later I'd wake up all better (often though I'd vomit, so who knows if the aspirin or the sleep worked. But a child's physiology is different than an adults.

Migraines aside - I was told growing up that it was the nap that got rid of "headaches", not the aspirin. So when you were told to take 2 aspirin and lay down for awhile you could have skipped the aspirin. And we aren't talking migraines. I can't believe aspirin could come close to fixing a migraine unless you were to take so much of it the side effects would get you.

If anyone actually believes this on the forum, why don't we all just shuck our arsenal of drugs and buy ourselves a big bottle of aspirin and see what happens. I bet there aren't many takers.

Well as I said Linda I have tried and it doesnt work for me. BUT people have posted to say it di for them.
However arent most of the people on there chronic. Otherwise we wouldnt be on here, so maybe, if you havent already graduated to Triptans etc they can help. I am not sure if the results quote the level of migraine the people had.
I would say it is a good first base because most people dont hit hard enough right away. BUT I take a triptan, more aspirin would just be more belly ache and still migraine..

Makes me wonder how many people with "migraines", really have just headaches. All I know is that I need something a heck of a lot stronger to get rid of mine.

Not sure if this is at all different to the papers and BBC version, but this is the Cochrane Institute's original.

Sorry cant wade through right now, head doesnt want to, but sure someone will.

http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD008041/frame.html

OK, so I read it and sounds just dandy. Maybe for those that aren't getting any relief anyway with whatever they are using should try this and get back to the forum with the results. I'm not chancing a migraine when I don't have to (my current abortives work). If your results are good, I would certainly give it a try (save me a lot of money). So is anybody in?

This makes me sad because I know that the Cochrane reviews are highly respected. They analyze the many studies out there and use only those that are done properly -without conflict of interest etc. Medical professionals use them and usually that is to our benefit. (Many, many studies are done by the manufacturer or people with financial interest. You can see how this might flavor the study.) But this? As someone said earlier, let's just toss the other drugs and see what happens. I, for one, won't be doing that anytime soon.

Sadly I just had an appointment yesterday with a new (to me) migraine specialist/pain manager. It was as useful as this study. But I am going to try his suggestions. I'll report the details and how it goes later. Right now my head is throbbing and I'm going back to bed.

I hope I've made sense here. My brain is scrambled. (No headstands.)

estre004 wrote:OK, so I read it and sounds just dandy. Maybe for those that aren't getting any relief anyway with whatever they are using should try this and get back to the forum with the results. I'm not chancing a migraine when I don't have to (my current abortives work). If your results are good, I would certainly give it a try (save me a lot of money). So is anybody in?

Well as I said Linda, I have been in. Aspirin does work for me be it headache with a cold, or myofascial from my neck if it isnt too bad. It always worked on cramps as well., I just dont respond to Ibuprofen or Paracetamol.
BUT the neuro told me to try this a year ago. I did...he said take 3 soluble aspirin and dump the excedrin.
Now that is more aspirin, but it didnt work. The 2 excedrin were better. So i concluded, given I dont respond to paracetamol in Excedrin, I must respond to the caffeine.

900mg aspirin v 500mg & caffeine. It must give the aspirin the boost I need.
Bad for some, not for others, but caffeine is funny like that isnt it.
But although I can drink tea. Coffee gives me indigestion and sometimes a headache (not mig.) So I dont drink it.
It must be the coffee cos I can quaff cola no probs.

It is a depressing report though, for those of us that have struggled to get migraine its right credibility in the pain stakes....

As I said earlier 3 Excedrin and 2 Aleve work as an abortive for both me and my daughter if caught EARLY!! I suspect that it is the caffeine along with the pain reliever and anti-inflammatories that works. It doesn't help at all if I wake up with a migraine already in process as in this morning. Then I have to suffer through it.

My neurologist from several years ago told me that the combo of aspirin, tylenol and caffiene works the same as Cafergot. I added the Aleve after reading that the new formulation of Imitrex included Naproxen as the combo was more effective.

Alli

Hi All,

Aspirin probably works for some people. However, I am not sure that taking a thousand milligrams would be good for chronic migraine sufferers. My father got migraines as a teenager and aspirin has always helped him. (There weren't any triptans, DHE, etc at the time.} To this day, he still gets the occaisional aura, but no pain and aspirin does help him.

I wish it worked as well for me or for other chronic sufferers better than it does. Alas, it does not.

As to the fizzy drink theory- not sure if this helps. Sometimes a real coke helps me get through some of the headache, but this is probably due more to caffeine than anything else.

Pain free days,
sailingm

This is from "Internet Health Library".

Many people treat their migraine with simple pain killers purchased from the chemist. These can be very effective, especially if taken very early in the attack. It is important to take pain killers quickly as, during an attack, gastric stasis can occur and medication cannot then be absorbed from the gut into the blood stream. Pain killers taken in soluble form or tablets taken with a sweet fizzy drink can start to work more quickly.

Does that help at all??

I wonder if the fizziness has something to do with breaking down the meds? I'm no chemist but I wonder if they aren't able to be broken down in the stomach on it's own that the carbonation in the drink does that action so that the rest of the guts can absorb it. I could be completely wrong but it's something that struck me.

It reduced the migraines for 50% and knocked out the migraine for only 25%. I wonder if all these people had been diagnosed with migraine or whether some were self-diagnosed?

I'd believe 25% being helped , but 50% sounds too high.

On the other hand, most people have mild migraines that can be helped by a couple of Excedrines.

In my case, aspirin does very little for any type of problem. Ibuprofen is what works for me. It's a miracle drug for me. I was in the ER a few years ago with a broken arm and they wanted to give me a bottle of Percocet. I said "No Thanks", just give me some Advil. Worked great. I'm lucky, I think.

But it only does anything for my migraines when I'm taking my preventative. My preventative is what keeps my migraines down and I can mop up the rest of the migraines with a couple of Advil and a cup of coffee.

I recently had to have anesthesia and wasn't allowed to take any of my meds for 1 week before the surgery. What a horror. I had forgotten how bad migraines were. I was havbing constant migraines before theprocedure. I couldn't eat solids for two days before the procedure and nothing the day before and that really made the migraine bad. I went under the anesthesia with a horrible migraine. It was still there when I came to. They couldn't understand why I felt so horrible in recovery. I had my wife waiting for me in the recovery room with my preventative and a couple of Advil. As soon as I got the OK, down they went. But it took a couple of days to get things back under control.

[quote]

charmed quark wrote:It reduced the migraines for 50% and knocked out the migraine for only 25%. I wonder if all these people had been diagnosed with migraine or whether some were self-diagnosed?

I'd believe 25% being helped , but 50% sounds too high.

I would have to re read it, but as its Cochrane, I would imagine they would only take those actually diagnosed.

I have found that Vanquish, if taken as soon as a twinge of a migraine starts, works to lessen the severity. I have mentioned this, but no one has ever commented if they have tried it. Vanquish is Acetamenophen, aspirin and caffene. I take three tablets to start and one more thirty minutes later.

This doesn't work at all if I wake up with M or it starts like the bolt out of the blue. (I hate those kind as bad as waking up with one, maybe worse.)

Hal

This sounds like our Anadin Extra Hal. Which is similar to Excedrin, but the amounts vary a little.
They work for me for everything but full blown migraine. But of course, constant nagging about rebound/MOH.

Makes me wonder how many people with "migraines", really have just headaches.

Estre004: you're so right!

I also wondered how many REAL, GENUINE migraineurs responded well to that research....

I was told it was a controlled study, I think that was from one of the papers.
It does seem that some people do respond to this, but I cant imagine anyone who has reached the Triptan stage would benefit. I know I dont.

Will read it again when my head wants to....(I can read, but cant concentrate (Fibro))

"A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way"

Hal

Since I do not use it, I have not looked at the ingrediant list recently; but doesn't Alka-Seltzer also contain some aspirin? If so, that would be fizzy plus aspirin.

"Plop, plop - fizz, fizz;
Oh what a relief it is"
. . . NOT!

Mule Kick wrote:Since I do not use it, I have not looked at the ingrediant list recently; but doesn't Alka-Seltzer also contain some aspirin? If so, that would be fizzy plus aspirin.
"Plop, plop - fizz, fizz;
Oh what a relief it is"
. . . NOT!

It does indeed, and once upon a time it worked for me....but that was over 20 years ago.
I have evolved.....

Good point though, so maybe we do need the sugar with the fizz!!!

I have just tried this because my head is on the cusp.
So far it is still coming...

P

I cannot take any anti-inflammatories. On the few occasions I have risked severe stomach discomfort and some bleeding (due to damage from undiagnosed Celiac disease), it has not touched my pain. Does not work for my daughter, either.This is a real issue at the ER, docs always think I am making it up! Now it will probably be worse with this report...
Cindy

Anti-inflammatories, generally, do NOT work for me, either.

Asprin, if I can even get it down, makes me vomit. Ibuprofen gives me MOH, but does NOT relieve any other pain! Tordol, given by injection to an IV-line, after procedures under anesthesia, seems to help a little bit, but not much.

If all you need is aspirin, than all you got is not a migraine.
M

I tried to quote but the post disappears when I go to the quote button.

In response to "If all you need is an aspirin you don't have a migraine." That's just not so. We all know we respond differently to different treatments and most of us on here have gotten progressively worse.

I have heard people say, "I used to be able to drink a cup of coffee and take a couple Exedrins and it would go away in an hour or so." Now they can't seem to break the cycle w/out medical intervention.

I don't think aspirin or any other treatment works for everyone but I don't doubt that there are people that actually have migraines and are effectively treated w/ aspirin.

M