Aspirin again. Little bit different...

It's gone 1am here, I need to sleep. Leave you with this one....Night

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1315703/Aspirin-jab-beat-migraine-misery.html

Wow!

Wow indeed! Would love to see this come available soon. Want to mention this to the nuero and see if he's heard of it yet. If anyone brings it up to their dr., let us know what he/she says

I have a colleague whose ex husband suffered from a horrible type of migraine that gave him total aphasia and semi-paralysis when it hit. He was a lawyer and were often in court with clients. It had happened that the trial he was following had to be interrupted for a migraine attack!
His neuro gave him aspirin shots in high dosage and at the first symptoms he had to use them in his leg/forearm. He had to get one shot during a trial one day, but he could continue with his summon...
So, it seems nothing new and something that actually works.
I just wonder what consequences it can bring to almost daily sufferers....Aspirin is a blood thinner and a high dosage can easily cause bleeding and stomach ulcers.

Triple wow

I will be asking about these aspirin therapies when we take Anna to the headache clinic in Chicago next week.

Cheryl

I am grasping at anything new. I will ask about this on Oct 8 during my next neuro visit.

Ivy wrote:I have a colleague whose ex husband suffered from a horrible type of migraine that gave him total aphasia and semi-paralysis when it hit. He was a lawyer and were often in court with clients. It had happened that the trial he was following had to be interrupted for a migraine attack!
His neuro gave him aspirin shots in high dosage and at the first symptoms he had to use them in his leg/forearm. He had to get one shot during a trial one day, but he could continue with his summon...
So, it seems nothing new and something that actually works.
I just wonder what consequences it can bring to almost daily sufferers....Aspirin is a blood thinner and a high dosage can easily cause bleeding and stomach ulcers.

ivy, you are right about the bleeding as it is an antiplatelet drug, the platelet being the blood cell that is involved with blood clotting but by having it intravenously you would not get the stomach ulcer problems as that is caused by taking it orally!

what a bull. an aspirin?? please. an aspirin is an aspirin, no matter how administered.

Each injection contains a high dose of one gramme of aspirin, more than ten times the amount most people would take to soothe a normal headache or joint pain.

1 milligram = 1/1000 gram = 0.001 grams

1000 milligrams = 1 gram

There are 1000 milligrams in one gram.

So, one gramme = 1000 mg.
500mg + 500mg = 1000mg.
It's two ES of 500mg aspirin tablet.
where the heck it is "ten times more the amount" ???

This "news" to me stinks to high heaven.

It is a ploy to cut costs, no more no less. I don't buy this c*ap.
Here's the culprit:

It could also lead to substantial savings for the NHS, as aspirin costs around a third of the price of more ­expensive migraine pills, known as triptans.

btw these were pointed out to me by another very smart migraineur,
I am only passing on hers on the spot very wise insight.

Risa

Risa, is is real and is being used in England and has been for some years.
If you google it maybe you can find a better article than the one I posted?
It has been on the TV here too and our migraine charities and clinic have commented on it.
I think it might be the IV that supposedly makes the difference, but I dont know.

Pen

An aspirin was already once "discovered" as "surprisingly" effective as triptans for M, Pen.
Again, I don't buy it.

Aspirin was around for a long, long time. I doubt this is as recent. I doubt this is as effective as article makes it to be.

I understand the difference being given by injection - it always the highest absorption rate in this form.
Still, like I've said- an aspirin is but an aspirin.

Risa

Still, like I've said- an aspirin is but an aspirin.

Cant argue with that Risa....

I sure take plenty of them. The only thing that works for me other than Triptans.
But they dont get rid of migraine or I wouldnt need the Triptans.

P

Risa has a point. I would love for this to be a miracle treatment, but I am a bit skeptical because your dr's in the UK won't prescribe the stronger painkillers that we have access to over here.
Still, will keep an eye on this if I can.

It's true Bubbs, we do have different medications, but no less migraine, and most people I speak to are not keen to take the stronger stuff you get. Now it makes no difference cos we dont get it anyway, but it seems most of us cope almost as well without them.

Its probably because they just hit us with the, "the more you take, the more you take...."
We never get anything stronger so it isnt an option. Cant fight city hall.....

I wonder why it is so different?
I imagine our NHS system/costs must have some part to play.

Anyway on the IV Aspirin, you might like to read this one, which is NOT from the newspaper and does go into a few more specifics.
See what you think.....

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/09September/Pages/high-dose-aspirin-headache-migraine.aspx

Gotta weigh in on the aspirin issue. I think it works.

As we know, migraines have a ton of different origins. If you have a more vascular cause, aspirin can help.

When I'm having a really bad migraine, I'll load 650mg of ASA. I typically won't go over this dose, as 1000 mg taken orally probably wouldn't do much.

However, if you need ASA into your system fast, chewable ASA works. Even the coated 81mg versions can be chewed.

I've noticed that it helps significantly.....as intended, it helps me when my heart acts up.

Since my entire vascular system is diseased, I can't see why it would not effect the vascular supply to the brain.

True, you do have to watch the stomach. And the type of migraine--add ASA and you could be toast.

I wouldn't start treating with ASA unless you have a serious discussion with your doc.

-mgb

Anything is worth a try. I will be asking my neuro about it also.

Pen, not meaning to be argumentative, but it doesn't seem to me that most of you (migraineurs across the pond) do cope just as well without them (them being the meds we have access to here that you in the UK don't). I'm going by what I read on here, but it seems to me that alot of you struggle quite a bit, and might not suffer as much if you had access to the larger scope of meds that we do. I know not everyone is helped by all the medications we're prescribed here, but alot of people are.
That's my point exactly, actually. You don't have any less migraine cases there than we do here, but you have less options. Makes me glad I'm a patient here and not there. I feel like I have more options.

I don't mean any disrespect to anyone, or to anyone's country. Just stating the opinion I've formed based solely on the posts I've read here.

alot of you struggle quite a bit, and might not suffer as much if you had access to the larger scope of meds that we do.

You don't have any less migraine cases there than we do here, but you have less options.

ditto ditto ditto.

I participate in Polish M forum so I know very well how disastrous pain control over there is.
Is just OTC and triptans, that's it. It's succes if one gets our equivalent of T3.
No one but me uses percocet for pain on the forum there.

Tramal is the only 'hardcore' med offered freely, and used often with triptans
- which as I just found out recently is a no-no due to the risk of serotonin syndrome.

The most common prophylaxis is Divascan

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610.1978.hed1804225.x/abstract

then Sibelium, antidepressants, propranolol and sometimes Topamax.

Really, not a lot of options... and hardly, hardly anyone gets a combo of preventive meds for M ever.
Mostly is just one drug.

That's my experience from being about 5+ years on Polish M forum.


Risa

We do have the same options in Europe. The point is that the heavy weapons are normally used for very serious cases. Standards are much stricter here. Probably, all the Europeans who are on this forum are not considered serious cases by our guidelines.
I agree that standards are stricter, but Topomax and narcotics are used here too in some cases.

Not only rules are stricter, but our culture and education with medicines is different. I'm not saying that it's right or wrong. Just different. We still tend to consider any med (even an aspirine!) as poison. Our mentality is "the less I take meds, the better it is". So, often it's the patient who does not accept heavy cures.

I don't know if it's better the American way or the European way. It's just a different approach.

I would not point the finger against aspirine anyway. I have tried to use a high dosage of aspirine for migraine and it works partially. It helps me to lower my pain to 1/2 level. Of course, I am quite skeptical about the long term effects on the stomach and on the blood, but for some people it can be a valid rescue remedy.
On the other hand, ANY triptan that I've tried does nothing to my pain. And when I say nothing I mean NOTHING.

The chemistry of our flawed gene is still a mystery but it seems to respond to so many different substances and situations and it behaves differently in each sufferer.
If I'm not wrong, there someone on this board who uses chilli pepper to prevent migraine and it seems that it works great! So why shouldn't aspirine do the trick for some other sufferers?

Have a painfree day

if it works then whoopee were free from the mig pain and who wouldnt want to be so dont see what the problem is except i think some people think its an embarrasment to say that aspirin in whatever form gets rid of their migraine as it belittles the pain level. so? dont say what you take and enjoy being pain free!!!!!

Ivy, that's very interesting. I'd gotten the impression you just didn't have access to anything stronger than triptans and the preventives like topomax. Of course, if some of the posters on here aren't considered "hard cases" I don't know who is! Not me, for sure! I would not be able to manage my migraines if I lived across the pond (just based on how I am able to manage them here).
It is a very interesting cultural difference, isn't it? About Europeans not as willing to take pain meds (apparantly) and us Americans more apt to tell the dr's "give me whatever will kill this!" At least, that's what I tell my dr!

I don't know Ivy.

From what I know, patients often BEG for something effective for pain relief.
And Tramadol or Co-Codamol (T3) is the best they'll be given. Most often they will be given Toradol, Ketonal and the likes.
(then they will have ruined stomach etc, of course)

It's doctors who doesn't believe that M is serious enough call for something like Percocet.

I personally talked to a neuro online once, and asked him did he ever Rx P for M? he said no never.
It's just not done.
Very very rare instances when a patient with "just migraine" would be given such a potent drug for "mere migraine".

Risa

wherever you are in the world, its not just type of meds but if you look at the frequency of the meds being given that are the problem, when i last saw my neuro ans said how much meds some of the drs in the states will let pts have for migs he was startled and said obviously youre getting the rebounds. so which ever country if you take too much you will get the daily pain as those on here who do take daily meds will share how much pain they do get each day . stop the meds and reduce the pain.

Auntie,
I agree with you. Cultural differences are a weird thing and it's useless to dig here and there and find the "right" and the "wrong". The hystorical reasons that bring a culture to adopt certain rules have too strong roots and - after all - the world is a fascinating place because it's so varied

Risa, not all countries in Europe share the same standards. Unfortunately, recent hystorical events split Europe in two blocks. The block that has had the opportunity to follow the USA today probably has higher and better standards. The other block has followed a different destiny and for years they have been obliged to grow in a different direction. We are now trying to recover from shameful events of the past and we are trying to bring all countries at the same level, but it takes time.

So, it is possible that if you mainly deal with Polish sufferers, they have a slightly different perception of what's available in other European countries. There are many citizens from Poland, Czech Rep, ex USSR countries, Rumenia, ex Jugoslavia countries who are obliged to come to Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, UK for some types of cures that are not available in their countries yet.
It's shameful and I truly hope that soon we'll all have the same opportunities!

Dawn,

I'm going to disagree with you. Just because a person has daily pain doesn't mean that it's due to medication overuse. Yes I have quite an arsenal I can use but I often don't. I probably should take things more just so I'm not so miserable. Please don't generalize that just because others have access to medications means that our pain is due to using those medications too often and that we'd have less pain if we didn't use it.