Other migraine treatments

My wife has had horrible debilitating Menstrual Migraines for several years now and they seem to be getting worse. We've finally found a doctor that seems very interested in doing whatever it takes to find a remedy.
Unfortunately, my wife cannot tolerate any of the normal drugs prescribed. Triptains, NAISDs, Anti-depressants have all been tried with side effects as bad as the migraines.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other medical or alternative treatments? The only thing that seems to actually work is a trip to the Emergency room for a shot of Dilauded. Can't really do that all the tiime.

Thanks for your help
KL

Hi KL,

I'm so sorry to hear your wife is suffering from this horrible ailment. I've had them for over forty years but now after menopause I am having so few severe migraines. I know it's not much help to your wife as she's probably still very young, just want to say that I have survived all these years and she will too,but she needs to keep trying different medications, surely there must be something she can take to help apart from the trips to ER. Tell her not to give up.

Hope somebody else can come up with some ideas, it's nice that you seem a very caring husband.

Thanks Ruth,
We're still trying different treatments. I just thought I'd post here to see if anything came up that we don't know about.

Kirk

Hi Kirk,
You don't state how old your wife is-if she is in menopause yet. I'm hesitant to give any advice because a) I'm not a doctor b) your wife's migraines are probably different than mine c) if I do give any advice someone will certainly pop up and say that drug doesn't work or the side effects were unbearable or my doctor said something totally opposite:). So the best advice I can give is to educate yourself, see what applies to your wife, run your ideas by the neuro and experiment. You may hit on something that helps.

i have bad migraines when i have my period too. my ob/gyn heard my plea and put me on the seasonale birth control pill. i take it continously until i have break thru bleeding then i go off the pill for 3 days ( not the regular 7) and take an estridol (sp) pill each of those days so my estrogen doesn't bottom out. Then back on the pill until the next time - I end up only having my period 4 times a year, which really cuts down on menstrual migraines for me.

My wife is only 39. Not quite to menopause yet. Unfortunately, she can't take any birth control pills or estrogen as she gets deathly ill with nausea & vomiting. This has probably been the biggest problem with finding treatment. If the medication has any possible side effect - she gets it.
Thanks for the replies!

Silverjet that guy is putting the same spam on multiple links. Doubtful claims.


Re: Help! this is getting ridiculous!
  Migrainegirl Today at 1:58 am

Apparently this product is made from the juice of the prickly pear cactus, which is sometimes used in Mexican food dishes. I have had it before at a restaurant (it's different, but not bad). It does seem to be rich in various vitamins.

There is no evidence of any medicinal benefits, particularly not for migraine. See the below link. In fact headache and nausea are listed as a possible side effect. It also recommends consulting your doctor before trying it, as there can be negative effects on kidneys, etc.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5485841_side-effects-nopal-cactus.html

Verdict: at $120 it's a rip off




 

Silverjet

I also seem to get every possible weird side effect of medication. I tried pretty much everything for 3-1/2 years of chronic daily migraine. I did finally get good relief with a combination of natural progesterone and vitamin supplements (vitamin D, iodide, omega3, and magnesium). See the below link for more info. I have gone from 80% headache days to 2/month. Not perfect, but much better.

Www.migraine-headaches-information.com

silverjet89 wrote:My wife has had horrible debilitating Menstrual Migraines for several years now and they seem to be getting worse. We've finally found a doctor that seems very interested in doing whatever it takes to find a remedy.
Unfortunately, my wife cannot tolerate any of the normal drugs prescribed. Triptains, NAISDs, Anti-depressants have all been tried with side effects as bad as the migraines.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other medical or alternative treatments? The only thing that seems to actually work is a trip to the Emergency room for a shot of Dilauded. Can't really do that all the tiime.

Thanks for your help
KL

Ok Silver, these 4 simple, free non drug methods I describe below , anyone can do immediately have worked for others to cure their migrines even when nothing else had ever worked for them, ,most of them suffering from chronic, many day lasting migraines, , a roommate, people I met , a neighbor, etc and the last one worked for me , instantly I might add,, when I had first began to experience my one and only migraine, right at the beginning.

Method 1

See my thread on the first page of this forum entitled

Several people with migraines have told me this eliminated theirs in less than a half hour.

Post stevelord on Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:02 pm

Method 2

Three people with migraine have found success with this, none of whom had ever experienced success any other way in their long history of migraine. One totally eliminated her migraine by doing it at the VERY FIRST MOMENTS of the beginning of her migraine, and the other two who tried it after the migraiine had fully set in. However the drawback is that it took longer than the people who stared at the tv snow with the sound off, method 1.

Putting our hands in the same position as the fetus places his hands in the womb most commonly, up like a boxer, near the chin or clavicle. hold it reasonably still, nothing in the hand, one hand is fine, no need for both, both are only slightly better, and if lying down on your back, you can rest your hand on your upper chest, but curl your fingers so your fllat palm doesnt rest on your upper chest, only the back of your fingers and the heal of your palm will be resting on your chest, wihich is stronger in effect. .

This aspect of the fetal position is enormously healing. However it will not work I have found, if you smoked a cigarette on the day you treat, or if you are near man made radiation from cell phone, computer equipment, or a flat screened tv. or a modern radio. The flat screened tv radiation can stop the body from being beneficially stimulated up to 17 feet away from it I have found. Things that suppress the immune system, as do any drug that affects the nervous system, like the synthetic opiate pain killers, will greatly reduce the beneficial effect I have found.

Lying flat has a bad effect on the brain, according to a book written by two college professors, and I agree in my experience, so see if you can lie with your upper body and of course your head elevated. You dont want to elevate only your head TOO much,and not the upper body because too much of an angle reduces oxygen to the brain. Do this fetal hand thing hour after hour and it should gradually,steadily cure your migraine, and some improvement occurs during the first half hour as per the experience of the others who tried it.

Method 3

IF I sit or lie in a pitch black room, absolutely zero light, which can probably only be achieved in a very very dark room AND also putting something opaque over the eyes, like two sweater sleeves, so not one scintilla of light comes in, and then keeping the eyes OPEN all the time, if you close them except to blink, even momentarily, the effect will be lost. WHat this does is create a form of sensory deprivation which perhaps imitates what occurs in the womb and at about the twenty minute mark of doing this does trigger beneficial healing I have found and puts me in an altered state, which triggers the healing if I continue to do it. Studies back this up re sensory stimulation, re the altered state, This has not yet been tried for migraine, but it has a shot, I have some indication that theta waves are created by doing this, a very healing state so says the internet..

Method 4

This one worked for me in my one migraine. At the very first sign of the migraine, I closed my eyes in a dark room and visualized an object in my minds eye,I knew from before that this puts me iinstantly iin an altered state of some sort, again perhaps theta. I used my thumbnail to visualize, try that first, and when I was able to bring that vision of my thumbnail in my minds eye into perfect focus, zero fuzziness, total clarity, the same as looking at your thumbnail or whatever object you choose, maybe something from your garden , when your eyes are open, whoosh my migraine instantly totally aborted. Perhaps too this can be successful even on a more intrrenched migraine. One person I knew did try this for a full blown migraine after it had been firmly established and said she just couldnt bring the object in clearly. One thing that has helped me to bring my thumbnail in clearly if I am otherwise unable to do so, is to stare at my thumbnail with my eyes open and then quickly close them such that the image remaiins clear in my mind for a second or two.

Hope one of these methods works for your wife , Silver.

Steve Lord

This is very unfortunate she can't tolerate triptans - is it really that hopeless?

Did she try all of them? Because they all not work the exact same way.
For example Imitrex gave me heart palpitations while Zomig and Maxalt- never, ever.

Also, could it be that the triptans alone didn't work? They hardly ever work by itself for me, but if I take Maxalt together with narcotic pain reliever (oxycodon) it work a helluva lot better.
Maybe she can try that again, if her doctor thinks it's alright?

btw there is a number of similar painkillers albeit bit less potent than hydromorphone (Dilaudid in tablet form) but I think combined with a triptan they should be good enough.


The only problem is there is always potential for abuse and addiction with narcotic painkillers,
so the decision must be taken very seriously to take them, and the treatment always under great care
of the doctor.

Did she try Topamax? the trick to minimize side effect is to start slowly, very slowly - I would recommend even less than 25 mg initially (you can cut the pills in half) and increase the doses monthly.


Risa

Steve Lord,

I don't know if I should laugh or cry when reading your post. Your advice is harmless enough and doesn’t cost any money. On the other hand for migraines sufferers who have been dealing with daily and debilitating pain for decades it is a bit patronizing to suggest that resting in a fetal position or visualizing your thumbnail will cure their headaches. You might mean well, but this doesn't help to take migraine sufferers and their needs more serious.

Sorry Steve .... I am not convinced.

P.

Silverjet,

I am the same age as your wife and pray for an early menopause. I don't just suffer from menstrual migraines, but during menstruation my migraines go through the roof. I found that a triptan together with 5mg of amitriptyline does the trick to get me over the worst. Usually after taking this combination I fall asleep for 24 hours and feel much better when waking up.

You said your wife can’t tolerate triptans. Has she tried all of them? I found that Maxalt (the wafer that melts under the tongue) has fewer side effects than Imigran. Amitriptyline at 5mg is a tiny dose and is enough to have an effect on the pain, but keeps the side effects at a minimum. Please note that I do not take the amitriptyline daily, I basically only use it as an emergency medication. I could not tolerate them daily.

If your wife has menstrual migraine her headaches will probably get worse on the pill. It is best to steer clear of it as it also tends to increase stroke risk in women with migraines.

How sweet of you to come on this forum and ask for help for your wife. She is a very lucky girl.

P.