looking for suggestions for migraine relief

I have been a migraine sufferer ever since a car accident about a year and a half ago. I hit my head and had a cerebral contusion. My most recent 'really bad one' was a couple of days ago and I needed intravenous meds at the emergency dept. My doctor and Neurologist have been trying to get the right medication 'cocktail', which, at the moment includes topiramate, amitryptiline,birth control pills with no bleed, and then the 'rescue' meds of zomig nasal and tab, toradol and morphine. This seems ridiculous and i am really desperate to have a normal life again. I am trying to lead a normal life with my husband and two young children, but am not having much success. Is there anyone with suggestions?

I really feel for you, I suffered for so many years and it was hard bringing up to boys when you're in so much pain, but after forty some years they have eased up a lot (thanks to menopause). You will just have to keep working with your doctor and neurologist until they can perhaps figure out something that works, or at least something that helps. Have you tried Maxalt or a nasal spray like migranal? They are the two meds. that helped me a lot of the time.

Sorry I'm not much help, hope you can find something that gives you relief soon.

Have you tried living as healthy as you can manage outside of the medications? Staying hydrated, eating clean foods, exercising? Perhaps attempting to give up caffeine to see if it makes a difference?

These "at home" remedies have enabled me to live a "normal" life. By "normal" I mean that I am still basically in pain 95% of the time, but I am more or less fully functional. Sometimes I even get breaks from the pain for a little while if I've been really good.

Stress relieving techniques are also very helpful to me - yoga, meditation, just taking a time out from life...

I'm sorry you are going through this. All of the members on this board feel your pain - we are all trying our best to chug along, hoping for brighter days. Some people actually get them though, so try not to ever give up hope.

Also, I don't know if your neurologist is specifically a migraine specialist, but if he/she isn't, you might consider finding one that is.

I suggest you keep trying. I had to change meds tons of times, before I got what I needed. I became pro-active and luckily have a DR who listens to me and was willing to Not go back. I didn't want to revisit stuff that didn't work and wanted to be off as much as possible so I would be able to tell what did help. I could not recognize medication side effects when I didn't know which drug was causing it. I am usually go with the flow, but I became my own best advocate and an expert in the field of ME and my pain. Eventually I found what works the best and for now the plan is to stick with it. I really don't want to go back!

I have recently been learning Mindfulness Meditation and although meditation is not something I've ever been really into, I'm surprised at how relaxed I can feel. I still struggle with the thoughts and brain racing but I can at least just sit quiet and concentrate on my breathing. Maybe worth trying?

I also had some acupuncture yesterday and he used a few different points to trigger alpha state. He left me for nearly an hour and I couldn't believe how fast the time went. I was so relaxed it was insane! My migraine had gone which was wonderful. I felt quite groggy for a while, it was a strange feeling but the relaxed state stayed with me most of the day. I felt peaceful - looking forward to another session next week now!