What pain medication works for you?

Feeling really frustrated..tried and re-tried so many pain meds..what works for you?

Thanks ,
greeneyes

Triptan - Imtrex/Imigran every time, for well over 10 years now. Only now it takes a little longer to kick in.
Nothing else comes even close.

Triptans for me too, although I seem to go through them within a year if that before they're no longer effective.

The best for me was Isimig (frovatriptan) and the worst was Maxalt (rizatriptan which made me lethargic for the three months I took it - I thought I had glandular fever! Also had secondary rebound migraines every time). Imigran (sumatriptan) worked fast, but the migraine would come back several hours later. I'm now on Zomigoro (zolmitriptan) which has started giving me secondary migraines too, but it's very fast and effective otherwise. I've forgotten the others' names.

Nothing else comes close to the triptans.

only triptans work for me, occasionally Anadin Extra (asparin, paracetemol, caffeine) if I catch it really fast.

I started on Naramig (naratriptan) which worked brilliantly for about 10 years then I moved to Italy and they can't get Naramig here so I had to change to Zomig (Zolmitriptan) which is good but not as effective as Naramig for me. I also take Imigran (sumatriptan) in an emergency if I have no Zomig as its available without prescription here but its not as effective and the migraine usually comes back after about 8 hours.

lest we forget, dear ones, triptans are not pain drugs. they are the only drugs for us migraineurs, targeting specific brain receptors.

if the question was referencing drugs other than triptans, then nothing else works for me. sadly. and i've had them all, in my 43-year migraine career. not even morphine touches my head pain.

however, for many people, triptans are safer than other drugs, so maybe that's a silver lining. except for the cost, of course. dianne

Nalbuphin injections work for me. I tried percoset, but I got terrible rebound headaches with it. The only way triptans work for me is in injectible form. I get stomach stasis and can't digest anything oral. I tried the nasal Imitrex, but it dripped down the back of my throat. It tasted so nauseated that I couldn't take it anymore.

I don't primarily get migraines, but for my headache, I've gone from as needed narcotics to daily. Currently taking Methadone with as-needed Oxycodone. The best pain meds for me have been those containing Coedine or Oxycodone. I've tried everything but Fentanyl. Some of the "stronger" stuff like Morphine or Hydromorphone/Dilaudid does't do as much or makes me nauseous. Oxymorphone/Opana isn't bad either for me. Nausea which doesn't work well for me since I tend towards that already with the headache, tummy problems, and motion sickness. They are all really different so to the person who tried a naroctic and it didn't work or gave them side effects, if your doctor is willing, I'd try other ones.

I'd just have a heart to heart with your doctor and say X isn't working, what else does s/he have to suggest to treat you with. Not a good idea to mention meds by name (unless they say you've tried everything, I can't do anything for you, then I'll say I haven't tried Y & Z). I haven't had issues with rebound, but when I was taking anything with Tylenol, I did keep it to 2-3 days a week. The pure stuff is really better, although sometimes the added otc med can boost the effectiveness (but apparently the real reason they put it in there is to try to prevent overuse, as it'll hurt your liver or tummy lol). Pain meds have been the only thing to consistently work for me--tried most everything else unfortunately. Tolerance however is a huge problem as I'm 25 and been on some sort of narcotic almost from the start of my headache (once we figured out Triptans and otc meds didn't help). I'm now at my doctor's dose ceiling, so thats something to consider if you are talking about going to daily narcotics. Can't even find a pain doctor willing to treat me any more aggressively. Best wishes.

I'm allergic to all triptans, DHE, morphine, Inapsine..and Toradol.

There's only so much they can give me....

Love you guys