Preventatives - Verapamil stopped working

Hi all, I am new to this forum and I found it extremely helpful. I have been suffering from terrible migraines 3-4 times a week for almost 18 months. It seems it was triggered with a brain surgery for a blood clot that I had as a result of an Epidural. Ibuprofen, Tylenol 2, Aleve, Efedrin and Fioricet taken on the onset of the attack don't help at all. I also tried Sumatriptan and Maxalt for 2 months to minimize the intensity of the attack with no success. Since April I have been 3 months on Propranolol up to 180mg, 3 months Venlafaxine (Effexor) up to 187.5mg but these didn't help much. Since October the doctor put me on Verapamil up to 180mg - this seemed to cut down the migraines after 6 wks to 1-2 a week. The doctor increased the dose a month ago to 360mg but just after X-mas I was getting almost 4 attacks a week for the last two weeks and those were significantly more severe. I still take the Venlafaxine for depression and my therapist recommended cardio exercise every day but this seems to coincide with the migraine attacks. Please, let me know your thoughts on the preventatives - I am not sure if it might be the Verapamil stopping working (although at a higher dose) or the exericise??? Any opinions will be very much appreciated.

I have taken Verapamil in the past to try and prevent my migraines. It was one of the many medications that I have tried. I did find that it was one of the longest running medications (before the one I am presently taking). I did find that it worked for me while it worked, then it stopped working. At that point my doctor realized she had run out of options and sent me to a neurologist. I have tried Propanolol also (which you mentioned), and for some reason I could not take it. Verapamil did work for a long time before it stopped working for me.

As for exercise and migraines. Sometimes when I get overheated (like sometimes in heavy exercise) it causes a migraine. I find light intensity exercise (pedaling a recumbent bike in the dark) when I am more prone to migraine attacks is way better than (shoveling a barn full of chicken manure in broad daylight and taking it out to the manure heap).

Thank you, Jilly. You mentioned that the Verapamil has worked for a longer time for you. If you can share this - how much were you taking and how long it worked? It only worked for about 6 weeks for me and I am on 360mg. I am wondering if the last two weeks I overdid the work out, and perhaps now when I went easier on the exercise, it will start working again (however, I had another attack yesterday after no workout)...

I can't tell you the dose, because I don't remember. I would have to ask my doc to look that info up. It worked for about 6-8 months before the doctor switched me. It could have been longer. I don't usually keep track of medications that I take, but I know these two because I took one for a long time and my doc told me about the other that I took for a little bit. We are trying to find a new medication for when I switch in the summer.