clonidine worked for my basilar migraines!

I have had basilar type migraines for the past 35 years and for the past 6 years they have been daily........I started taking clonidine for my high blood pressure and amazingly it stopped the daily basilar stroke-like symptoms.  I would lose consciousness every day and come back feeling like I had been hit by a truck......these daily episodes would wipe 4 to 5 hours out of my day.  After being on the clonidine for about a week they stopped............unfortunately the clonidine also caused my brain to pump into my body high levels of adrenalin (racing heart, high levels of anxiety and high blood pressure) and so after about 12 days on the drug I had to stop.  As I taper off the drug I have now been basilar migraine free for a week which to me is a miracle.  I still deal with daily migraine pain (hanging around a 6) but to have a drug that stopped the other symptoms is wonderful.

Even though I had to stop the drug due to the side effects I am hopeful that I can find another med that might have the same effect on my migraines as the clonidine without the side effects.  I have given that job to my husband (a chemist) and my son (a doctor) - my husband thinks that the clonidine works on the brain stem which is where my basilar symptoms start so I will be patient while they do their research.  Haven't had hope in years so nice to have that feeling again!  L:D

This really made me smile. I'm so pleased for you.

Fingers crossed this bit of hope materialises into something life changing for you. Keep us posted

It is goot to hear that at least you got few days relief, we need all encouragemnts we can get, and hope is a rare commodity. Still, some miracles happen, sometimes they are small, but even that we know how to appreciate.
Let's hope that you will find your solution, or at least longer breaks form pain from something else JM.

Thank you for the good wishes. After stopping the clonidine on Tuesday the migraines came back today........could feel one starting this afternoon (cloudy feeling and an odd sensation behind my eyes) before it hit full force this evening. I was migraine free for 9 days total which is a record for me since they became daily 6 years ago.

After talking with my son I am going to talk to a couple of pharmacists I trust to see how far they think I can dose it down - the pills are very small and I was already cutting them in half - or see what they think about taking it every other day. My husband is still doing research on any med that might have the same effect on my brain stem without the side effects that made me stop the clonidine. I will keep you posted!

I too was helped by Clonidine but couldn't tolerate it. I started on it for opiate withdrawal when I thought I was going to taper off my pain meds (later changed my mind). It made me too drowsy to function, at any dose I tried (I was able to quarter the lowest tablets semi-accurately). Likely due to the combination with methadone, as I've noticed this with many meds...either med by itself is tolerable, but not together.

I hope you can find a Clonidine dose that is tolerable and helpful, or a good substitute! Off the top of my head I'm not aware of anything too similar. Its odd it made you anxious and increased your blood pressure as its supposed to do the opposite. Hopefully it won't be the same with similar meds.

If its a life changing sort of med, would you consider taking a lower dose of it, plus something to combat the side effects? Also, Clonidine comes in a long acting form, so if you weren't prescribed that one, you might want to ask about it (long acting meds should have a steadier release which often means less side effects). Best wishes.