Cefaly success?

After using the Cefaly for about 5 months, I found the low level headaches had pretty much disappeared. Overall I have been feeling much better. No nagging pain behind the eye or the general dragginess I had been experiencing pretty much daily since the chronic migraine started almost 9 years ago.

So much so, that for the past 4 months I have been taking nothing at all. I stopped all the various supplements I was on and stopped doing the Cefaly daily as well. Nothing. Cold turkey. Just to see how I would do.

In the past 4 months I have experienced about 3 headaches per month, all from very specific known triggers (e.g. nitrates, sound through speakers). The rest of the time I have felt pretty good. And I have been doing a lot in terms of travel, stress, etc.... (Previously I had been experiencing 20-30% headache days per month.)

Am I finally turning a corner? Is it due to the Cefaly, or something else? I really can't say for sure.. But I am quietly hopeful.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

I'm so glad you got such good results from the Cefaly. It's wonderful!

I have had some good results, as I shared. I still get them but it's like there is a muffler on them and it doesn't hurt as much. I had my grandkids overnight Saturday and woke up Sunday with a bad migraine. I used the device on a low intensity and within half an hour I was up and starting my day.

I can get things done much more than I used to. I'm still in shock when I walk into my clean house. I haven't even cut my painkillers in half but I'm participating in life a lot more and it's exciting.

I'm 58 and I really thought my life was over. I'm hoping to wean myself off the painkillers and I'm thinking this is pretty good for this late in my life. I've had migraines all my life and had a headache every day for 20 years, although not so intensely now.

Although I realize it doesn't work for everyone, I would recommend it to anyone who can purchase one. And they have a money back guarantee.

So glad it is working for you all.

Oh if only they offered the returns policy in the UK then I would bite their hand off for a machine. But sadly they don't. I am edging ever closer to buying one though.

I'm so happy for all of you for whom it's working. I hate to sound so dramatic, but Cefaly really did change my life.

My doctor approved a Cefaly for me yesterday and I've ordered it. Should arrive within a week according to the folks at Cefaly and I can't wait to begin using it. I will keep you all updated.

Good luck Kem10. At last I have my first appointment mid September with the pain clinic. If they don't come up with anything positive then I have decided to take the plunge and buy a machine.

Keep us posted on how it goes!

Yes, good luck! I hope it works for you Kem10!

Keep experimenting with it. If you're in the US, it will get progressively stronger until you hit the button to stay at that level. I can only make it to 5 minutes but if I try and make myself put up with a higher intensity, it doesn't help as much.

I'm still getting some headaches and occasionaly they get kind of bad, but still nothing as painful as before. It's still a whole new life for me. I hope you get relief.

Thank you kloos and cathy. According to UPS it should arrive tomorrow and yes I am in the US. Thank you for that info on the intensity setting. I was surprised at how easy the ordering process was, just scanned my prescription into the computer and added it to an email just as I would a picture. It looked tiny in the email but they must have been able to enlarge it at their end to read it. The order is filled out first with one's credit card info and after sending the order, one sends the email with the prescription or alternatively it could be faxed.

I now look like Wonder Woman. My Cefaly has arrived and I used it for the first time. It is very relaxing and I could have easily napped a bit while the treatment was taking place though I did not allow it to ramp up to full intensity, I did use it for the full 20 minutes. It makes little tingly, vibration sensations starting above the eyebrows and into the front half of the scalp. Quite pleasant.

It sounds like you're off and running with it. I know, I feel like I'm on Star Trek with Captain Kirk but I like the Wonder Woman comparison better!

It's kind of fun. If you close your eyes and look up and down the vibrations go up your head and if you look back and forth it changes too. Keep experimenting with the intensity. You might like the higher intensity better but the lower works fine for me. I'm very excited for you and hope you see a difference. I noticed in about 4 days that I felt different. Good luck.

Thank you Cathy! I was wondering how long it would take for the benefits to become noticeable and I will experiment with the intensity and the looking up and down and back and forth. I notice it does kind of make the area right over my eyebrows ache while using it so maybe the lesser intensity would be better for now. I have always been a kind of bring it on full force, I can stand it and more, kind of gal. lol

Second day of using the Cefaly at full strength. I do have a migraine this morning and the pressure feeling on my forehead is almost intolerable but letting it go the whole 20 minutes anyhow. I wish there was a way to get the tingly effects without the pressure.

Hopefully this frequent update will help others wondering about the Cefaly. Anyway I started the day with a medium migraine and the 20 minute treatment seemed to do the trick in getting rid of it.

New study on Cefaly shows 81% success rate. Not bad.....

http://www.empr.com/news/cefaly-transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-device-effective-in-study/article/435014/

81% success rate is better than any of the meds that I know of. I too am quietly hopeful though it is much too early for me to know.

I'm glad to see more studies out there informing us how it is working for everyone. Thanks for sharing.

Kem, I'm so glad to hear it's helping. I have also used it in between my regular session even though you're not really supposed to, but I keep it low and it helps. But I've only done that a few times.

I still wake up with a headache most days but usually it's just a headache, not a migraine, and it gone before lunch. And my neck is involved in the process so ice packs help a lot.

I'm amazed many afternoons when I feel good at the end of the day, even though I'm tired from other health issues. I'm amazed at my clean house. I'm amazed how I enjoy walking my dogs without that stabbing pain and can walk further.

It's not perfect, but it's the best I've had in a long, long time. I hope it continues to help you.

-Cathy

Thank you Cathy, so glad it is helping you also. I woke up with a bad one this morning but medication helped and I continue with the treatments. When you say low level, how many minutes do you allow it to ramp up? I would like to use it for treatment as well as prevention.

I always only let it go up around 5-6 minutes because more than that doesn't give me any better results. Then if I feel like I need a treatment in between, I go to where I'm just feeling it, about 4 minutes and it's just tingling. Then I hit the button and let it stay there for the rest of the 20 minutes and it seems to calm it down some. Maybe that will help.

Thanks

Kem10 wrote:81% success rate is better than any of the meds that I know of. I too am quietly hopeful though it is much too early for me to know.

Sorry to put an edge of realism to this, as I want cefaly to work as much as the next sufferer, but whilst this certainly makes a good headline, it doesn't take long to realise that the study was carried out on only 24 people and there was no blind test to rule out the placebo effect. So not overly conclusive!

The first study that everyone refers to also wasn't that great, science-wise. It showed that only half the people in the study got relief. But if you read further, you find out that half the people in the study didn't use it every day like they were supposed to. How that study got published is a mystery to me...

I realize 24 people aren't many for a study, but I have to say, if scientists took 24 of us on this board and gave us all a med that then reduced the pain or frequency of migraines, and it worked for 19 or 20 of us, I think I'd pay attention. Anyway, Cefaly works for me. It really has changed my life for the better. If anything ever happens to mine, I'm buying another one the very same day.

After using it on the highest level for 5 days or so, I've decided to stay with a medium level for a while, very comfortable and relaxing at that point now. Can't say I've seen a huge improvement in number or intensity but it will likely take a good while to see strong results after about 55 years of migraines.

Are any of you using it to treat a migraine as well as daily for prevention and if so is it successful? Also I am getting to the end of the life of the first electrode and finding that the device loses contact with the electrode fairly easily though I hate to buzz through those electrodes too quickly. Going to check today if Amazon has them at a better price than the Cefaly web site.

It took about 3 months to start seeing a reduction in migraines. Like you said, that nerve has been aggravated and inflamed for many years. It will take a while to get it calmed down. I do use when I feel I'm getting one. It helps a bit.

I use it every day whether I have a migraine or not. If I do have a migraine, I may use it more than once if I have to, and it always seems to help. I rarely if ever have let it go to the most intense levels, but it still works well for me.