had my second migraine in a week! almost threw up driving in to work! didnt want to take anything, I teach teenagers, but thank god the kids were very nice and let me be... and now its the weekend and i can hopefully sleep it off. i feel like an idiot because i am always saying - complaining - actually that i have a headache! just venting...

Have you tried the spray Migranal? It has stopped some I have that would normally send me to the hospital. It doesn't make you loppy or anything like that.

I feel your pain, literally. I have delt with migraines since a motor vehicle accident caused me to suffer a brain injury. That was about seven years ago. For 20 days after the accident I had a non-stop migraine with varying degrees of pain. They "settled" down to two or three a week for the next few years. I have tried just about everything for migraines. The only thing that works are narcotics. I take extended release for prevention but have am not allowed anything for breakthrough migraines. My doctor says it is to avoid rebound migraines, but I'm pretty sure he just is a narcotic hater like most doctors. Don't feel like an idiot for complaining. Feel free to come here to vent all you like. It really does help sometimes just to pound on the keys and say how you are feeling. Best of luck, and I hope this one passes soon.

Ugh......Migraines. I've been plagued by them since I was 16 years old, and have tried just about every medication for them.

Imitrex worked the best, but now that Uncle Sam isn't footing the bill any longer.......it's kind of up there in price (although someone posted a site in the offshore section that had it at half of the US price)

Fioricet....sometimes yes/sometimes no.

What I actually found to be the best was Nurofen Plus - but only if you caught the migraine at the very onset. I first was exposed to Nurofen Plus when I had taken a vacation to England. I left my Fioricet prescription at the base, and while walking the streets of London I felt a migraine comming on.

I thought that I was going to be screwed. I didn't want to wind up at a strange doctor/hospital in a foreign country, but yet I knew I needed something for the pain.

At that time, I had no idea that medications with Codeine are available OTC in many parts of the world. I wandered into the first pharmacy I came across and told the pharmacist what had happened. Next thing I know he's handing me that precious silver box containing tablets with Ibuprofen and 12.8mg of Codeine.

Popped three of them and the pain was gone rather quickly (mind you - I caught the pain at the very beginning. A few minutes later and I would have had to have gone to the hospital.

Now back in the states as a civilian, I order it from a pharmacy in Australia.

On another note, a Neurologist that I spoke to once about them told me to start taking Calciun/Magnesium tablets every day. He had said that migraines could be caused by a Magnesium deficiency. So I tried it and found that the frequency of them went down. Might be worth a shot to try - Calcium/Magnesium is rather inexpensive.

That's pretty fascinating. So they still don't have a generic equivalent for Imitrex?

Not in the US - patent hasn't expired on it yet. Should be soon though I would think.

I think the offshore place that had it was inhousepharmacy? It looked like it was European manufactured unless they were just using a stock photograph. But the price on it was shy of 50% off the US price.

I wonder what the price in Mexico is for it? I should call my cousin in California and see if he feels like taking a trip south of the border.

Oh for the poster above, the doctor is very correct that narcotic and even tylenol and aspirin can cause a rebound headache....a headache WORSE sometimes than the original one.

You should never take narcotic, tylenol or aspirin more than 3 times a week for a headache. Doing that is the major cause of the "daily headache" that many people have.

A lot of us are magnesium deficient as this mineral has been depleted from the soil and is therefore no longer in most of the typical food sources. I take it, not for migraines but to help w/muscle spasms. I have been told the tablets are better than the pills.

I'll ask a doctor. if its similar to imitrex, restavol...I cant take it, get a really weird side effect, feels like someone is clawing one side of my throat, doctor said this side effect was not uncommon, pretty weird side effect and very uncomfortable if you ask me.

Not it's not, I can't take ANY triptains, I have to have IV meds to open my throat back if I take those. I have a "death allergy" to Imitrex and therefore they will not even let me try the other ones, maxalt, etc.

It has a medicine similar to what was in caffergot, I believe it is DHE-45 or it is either similar to DHE-45.

For me, since I just go from either no headache to full blown migraine or just a regular headache that turns on a dime, I have to wait until it is a migraine for it to work.

People that have a warning one is coming, it will work great to take before the headace is there. It is a nasal spray, it will help with the nausea and even if you throw up at first, you don't lose your meds.

If you have insurance and a good copay, if the doc writes one script for say 10 bottles, then you only have to pay one copay.

Your doc probably has some samples to let you try.

I'll try the nurofen, sounds like that might help. as for magnesium deficiencey.. there is a medication topomax which prevents migraines, or helps , ive tried it it kind of works, but its side effect is tingling in the fingers and you have to take magnesium to counteract it. on another note its other side effect is weight loss, and i saw that it has now been added to one of the ingredients of the infamous phen phen as a weight loss drug. I actually lost some weigthe with it, but gained it back, i tend to be a little heavy always.

You know that nurofen is just motrin, right?

I can't take topomax, the doc talked to me about it. One of the side effects is causing kidney stones and I already get my fair share of those.

Nurofen Plus (non-us) has codeine in it. I remember buying it when I was in NZ.

Yes, Nurofen Plus does, but they also sell just Nurofen.

I personally find the Nurofen Plus (I should have pointed out that there is Nuofen which is just plain Ibuprofen and Nurofen Plus which is Ibuprofen + Codeine) to work great if I catch it in time.

I was about 20 years old when I first found out about it on vacation in England. Up to that point I had no idea that medications with Codeine are available OTC in other parts of the world. It was a life save for me as I really didn't want to wind up going to a doctor or a hospital in a foreign country.

I find that Ibuprofen + Codeine works 10X better than Tylenol with Codeine. I wonder why Ibuprofen with Codeine isn't available here with a prescription? Even when I had a root canal done not too long back I found more relief from two Nurofen Plus tabs that I did from the Tylenol 3 that the Dentist prescribed.

The most effective pill for me for my migraines has always been Fiorinal with Codeine, prescribed regularly by my doctor. Basically aspirin, caffeine, bulbital, and codeine:

butalbital, USP ............................. 50 mg
aspirin, USP ............................... 325 mg
caffeine, USP ............................... 40 mg
codeine phosphate, USP . .. .. . . .30 mg


I take two of these when a migraine hits, and the SOP is lying down, ice bucket with ice and water next to the bed to keep a bathcloth cold, bathcloth over the eyes and something like Law and Order or such on the TV (a show that doesn't require you actually watching to follow, to take my mind off the pain.) The butalbital is a sedative and helps a lot to relax the muscles while the codeine, aspirin, and caffeine work on the actual headache. Often I will need to take another couple of pills 5 hours later if the headache is still lingering after the first couple wear off.

Imitrix, etc. just don't work for me.

Imitrex did not work for me either.

I took codeine and Valium together but the pain always comes back in three hours. Then too it never was gone just down to where I was not losing my mind.

Yeah, sometimes, if I catch it early enough and can lie down with a cold washcloth on my eyes, the two Fiorinals work well, the headache fades (what a glorious feeling to realize it doesn't hurt any more!) and stays away. Other times the meds just tame it enough that it is a dull pain, bearable, while I lie still and try to focus on the TV show in the background.

Imitrex is suppose to be taken when you feel a migraine coming on.

I would always wake with a migraine.

As the years have gone by I am now doing much better. I tried Vitamin B Complex injections and I got on Magnesium and I did everything I could to prevent them.

To this day I cannot drink wine or take any liquor. I will pay for it and it is not worth it.

Yeah, I have noticed that more than one glass of red wine in the evening and I have 50/50 odds of waking up with a migraine. Sooooo sad, as I love red wines!

I'm lucky in that I don't have food triggers. SOMETIMES, if I am already close to having a headache, where I feel like I am "trying to get a headache" strong smells will bring the headache on.

I can't take ANY triptans, they almost killed me when the ER gave it to me the first time.

Don't forget, you can take both together, which will increase the amount of codeine and hit the pain from 3 angles, so to speak. They like doing this sort of thing in hospitals in the UK these days. Paracetamol, NSAID, codeine, and a stronger narcotic if required. Personally, I don't like taking codeine with stronger opioids, so they just go in my bag when the nurses aren't looking.

YOU try heat and/or a cold pack for help. I had to experiment with it and found out a cool washcloth on the eyes helped (no light is a bonus) and heat on the back on my neck. The opposite might help, just try each.

The tripsans and seizures meds don't mork for me. I use fioricet w/codeine and Stadol NS.

ps, not directed at you neproh.

had a migraine again... took two fiorocet, its still kind of there.. hoping it will be gone tomorrow. daughter injured her kneecap, field hockey ball shot directly at her overextended knee from a few feet away..thinking about it is giving me a headache. spent the afternoon at the ER.. lets guess why i have a migraine, I thought the bright lights, including the sun outside were going to blind me... i feel like i am getting more migraines as i get older, and i really do try not to take too much fiorocet because you really will get a rebound headache and doctor only gave me 30, you know take one every 8 hours.. hes got to be KIDDING. my gf gyno gave her 120 with a refill that said one to two every 4 hours.. yes i should go see him but its way up north!.. well how is everyone else doing? i cant stand the fact that i seem to get the worse migraines when the weather is the nicest!

Sweetz I was given Stadol nasal spray and I must have used too much it knocked me out so bad I could not get out of bed and we all know what happens with a severe migraine.

There are so many Drs who know nothing about migraines. Because the pain causes such nausea they think a suppository for vomiting will cure all. They don't get it. The vomiting is from the pain. The nurses get angry at Drs they know but the Drs won't listen.

Once the pain is dealt with the nausea goes away.

A cold cloth over my eye feels good. My migraines are on the right side.

Has anyone tried oxygen for migraines? My neurologist suggested it, but it is not cheap. You have to buy the mask and tubing, rent the tank and then my insurance pays for part of the oxygen itself. I haven't heard much about its effectiveness.

Not for migraines, but it works for cluster headaches.

So, I have had migraines for many years along with other pain issues many of you know. Anyway I have tried almost everything for migraines from ergotamine to botox to demerol.

On the oxygen issue, you need to watch out as it can exacerbate the nausea, but it can help for some patients. I also recommend those cold face masks, they can be great. Baths tend to be a real help also.

On the stadol spray, that stuff is way way too strong for me, and can cause many people to become sick due to it being a partial antagonist. But the last time I took it almost 10 years ago, I passed out and woke up an hour later feeling like I was walking through fog. I know it helps alot, but IMO I think it would be close to a last resort, and I personally believe that there are much better narcotics to help. Another issue is rebound headaches. Chronic use of abortive meds can create a vicious circle of headache, medication, rebound headach, medication etc. As long as you only have a maximum of 3 headaches/week, narcotics can be a lifesaver as even a first line treatment if triptans fail, as triptans have an extremely low success rate as shown in studies. When it does come to triptans, your best bet would be to go with some of the newer ones, axert, relpax or frova, as they seem to limit the neck pain, inability to eat, and lightheaded feeling.

A good migraine regimen for those suffering from many per month would be something such as topamax or elavil or some other preventative, abortive triptan if it works, and then a narcotic pain medication as a back up.

On another note, because of the nature of migraines, tranquilizers to me are a great option. One consideration for those not willing to go to pain medication would be to take something like benadryl (diphenhydramine can make you drowsy) along with APAP, aspirin etc. Or xanax, but please do not make a habit of this.

In my case, I have been able to spot my most prevalent triggers. Honestly a diary and some reflection can help you discover what causes your migraines the most. For me and this may help others, sleep deficiency or over sleeping, caffeine use, excessive light such as night driving, dehydration, and some others tend to be big hitters in causing migraines.

Female migraine sufferers should also follow this trigger philosophy as there could be some hormonal or other female related issue. A gynecologist referral might be prudent to rule out any issue.

Any newly diagnosed headache patient, needs to get an MRI, as headaches are often just the symptom of another condition.

On another note, you need to make sure to right down where the pain is, the intensity, and what kind of pain it is. There are many different types of headaches; ie sinus headaches could be helped with anthistamines, tension headaches could be solved with a tranq or limiting stress, pain radiating to the base of the skull could signal a chiari malformation and require balloon surgery.

For those that suffer from chronic daily headaches who have tried all the normal treatments from a neurologist, do not use narcotic pain medication and thus do not suffer from rebounds, a referral to a pm doctor would probably be recommended. There are several surgical procedures available and many other options. And if you are disinclined to this, and there is just no other option, a compassionate doctor may just decide to put you on a long acting opiate.

Sorry to be long winded, but IMO, pain within your head is the worst of any pain, you cannot think, sleep, or really do anything, the pain cannot be cured with heating pads or other devices, and often you feel like taking a drill and giving yourself a lobotomy. I hope all those out there with headaches are able to find the help they need and be able to live a much better life.

Any newly diagnosed migraine patients are welcome to pm me for advice.

i know there are many types of headaches, sinus, cluster, even blood pressure (too low or too high), but if I have a headache due to sinus's it WILL evolve into a migraine. the only way to avoid it is to take something - not advil, aspirin, or tylenol..maybe excedrin - right then and there. but unfortunately thats not always possible, I'm out, I'm teaching, etc. and then I end up driving home about to throw up praying to get in my bed and then its headache city for a few days. topomax did seem to make my headaches less frequent maybe i'll go on it again. the first time i used it it really helped but then it didnt... second time it just made me feel weird. i probably need to up the dosage but its difficult because i think your body adjusts and then you have to use more. i dont know if thats any better than just using something when you have an actual headache.

I also have regular headaches the will turn into a migraine. I NEVER am without something for a headache with me, NEVER.

Goodys powders (not standback, etc, Goodys only) will work a lot of times, better than excedrin. You just have to be careful about the aspirin and tylenol in there.