Migraine solutions?

[hawkward]

Magnesium and b6 have mostly kicked them for me. It's worked well with DS1 too. My migraines are definitely hormonal, but being careful with my diet really helps too (low-ish carb and limited red or processed meats). I take imitrex for breakthrough migraines, but I'm probably going to try something else when I've finished my prescription for it.

[adelbert]

I take beta-blockers as a preventative and it's changed my life. I'm not exaggerating. I can't believe I suffered so long without a better solution. I also use rizatriptan paired with naproxen when I do still get a migraine.

ETA: I also take magnesium and B6, drink water, have a moderately healthy diet, and am active. For me doing those things were never enough to keep me from having a migraine. I also tried mirena and that made them worse.

[hawkward]

@icedtea, it hasn't seemed as effective for me this time around. I have to take a higher and higher dosage to get relief, and then sometimes I wind up with a rebound headache (which isn't nearly as bad as the migraine, but still annoying), especially if I don't take it right when I start knowing a migraine is coming. And since it makes me sleepy, sometimes taking it immediately just isn't possible.

[adelbert]

Jun 7, 2018 9:31:02 GMT -6 @icedtea said:

Jun 7, 2018 9:28:04 GMT -6 adelbert said:

I take beta-blockers as a preventative and it's changed my life. I'm not exaggerating. I can't believe I suffered so long without a better solution. I also use rizatriptan paired with naproxen when I do still get a migraine.

ETA: I also take magnesium and B6, drink water, have a moderately healthy diet, and am active. For me doing those things were never enough to keep me from having a migraine. I also tried mirena and that made them worse.

I can probably Google this, but the beta blockers are probably not a good idea for people who already have low blood pressure...?

I could definitely eat healthier and be more active.

I have low blood pressure but it hasn't been an issue. Before starting I had to be tested to make sure I didn't have an irregular heartbeat.

[adelbert]

Jun 7, 2018 9:35:59 GMT -6 hawkward said:

@icedtea, it hasn't seemed as effective for me this time around. I have to take a higher and higher dosage to get relief, and then sometimes I wind up with a rebound headache (which isn't nearly as bad as the migraine, but still annoying), especially if I don't take it right when I start knowing a migraine is coming. And since it makes me sleepy, sometimes taking it immediately just isn't possible.

This happened to me as well. Have you tried Maxalt? That's apparently the American name for Rizatriptan. It's a melt tablet and it works much better for me plus I feel so much less lethargic on it.

[adelbert]

But I should add that drinking water, taking magnesium, etc definitely doesn't hurt and I think it sometimes is what keeps a migraine from really starting.

[hawkward]

Jun 7, 2018 9:37:57 GMT -6 adelbert said:

Jun 7, 2018 9:35:59 GMT -6 hawkward said:

@icedtea, it hasn't seemed as effective for me this time around. I have to take a higher and higher dosage to get relief, and then sometimes I wind up with a rebound headache (which isn't nearly as bad as the migraine, but still annoying), especially if I don't take it right when I start knowing a migraine is coming. And since it makes me sleepy, sometimes taking it immediately just isn't possible.

This happened to me as well. Have you tried Maxalt? That's apparently the American name for Rizatriptan. It's a melt tablet and it works much better for me plus I feel so much less lethargic on it.

I haven’t yet. I see my doctor on Monday, I’ll see what he thinks! A melt sounds good because I usually feel nauseated during.

[joy]

Well. I stopped breastfeeding to go back on my preventative. It was my only choice as the other stuff (diet, water, magnesium, etc) wasn’t helping me.

[joy]

There are other preventatives aside from beta blockers.

Anti-seizure meds are one.
Amitryptiline (antidepressant) is another.

See a neurologist and get some choices.

[lucilleaustero]

My mother suffered debilitating migraines for decades. She started taking Imetrix Sumatriptin (sp?) injection and they were a game changer. However, she still had to wait for the migraine to start to take the injection, so she still had to deal for a little while with the migraine. She has been on Maxalt for years now and has not had a single migraine since starting it.

[joy]

Jun 7, 2018 9:48:04 GMT -6 @icedtea said:

Jun 7, 2018 9:44:23 GMT -6 joy said:

There are other preventatives aside from beta blockers.

Anti-seizure meds are one.
Amitryptiline (antidepressant) is another.

See a neurologist and get some choices.

The last Neuro I saw basically told me I was fucked until I stopped breastfeeding. But I'm seeing my new gp tomorrow and am in a new area so looking forward to what the new doctors say.

Yes, this is what I was told, as well. I stopped for a lot of reasons, but this was one.

There’s a new preventative on the market now - aimovig. It’s a biologic. I’m actually starting it this weekend. It’s totally different than the others but there’s no data on it with breastfeeding, I’m sure.

[tj]

I have hormonal migraines as well. Maxalt is what has worked best for me. Imitrex worked when I was younger. Butnsince pregnancy and bfing ended, maxalt is all that works now. GL. Migraines suck.

[AmyG]

You can call infant risk and ask them to recommend the safest migraine meds for while breastfeeding. I deleted the app off my phone.

some use Imitrex for migraines when breastfeeding, It's rated L3 (meaning not a lot of studies to show safety) but the pharmacology info of a half life of 1.3 hours means if you can breastfeed and then take it and baby isn't nursing every hour on the hour, it should have low enough amount still in your system to not be an issue. In addition it is only absorbed orally at 10-15%, so baby would take in very little that transfers to milk. It peaks in your system in 12 minutes, and subsides fairly rapidly.

[AmyG]

Maxalt seems to be less safe, concentrating in milk a bit. But I'm working from my old Dr. Hale's book, Medications and Mother's milk, so there may be more recent info.

[karabear]

I tried propranolol (a beta blocker) and amitryptaline while BF for preventatives. They both somewhat helped for a while, but I still had a ton of migraines. The only breakthrough med my doctor felt comfortable using while BF was fiorcet. It helped if I could catch the migraine very early on. If I didn't take it on time, it was pretty useless though.

After I stopped BF, I switched back to topomax (what I took pre-pregnancy), and it has been life-changing. I am back down to 3-5 migraines a month that I can pin specifically to hormonal changes. I also take maxalt now for a breakthrough med and really like it. The only downside is that my insurance will only cover eight pills a month, and you shouldn't take more than two a week. I also have a prescription for zofran that I take as needed, because I tend to vomit with my migraines.

I hope you find some relief! It really sucks when you are so limited in what you can take!