You need to share the information on that combo!

Thanks everyone for the kind words. It's been going better but I still have my days. If my Trigeminal Neuralgia would get under control I think my headaches would follow suit (short of seizure headaches). I think it hurts so much I stress out and end up with an unholy headache.

My boyfriends mom got me a bunch of Relpax samples and I love her a lot!!! Those are soooo expensive but work well and fast.

Ellie, You asked, so here is what I take:
-2 Fiorinal w/ Codeine
-either 50 mg or 100 mg of Imitrex depending on how bad the pain or aura is
and sometimes
-I also take 1 mg of Xanax since the really bad headaches often throw me into a panic attack.

Most doctors recommend those things alone. Mine suggested I try them together, and I was shocked that it worked. I'm also on MS Contin for spinal pain which doesn't make me drowsy. For some reason Imitrex or any of the triptans tends to make me drowsy so with the caffeine in the Fiorinal and xanax, as well as the deep breathing (quasi-biofeedback) I am usually doing while lying in a VERY dark room with ice bags on my neck and cold packs on my forehead, I often fall asleep. I have much better results if I fall asleep. I wake up about an hour and a half later with the headache gone!!

Don't get me wrong. It doesn't always make it go away. It does ALWAYS lessen the pain though which is more than I had for years!!!!

I don't take Fioricet because the acetaminophen triggers headaches for me. Aspirin doesn't. My body reacts very abnormally to almost all meds. My doc accepts this and works around it. Sleeping medicine wakes me up. Caffeine makes me drowsy.

I have tried triptans with otcs like ibuprofen or naproxen sodium. That combo is definitely better than the triptans alone for me at least.

Obviously anyone should talk to their doctor who knows their medical history and body, but I pray my doc never retires as it took years to find him and more years to find anything that helps. I am homebound disabled from my spine so I can afford to sleep off the meds. I know that is a huge problem for most people. When I was teaching, my migraines would either hit at 5 am giving me a very short period to try to get it at least down to tolerable before I called in sick, or they would hit me at 4 PM in which case I would just go home and collapse in the dark and hope it was gone by the next day!

Hope that info helps someone. I used to post in on braintalk.org whenever it was appropriate. I don't know if anyone ever tried it!

Good luck,
Suzanne

I too take topamax. Twice a day at 100 mg a time. Then I take
indomethacin cap 50 mg for pain and headaches instead of tylenol
or ibprofen now because they don't work anymore. I had two
dislocated elbows that I need something that if necessary I could
take something around the clock if necessary and the other htings
can create rebound headaches. So this has found to be very good.

I don't need near as much.

So now I need very little, plus with the concussion in August the
physical therapy and exercise is helping too.

Donna

I have what was diagnosed as cluster migraines. I have been fortunate to have only 2 bouts in the past few years. They are not full-blown but the first one lasted 6 weeks.
I thought I was going to lose it. Nothing I took helped because I was already into it a week or so before they ran test and narrowed it down. I just took pain meds to keep it to a low roar and then I guess it ran its course and as quick as it came, it left.
I only had one more episode that didn't last as long, I get frequent headaches but nothing I can't handle.
Hope this is helpful in some way. There is nothing more irritating than a constant headache.............well I guess there is but it is up there in the list of chronic pain.
Good luck to you,
Judy