I have been going through a very rough time lately. I have been having migraines again...like on a level of 10+. It was horrendous. Couldn't move, things were intensified, both by light and sound. I took my migraine meds with no avail. I have extreme insomnia so that may have brought on the migraine.

I really need someone to help me. Any one with remedies that work for you when you have insomnia? Do you get migraines w/insomnia?

ANYTHING, PLEASE. Suggestions/comments/ideas/thoughts/prayers/best wishes/ whatever you can send my way. I am desperate. I have only slept in the last week a total of appx. 20hrs. NOT GOOD!

Thank you in advance.

Missy

I'm so sorry, Missy .......
I wish I could offer more. I do well on the triptans so I can offer you "only prayers" and best wishes.

Worth a try.
Look up EFT (emotional freedom techique) on Google video clips. You learn to tap on points of the head...hand which can help. There is a clip on there for insommnia and others for migraines.
Drink a lot of water!
Good luck.

Hi Missy,
I'm so sorry your going through a rough time with migraines. I have migraines too and its awful when you can't get relief. Sometimes when I am so bad I call the doctor he gives me suggestions. I know one thing that helps me is they give me decadron for 2 days. I know it has side effects,but the pain is so unbearable that you will take the side effects. Decadron is a steroid. Also when I am so bad my one doctor gave me flexeril for a week or so and that helps too when you are so bad. Sometimes they will give me a triptan therapy for so many days in a row that helps. I would call the doctor and sometimes they can help. I will keep you in my prayers that you will get relief soon.


Laraine

First of all, are you taking a daily preventative of some kind? Topamax seems to be the most powerful, but there are difficult side effects. It's probably best to take a small dosage of this medication in conjunction with something else if needed. You take this every day. Then there are meds to stop the pain once it starts; like Imitrex.

RE: Sleep
You might consider asking your doctor for a muscle relaxer. These sometimes help with migraines and could make you sleepy. In addition, melatonin (you can buy it in the healthfood store and most regular drug stores) helps people sleep and also might have a slight migraine preventative benefit. Unless you are very tiny, I would try 3 mgs. More than likely you can take more, but you should probably check with your doctor.

Thanks to all of you with your concerns. I appreciate your thoughts/ideas/suggestions.

I am on a daily preventative. It is Verapamil, which is an old blood pressure med. now used for migraines. I also take Migra-Eaze everyday to help out. They had been working well together for the past 6mnths, but recently (since in insomnia started) I have had major break thru migraines. I have one again today. I take Relpax at the point of the migraine which usually helps, but they seem to come back w/i the next couple of days. I was supposed to see my migraine specialist today, but I just can't go out in the light. My head is hurting too bad to want to do anything.

Sorry to dump on you guys. But again thank you for your support. Please keep giving any thoughts/ideas/suggestions.

I appreciate them and Thank you in advance.

Missy

You might want to buy or check out from the library a book called "Heal Your Headache: The 123 Program" by David Buchholz, M.D. He talks about how many times headaches or migraines are caused by multiple triggers. Sometimes the best we can do is take a preventative medication and then get very strict about avoiding the triggers. This doctor believes that food triggers may be a bigger issue than most people realize. And sometimes it takes a comination of factors to cause a headache. These combination situations happen more than we realize. For example, if you are stressed out by your child or a work situation and then happen to eat the wrong food item that day, you get a headache. However, on another day, you have a very easy day and ate that item, but did not get a headache. Due to some of these rather confusing combination situations, one has to be very "mindful" of all the triggers, potential triggers and combination patterns.

In addition to avoiding triggers, its a good idea to take supplements to assist the preventative medications. Some that are thought to be helpful include: calcium, magnesium, Co-Q10 and the BVitamins. I take call of these, plus a B50 (like a B Complex). I also take Melatonin at night, as needed for sleep. Melatonin might be beneficial for headaches or migraines so taking it as needed for sleep when you are a headache sufferer seems like a good deal. And certainly sleeping well can be helpful.

One more thing...eating properly in general and getting in some regular exercise (when one is not in pain) can also be beneficial.

thank you vowel lady,

I have definitely considered the trigger point combo's. My migraine specialist had mentioned it to me. I guess one thing is, is that I don't eat very much in the beginning. I just don't have an appetite. Stress, well that I usually am. I can tell because my neck and shoulders hurt so bad at very stressful times (which seems to happen a lot, even though I don't feel stressed).

I do take b vitamins, including a complex one, but my doc told me not to take magnesium (due to IBS), melatonin never worked for me, and everyone tells me to get some Co-Q10, so I guess that is the next step.

Thank you for your suggestions.

M

I just joined today, and your post sounds so familiar. My own experiences include morning headaches, migraines, halo migraines, etc.
The most [U]effective[U] medicine I have used was Imitrex injections. Doc gave me a prescription so I could give myself a shot in the leg, and it was amazingly fast without upsetting my stomach, which imitrex tablets tend to do to me.
800 mg motrin is the second best weapon of choice, but it can take a while to work (and the stomach thing again).
My most efficient method of attacking my headaches? (remember, you asked for ANY remedy we could suggest...)---Hyper-cleaning my gums, especially inbetween the teeth. I use floss, waterpik dental cleaning system, and a small brush that resembles a bottlebrush. What I do is look for any spot which tends to be sensitive, or easily bleeds. (Even though I religiously clean my gums, tiny morsels of food tends to gets stuck in pits in my gums every so often, and it causes what I believe to be an irritation of the trigeminal nerve, which leads to the headache.) Anyway, I have found that by cleaning the gums like crazy helps relieve my headaches, and helps prevent their reoccurance.
Are your headaches focused in particular spots?

Hi there,

I just wanted to pop in and give you this list of preventative medicines for migraines. I found it great and I am going to ask my doctor about the medicines therein.
http://headaches.about.com/od/medsar...ntive_meds.htm

I hope this helps you! I will pray for you too. I get wicked ongoing migraines and they are NOT easy- hang in there! You can do it!

Feel better soon, Missy.




Thank you everyone for the advice, I am going to look into some of that stuff myself.