Hi I’m interested on your progress with the Nurtec as a preventative for VM. I took my first loading dose of Emgality Saturday and had a dizziness today ( Monday) I have Nurtec was a “rescue” but wasn’t told to take to prevent anything.
I’m pleased with Nurtec as a preventative so far. I think I’m going into my second month, so I have a few months to go before it is supposed to be fully effective. The every other day dosing is tricky and my doctor suggested getting a weekly pill sorter. The pill sorter helps but I still keep an every other day recurring event in my calendar.
I do still experience VMs and got my loading dose of Emgality on Monday. I’m hoping the two together will do the trick.
Update after another night in the ER. I agreed with my migraine clinic to add Emgality to my preventative meds even though the every other day Nurtec 75mg was really not at its’ full effectiveness time. I really wish I had just been patient and waited. I was seeing results with Nurtec.
It wasn’t until my second month on Emgality that I really started having issues with constipation. I did everything I was told to do by my GI to prevent constipation.
Finally, it got to a point where I went into my GI office for a physical exam and she noted the Emgality, wanted lab work and a CT with contrast within 24 hrs. I asked if I couldn’t just do the magnesium citrate, but she said no because I could have perforations, diverticulitis, etc…
I look like I swallowed a basketball, nothing is exiting, the pain is throughout my lower back and abdomen.
Lab work is no issue for my insurance company, but the CT scan requires pre-authorization so I contacted my complex case manager at the insurance company and the only way to get around this and not be billed is to have my doctor send me to the ER, so that is what I did.
My scan showed that my entire colon has fecal matter throughout. This is going to be a miserable weekend.
I have been on a regimen of extra miralax daily and psyllium fiber since I started Emgality to prevent a situation like this, but it did not work for me.
I should also mention that I saw one of my GIs numerous CFNPs that I hadn’t seen before and as soon as she saw that I was on Emgality, she said that she had treated many patients on Emgality. Take that for what you will.
I’m not making any major decisions until I’m through this episode and feeling better, but I was always wondering with these once a month medications, what happens if you have an issue? I can’t just take this out of my system by stopping the medication.
I’ll update more when feeling better.
Oh, and did I mention that a friend called this morning with Hockey tickets!!!
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For those of us that have used Emgality and felt it worked… did the symptoms go away in waves? I went from feeling 85-90% for 2-3 weeks now back down to about 60% as of late… I took my 2nd shot about a week and a 1/2 ago and have not improved much since. i am back to having daily dizziness and head pressure which i haven’t had in 2 weeks.
This any help?
Section 6 (Response and effectiveness) probably the most relevant.
I have been on emgality for two months. The first month I took a loading dose of 2 shots and now I take 1 shot a month (I’m sorry I don’t know the dosage). I didn’t notice anything for about 3-4 weeks. For context, I was getting a migraine every single day, or migraine related symptoms (pressure, numbness, nausea, in addition to severe head pain). In fact the week after I took the loading dose I had horrible migraines, just miserable. About 3-4 weeks in, I started feeling some relief, but around weeks 4-5 (right before my second dose) I started to have pain/pressure again. I took the second dose about 2.5 weeks ago, and for the past 1-2 weeks I have been feeling the most relief I’ve had in months. NO head pain whatsoever. My right eye still feels some pressure/numbness, but I can live with that. Some days even that pressure is limited. Notably, I’ve been able to incorporate some of my triggers back into my lifestyle (I know, I know, don’t come at me) like coffee/caffeine, screens, some alcohol, and carbonated beverages (this is one of my biggest triggers). None of these things have triggered a migraine. I’m really hoping that the emgality is my miracle cure, but I’m bracing myself.
I will say, I’ve also thrown a lot at the wall when it comes to treatment. I do weekly acupuncture, have mostly eliminated the triggers mentioned, prioritize sleep and water, and have a better grasp on rescue meds, and avoid screens (I have blue light screen protectors on everything + wear blue light glasses all the time, have removed myself from social media and watching streaming services, etc. very into books right now). I’ve also started meditating and learning about Zen Buddhism as a way to find peace in the pain
This condition is so complicated and different for everyone, but emgality has been a real gamechanger - I was living a miserable, painful existence and now I feel like I can live again and not be thinking about my body and pain 100% of the time. I’ll take it!
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I have been on Emgality for a few years now. It had knocked up the migraines mostly, but wasn’t helping any of my other symptoms, but I will take what I can get. Before being diagnosed with this awful condition, I had a migraine for a solid 6 weeks. I don’t even know how I was walking around. I also had the 2-loading doses at first and I can’t remember how long before I got relief, I just know that other than when I got covid and up until the past few months, it was working great. I have another mystery illness having to do with high cortisol that I think is throwing everything out of whack and I believe the headaches are being caused by it more than my vestibular conditions. I get emgality free through the Lilly company that makes it because I am unemployed right now. I need my next dose in a couple weeks and my current provider is new and i don’t like them, but I am praying that I will get this sent to the Lilly company in time to get my meds because it is crucial to take it on time every month in order for it to work. I hope it continues to work for you!