(having lousy day, but) verapamil question

Medication 💊 Calcium Channel Blockers
1

OK, so today is basically day 9 (or 10) of verapamil for me. Having a pretty lousy day, actually. Quite lightheaded. When I stand up or walk around I feel “weighted down,” like something heavy is pushing down on me from above.

I’m sure I’m just being impatient – and I know there’s another thread about verapamil in general, but…

Anyway, I’m curious. Tim Hain’s site says verapamil “usually takes about two weeks to work.” MAVLisa, I know you said verapamil hasn’t worked for you at all. Other folks here, you’ve given a wide range of timeframes for verapamil to kick in, anywhere from 2 weeks to 3.5 months.

So for those of you for whom it did eventually work, did you gradually notice improvement? Or did you feel basically the same until the medicine really started to work? (e.g., more of a sudden, overnight change after a few weeks)

Like I said, I’m sure I’m just being impatient, but I don’t feel any different yet. I don’t suppose there are any “signs” to look for that would suggest whether the medicine is “doing anything.”

(I actually have some questions about SSRI’s and SNRI’s, especially as I used to take Zoloft/sertraline a year or two ago for social anxiety and wonder if it would help. … But leave that for another day. I’ve said before, you’ll all get tired of hearing from me soon enough, I’m sure.)

2

Well I do know that it is common for two medications to be taken at the same time, and one usually is an anti-depressant, so perhaps adding that to the Verapamil would help you. And yes, you have to give the med time to work, no matter which med it is. Hang in there.

3

— Begin quote from “georgekoch”

OK, so today is basically day 9 (or 10) of verapamil for me. Having a pretty lousy day, actually. Quite lightheaded. When I stand up or walk around I feel “weighted down,” like something heavy is pushing down on me from above.

I’m sure I’m just being impatient – and I know there’s another thread about verapamil in general, but…

Anyway, I’m curious. Tim Hain’s site says verapamil “usually takes about two weeks to work.” MAVLisa, I know you said verapamil hasn’t worked for you at all. Other folks here, you’ve given a wide range of timeframes for verapamil to kick in, anywhere from 2 weeks to 3.5 months.

So for those of you for whom it did eventually work, did you gradually notice improvement? Or did you feel basically the same until the medicine really started to work? (e.g., more of a sudden, overnight change after a few weeks)

Like I said, I’m sure I’m just being impatient, but I don’t feel any different yet. I don’t suppose there are any “signs” to look for that would suggest whether the medicine is “doing anything.”

(I actually have some questions about SSRI’s and SNRI’s, especially as I used to take Zoloft/sertraline a year or two ago for social anxiety and wonder if it would help. … But leave that for another day. I’ve said before, you’ll all get tired of hearing from me soon enough, I’m sure.)

— End quote

When I started on verapamil during the late summer of 2007, I was told that it would take around 6 weeks to work. It actually didn’t take long at all to feel an appreciable difference. As we know, we react differently to different meds.

One thing you might want to consider checking is your blood pressure. Feeling light-headed and weighted down might be indicative of a drop in blood pressure. I was actually a bit paranoid about that when I started, but my BP never changed much at all. Still, worth a look.

Right now, I’m on a combo of verapamil 240mg, and effexor 37.5mg. It works well for me. I started effexor last summer.

This ailment is pretty elusive…lots of curveballs. It’s sometimes hard to pin down the right treatment immediately.

4

I would definitely give the Verapamil more time. I would say it was a gradual process in feeling better. I noticed the mav symptoms disappearing or lightening up day by day but truthfully, not until about 2 - 2 1/2 months on it. that is when I noticed the biggest difference with disappearing symptoms such as the heavy head feeling, sponge walking, general 24/7 dizziness, the rocking was the first symptom to disappear. I noticed that after about one month. Give it time. I know it is hard to do. I wanted to give up many times but i am glad i didn’t.

nance

5

I am considering starting a calcium channel blocker, perhaps verapamil. I spoke to my brother in law, a cardiologist, about verapamil and potential side effects. As you might already know, verapamil is a cardiac medication. He said the side effect of lightheadedness on sitting or standing up can be lessened by staying very well hydrated and actually by temporarily adding a little more salt to the diet. He also said taking the verapamil at night might help decrease the side effects. I hope it works for you. Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

6

Thanks, all for the replies. I don’t have the stamina right now to put in a more thorough response. Today has absolutely steamrolled me, and the triggers are confusing even to me right now. (I walked the dog yesterday and did great – and today I unloaded a dishwasher and got so lightheaded, I had to sit down for 20 minutes!)

7

I’ve been on Verapamil for almost exactly the same amount of time as George there, and I’ve been having increased nausea while my dizziness seems to get a little better, then get exponentially worse. I’m trying so many different things right now (elimination diet, chiropractic work, verapamil, air purifiers, vitamins and supplements) that I don’t really know what’s working or what’s making things worse, but this morning I barfed up my morning banana and vitamins (along with the verapamil, I’m sure). Could this be a reaction to the medication? Should I just keep on trucking?

8

Hi Jess,

I’m certainly not one to preach as my self control in trialling the elimination diet was appalling (cheese and chocolate addict here but I know I should try harder) but I think bananas are on it too!

Personally I’ve decided to try one ‘treatment’ at a time, so I know (maybe…) what is or isn’t working.

Victoria

9

Yup, bananas are one of the worse triggers out there, especially if ripe or overripe.

10

lol maybe thats why ive been having so many headaches lately, my diet is mainly yoghurt and bananas atm due to my belly ;/

11

— Begin quote from “MikaelHS”

lol maybe thats why ive been having so many headaches lately, my diet is mainly yoghurt and bananas atm due to my belly ;/

— End quote

Yoghurt is another one, but I told you that already. :wink:
I know, I know… it’s not easy to pick everything out, and when you’re on other diets for non-migraine purposes, it can get very hard (in my case and my own opinion) or even (at least almost) impossible.

12

Grrrr. Thanks Victoria. Your post made me go actually look up the migraine-specific diet (my ENT prescribed a low-so/gluten free/dairy free diet to see about Meniere’s triggers), and what do you know… Because of the restrictions of the Meniere’s diet, I’ve been eating a lot more nuts, raisins, onions, lentils, beans, oranges, and bananas. And while I’ve been eating those bananas every morning for about a week without any immediate effects, yesterday was the first day they tasted ripe (and the first time I threw up). Great, just great. I really hope I don’t have Meniere’s, too, because being on both of those diets is going to leave me eating rice, meat, and greens. And not much else. :cry:

At least it’s not the verapamil.