Hi everyone, I am so very thankful I found this site because I finally am hearing stories like mine and most importantly, I finally have hope. Like all of you, I have been on this debilitating journey and have seen countless specialists, performed numerous tests etc. finally my neurologist sent me to someone who specializes in this, an Oto-Neurologist and he’s soo good that it took me 3 long months to see him. He is considered one of the best in the country so I am so thankful to have finally seen him. As soon as he gave me a diagnosis, I broke down in tears as he said it can be treated.I have suffered from this for two years now but it became a 24/7 thing in November so I have been on medical leave since and have been living in this hell and trying to also be a great mom to my 4 year old. Anyway, He gave me a couple choices of meds and I went with Tricyclic which is an anti depressant used to treat MAV. First off, I want to find out if anyone has tried this and if so, any success or side affects??? I had a headache all nigh than woke up early extremely nauseous and threw up. It was awful. My stomach is better but headache persists. I hear from some people that the side affects go away but don’t know. I would like to try for a little longer but don’t want to feel like this.
If anyone has taken this specific medicine, please let me know. My glimmer of hope is fading and I would love to hear back.
Thank you.
Welcome to the forum, glad to see you are in good hands with an expert. I know the feeling when you are finally diagnosed and see the light at the end of the tunnel. The good news is that the majority of people are able to fix this problem and live a normal life again. I assume you are trying Nortriptyline, an excellent choice. I have been on 10mg of Nortriptyline for almost 2 weeks and I can already feel it helping. It has helped tons of people here. The only side effect for me is dry mouth. But I have seen other people complain of grogginess and a temporary increase in dizziness.
The headache and nausea sounds awful. I would consider that a migraine headache rather than an actual side effect of the medication. Have you ever experienced this before? Sometimes a medication will cause migraine to flair up, for some people it will present as dizziness, or head pain, or aura, etc…
Thanks for the response. The name of my prescription is imipramine, it’s a Tricyclic anti depressant. Is the med you are on an anti depressant? I’m just so confused by all the different medications I see on this site and am wondering if maybe I’m taking the wrong one.
Gday Mav Princess
This site is a godsend. Your story is very similar to mine. I also have been struggling with this condition for 2 years and have only just recently been diagnosed with MAV after seeing countless doctors and specialists. I was relieved just to know what I was dealing with and that it wasn’t “in my head” like a lot of doctors seem to insinuate. Grrr!!! I have three kids under 7, so I definitely understand the strain you are under. It is so difficult to put on a brave face at times. I am also in the process of finding a drug that works for me. All of the medications I have tried have caused some pretty nasty side effects. I have tried Sandrimigran, Epilim, Topomax, Inderel and have just started amitriptyline ( This is also an old style antidepressant, but was found to be beneficial for migraine sufferers). I am struggling with this too…caused extreme fatigue and blurred vision. A lot of people on this site have had success with a drug called Prothiaden. Next visit to Neuro, I am going to request this one. Good luck. Have read the success stories on this site?
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Thanks for the response. The name of my prescription is imipramine, it’s a Tricyclic anti depressant. Is the med you are on an anti depressant? I’m just so confused by all the different medications I see on this site and am wondering if maybe I’m taking the wrong one.
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Imipramine is not used as much as other tricyclic antidepressants like Nortriptyline (the one I use) or Amitriptyline, but if your expert doctor helped you choose it, then I would trust that this is a good choice. Understanding the different medications can be a big task at first, but there are 4 different classes of preventatives, and a few different medications in each class. Here is a good place to start learning:
dizziness-and-balance.com/di … ntion.html
Thanks so much for this diagram. Very helpful
