Medication can definitely give you your life back

Success Stories & Positivity 🕊
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Hi everyone, been a while since I posted. Just wanted to report my progress - I’ve been on 160mg propranolol and 37.5mg venlafaxine since March 2023, and basically been functioning normally since then - going to the gym, lifting weights, going to work every day, driving, and even riding my motorcycle.

I still have 24/7 symptoms, but they’re mild enough to ignore most of the time. Sometimes it causes me a little trouble, but more a nuisance than an actual problem.

Just wanted to report this for anyone who may be reading. I encourage you to pursue medication if you’re on the fence, because medication can definitely give you your life back. Propranolol and venlafaxine gave me 90%+ of my life back just a few months after I started - in December I was super low after my COVID bout and by mid-April, I was functionally normal. I’ve also hardly had any side effects from either medication. Propranolol makes it harder to push the last 10% in the gym, but other than that and some disturbed sleep for a few weeks, I had no side effects and I was able to bump up the dose all the way to 160mg extended release. With venlafaxine I felt mildly spaced out for a few days each time I’d bump the dose, and then no side effects. I was able to go to work every day through all the medication changes, once I got to a high enough dose of propranolol (120mg) to actually manage the migraine.

I plan to stay on the meds as long as I need to since they’re causing minimal trouble at this point. I’m not at the point where I’d think of discontinuing/stopping them, but hoping to get there eventually.

Good luck to all!

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Excellent stuff Sid. Thanks for documenting your success. That’s a real encouragement for those that are struggling!

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Amen Sid, I went to more doctors than I can remember before one of them decided my problem might be neurological. Then it took two neurologists to decide it was migraine related before. They steered me to a neurologist specializing in headaches. Along the way, I tried every medication, exercise, procedure the various doctors could think of. None of them helped.

When I made it to the Migraine Specialist, she put me on a different variant of a drug I had already tried, and a supplement. She also sent me to a Physical Therapist that had me do a battery of exercises to strengthen my Vestibular System. But the key to my getting better was the right drug in the right dosage.

Never give up. I was tempted to quit a couple of times, had I done that, I shudder to think how bad it could have gotten.

Good luck to you Sid, keep the faith.