Which prophylactic helped for the actual headaches

I know thereā€™s a poll and all to check the list of meds and the results when it comes to the vestibular part of this nightmare but what helped if you were one of those with bad migraine headaches.

Coincidence or not I got a headache on day 3 of starting nortriptyline and by day 5 the vestibular aspects were out of control, the headache hasnā€™t stop since then which means 2 whole weeks of non stop excruciating pain and pressure on head, sinuses, neck ā€¦letā€™s not forget Iā€™m on my second shot of aimovig 70mg due to increase to 140mg tomorrow.

For what Iā€™ve read some people swear nortriptyline made their headaches worse, others say aimovig did the same and i seriously donā€™t know what to think anymore ā€¦I messaged my neurologist and he was very quick to send a taper course of prednisone since I was scared that I had created a rebound headache with so much sumatriptan (that only works for 2 hours by now) and it helped for 2 days but yesterday day 3 the headache came back with a vengeance, Iā€™m actually contemplating going to the ER for a migraine cocktail.

First thing, you need to quit the triptans, ergots and OTC painkillers cold turkey. Gets worse before it gets better. Triptans should be used no more than twice a day and no more than a total of twice a week. Same with all the prophylactics.

Read up on rebound.

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Agree entirely.

Quitting painkillers because if rebound. Big thing from all Iā€™ve read. I am not the headache sufferer type but Iā€™ve noticed many references to quitting all painkillers cold turkey. Some neuros seem to allow a very limited number on a specified number of days per month I noticed but many, Dr Silver (Walton Centre Liverpool) comes to mind, as saying continuing to take painkillers, and in his opinion caffeine, are the two things that can stop any preventatives working.

@flutters. When I read one of ā€˜our favouriteā€™ guides, itā€™s all in there. Page 15 and 20 for those others interested. Helen

Https://www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk/uploadedfiles/leaflets/Migraine%20-%20A%20Comprehensive%20Guide.pdf

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Iā€™m currently reading well established migraine book ā€œHeal your Headacheā€ and was really struck by how the author focuses on rebound headaches. His whole 1st step (out of three) is to cut out all painkillers / triptans / caffeine rescue (he calls them the ā€œquick fixesā€ ). He did say ibuprofen was safe, which I didnā€™t know, i guess Iā€™m going to allow myself the occasional tablet for bad headaches. Would greatly recommend the book as well as ā€œ The migraine brainā€ if you havenā€™t read them yet.

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ā€œHeal Your Headacheā€ ā€œThe Migraine Brainā€
More recommended books here
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Both are excellent resources. The founder of this site, Scott, had horrible rebound headaches until he quit all painkillers and rescue meds. So did I. You have to gut it out.

I disagree with HYH on ibuprofen. That one was just as bad for me, and incredibly hard on the kidneys.

Today is day 5 of no sumatriptan so hopefully Iā€™m on the right track! I did take two dosages of ibuprofen but for my weird sporadic for no reason dental pains that now I know can happen from this condition as well ā€¦yesterday it took all the strength in me to not take the triptan, I was dying for those few hours of relief but I kept telling myself that I was going to end up paying it today ā€¦I mean even if I still wanted to be taking the triptans every day I would have a big problem doing it because the pharmacy is giving me crap to dispense them even if I want to pay out of pocket for them since I was going through them like they were candy

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Excellent! Youā€™re a fast learner and brave!! Good job!

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