migraines medication

[jessica31876]

In Febuary I was prescribed Treximet for migraines and did not really have any bad episodes until like the last two months or so so I did not really take them until like end of April beginning of May. I noticed though that when I take the medicine I get super tired. Like about an hour or so after I take it I have to fight to stay awake and usually end up taking a 2 or 3 hour nap which totally screws up my bedtime routine now. I was wondering if anyone else has any side effects from this medication if they have taken it? (or I think Imitrex is similar but without the added pain reliever naproxen sodium). Im kinda thinking maybe it is the Naproxen Sodium that causes the drowsiness. I asked the pharmacist and he said that on his computer it says like 2% experience drowsiness. Maybe Im just one of the "lucky" few?? LOL

[Leila]

Migraine meds are notorious for making people sleepy. I have Atrex (haven't taken it yet), and the first thing my doctor said about it was that I would definitely need to nap after taking it. Imitrex did that to me when I took it (years ago). Didn't help with my headaches at all (turned out that they weren't migraines) but it sure made me sleep!

[ColleenSwerb]

I'm on a daily preventative for mine. I take Amitriptyline every night right before bed. Sooo if it makes me sleepy, I don't know about it When I do get a migraine, I take Execedrin Migraine to combat it.

[digideb]

I have been diagnosed with migraines & they suck! The doctor put me on Maxalt & I hated it. It made me sick to my stomach, made my vision really blurry & took all day to kick in. I now take Excedrin Migraine & within an hour my headache is gone! It works amazing for me!! Try it. It's over the counter, so you don't have to worry about dealing with the doctor to get a Rx for it. Also, it has some caffiene in it, so it wakes you up instead of making you sleepy!
(((hugs)))

[jessica31876]

Deb before going to the neurologist I tried a bunch of different OTC meds and none of them helped the headache. I started getting them really badly/more frequently after a car accident. Id have them like once a month maybe if that before the car accident. The treximet defenitely helps but it does make me so sleepy for a few hours. The pharmacist today kinda made it seem like it is really rare to make you tired.

[BrattyMeg]

I've taken Maxalt, Zomig, and Imitrex and all 3 have made me sleepy...my neuro though suggested laying down after taking them to help. I've had migraines for YEARS (pretty sure they were stress related b/c I've only had maybe 1 or 2 since I quit my job last year when I used to have at least 2-3 a MONTH)

[lisabranka]

Imitrex made me so sick on top of the migraine. I find that Excedrin Migraine works for me now.

[jessica31876]

I think mine might be weather related because when it started getting really hot/sunny outside every single time Id spend any time outdoors Id end up with one. Ive had one three days this week alone. Once I take a Treximet and lay down I am feeling alot better within like two maybe three hours. Before I had treximet I took tylenol, aspirin, aleve and ibuprofen. None really helped. The doctor I was seeing finally sent me to a neurologist when I had a headache that lasted more then 24 hours.


Oh and the thing that I really hated before I got the treximet is the headache would start and get worse and worse until I would throw-up then the pain would start to subside.

Originally Posted by FlirtatiousBrat

I've taken Maxalt, Zomig, and Imitrex and all 3 have made me sleepy...my neuro though suggested laying down after taking them to help. I've had migraines for YEARS (pretty sure they were stress related b/c I've only had maybe 1 or 2 since I quit my job last year when I used to have at least 2-3 a MONTH)

[NettieB]

Jessica - one, kudos to you for taking charge of your treatment - it's the first step to feeling like you again - and yes, the neurologist is the best way to start IMO...

Treximet is a fairly new med to the market, but what it's made up of - largely Imitrex and Naproxen Sodium - are not. I get the 2% number - Imitrex usually jazzes me a bit, and I have to eat with Naproxen (aleve) because in large doses it will really chew your stomach up!

With a really bad migraine, if I can find someone to watch my kid, I will take enough rescue meds, which is what your Treximet is, and sleep through the first part of it. This may be what your body is trying to do to you.

Your body may be fighting through the migraine by shutting down. Sleep is a good way to heal stressors, and your body may just be telling you to sleep through the over-stimuli felt in a migraine. HTH.

the National Headache Foundation is an excellent resource...

[jessica31876]

Thanks for that resource. The hard part is nobody else in my family has migraines and I sometimes feel like they think I am exaggerating just how badly it really does hurt.

[ColleenSwerb]

Jordan didn't believe me for the longest time. Until I had a migraine for 9 days straight and stayed home from work in tears on the last day. That finally pushed me to get my butt to a neurologist, who naturally did an MRI, and found absolutely nothing wrong with my brain.

My mom's migraines are hormonal, which means mine probably are too. And I happen to be one of those lucky people, who can't sleep off a migraine. I often try (like if I wake up with one on the weekend, I'll try and just go back to sleep) and wake up with an even worse migraine.

BUT, I can't be outside in the sun for more than 2 or 3 hours (like laying on the beach) before I get one. Even while I'm on my preventative. So it doesn't surprise me that being outside like that effects you. That's the primary reason we're going to Europe for our honeymoon this fall, instead of laying on a tropical island for 2 weeks, lol!

Have you noticed any other triggers aside from sunny days? Sometimes foods are triggers for people, high stress is another common trigger. Now that I've started drinking coffee regularly again, I've noticed I get one from caffeine withdrawal after 2+ days without a coffee (I've started to cut back to only 3 days a week drinking it). It's helpful to keep a journal and write down what happened leading up to the migraine, then you can see if there are any patterns.

Or if you're like me, there are no patterns. Even though I think it's hormonal, it doesn't center around my period and I've been on the same BC for like 10 years or something. :shrugs: At least with my preventative now I only get 1 every 2 months or so (aside from the caffeine ones, which I think are my own fault).

[cindyg]

Yes! Treximet makes me go to sleep also - I can't even try to stay awake cause it knocks me out. Treximet also makes my throat swell and gives me chest pain so I've recently changed over to Relpax. I took one of those yesterday and the same thing - I was OUT like a light for about three hours. My neuro also gave me a sample of Maxalt but haven't tried that yet. I also take 240 mg of Verapamil every night too.

[jessica31876]

Well I think the sun is defenitely one. I went to the botanical gardens with my daughter and husband for like three hours and even though they wanted to stay I had to leave because my head had started hurting so badly. Then like three days later we went fishing and again after about maybe an hour another migraine attack. Then again today it happened same thing just being outside for maybe an hour or so I had another migraine starting. Im getting alot better at realizing when I am getting the migraine though so I can get the medication and take it before my head is exploding with pain. So far that is the only thing I know for sure really causes bad headaches. I wear sunglasses...well transitions lenses in my regular glasses which are supposed to get really dark in the sun but Im not sure they really work well to block out the sun. And as you can imagine living here in Florida avoiding the sun is not really easy LOL. I put off some of the testing the doctor wanted to do to just see if the medications helped but with the headaches becoming more and more frequent I made an appt today and will likely be having some of those tests done now. He said he wants some nerve testing and a CAT scan. I had an MRI but that was of my neck. Ohhh and my daughter was diagnosed several years ago with Chiari Malformation which one of the symptoms is headaches along with some other things. Her's was not bad so they didnt think it needed surgery or anything but from the things Ive read it can be hereditary. So I am also going to mention that to my doctor to see if it is something he wants to test for.

[ColleenSwerb]

I'll have to check that out Cindy, that's crazy what you go through!

[cindyg]

Originally Posted by BrodoNY0123

Jordan didn't believe me for the longest time. Until I had a migraine for 9 days straight and stayed home from work in tears on the last day. That finally pushed me to get my butt to a neurologist, who naturally did an MRI, and found absolutely nothing wrong with my brain.

My mom's migraines are hormonal, which means mine probably are too. And I happen to be one of those lucky people, who can't sleep off a migraine. I often try (like if I wake up with one on the weekend, I'll try and just go back to sleep) and wake up with an even worse migraine.

BUT, I can't be outside in the sun for more than 2 or 3 hours (like laying on the beach) before I get one. Even while I'm on my preventative. So it doesn't surprise me that being outside like that effects you. That's the primary reason we're going to Europe for our honeymoon this fall, instead of laying on a tropical island for 2 weeks, lol!

Have you noticed any other triggers aside from sunny days? Sometimes foods are triggers for people, high stress is another common trigger. Now that I've started drinking coffee regularly again, I've noticed I get one from caffeine withdrawal after 2+ days without a coffee (I've started to cut back to only 3 days a week drinking it). It's helpful to keep a journal and write down what happened leading up to the migraine, then you can see if there are any patterns.

Or if you're like me, there are no patterns. Even though I think it's hormonal, it doesn't center around my period and I've been on the same BC for like 10 years or something. :shrugs: At least with my preventative now I only get 1 every 2 months or so (aside from the caffeine ones, which I think are my own fault).

I follow a migraine diet and it REALLY does help - Before I tell you what I avoid, I will say that I've had Migraines for over 20 years but I had three TIA's (mini-strokes) from migraines in the past year and a half - so it was very serious that I make drastic changes and I am very strict about what I eat.

I can't eat (or drink):

Caffine

Any Artificial Sweetners

Cheese

Aged Meat or Fish or any that are smoked, salted, pickled or dried

Meat that has been marinated or chemically tenderized

Liver

Snow Peas or certain types of beans

Yeast extract, Brewers Yeast, or Fresh baked yeast products (no fresh bread)

Canned Soups (have to be VERY careful - can have a few organic soups but have to decode the ingredients for hidden sources of MSG). I've pretty much determined that all non-organic canned soup has MSG (more on this below).

Pickles or pickled foods

CHOCOLATE (it was actually easier to give up than I thought it would be)

Wine

MSG!!!!

I also can't get around smoke, car/truck exhaust or perfume without having a reaction.


About MSG - it is supposed to be a BIG culprit in Migraines and until I did some research on it, I had NO CLUE it was in so much food!! Basically you can't go out to eat unless you go somewhere that will make you a fresh, unseasoned, unmarinated cut of meat - most restaurants even put MSG on the veggies. But the worst in packaged/prepared foods. There are so many hidden sources of MSG, in other words, MSG is in other ingredients so if they list that ingredient on the package they don't also put MSG so unless you know what you are looking for you won't know it's there. This is a great resouce for decoding hidden sources of MSG: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html. I really think that MSG and artificial sweetners were they main things that were leading me down the path to having a stroke. I was totally addicted to diet Coke and diet food (full of artificial sweetners and MSG). I had to completely change my eating and have to be vigilant about everything now.

I'll get off my soap box now

[jessica31876]

that is a really strict diet!! Id be ok with giving up most of it because I honestly do not mind it but the marinaded meat would be tough as would caffine because I drink a ton of sweet tea. Chocolate would be easy because I eat it maybe once or twice a year if that. I honestly never knew MSG was in so many foods. I buy canned foods and most of them say no MSG's as do some of our seasonings.

[ColleenSwerb]

I'm not big on soda (maybe1 a week if that), and I've mostly stayed away from diet foods during this diet (no frozen meals or whatever, mostly just salads with all fresh stuff). I've always preferred real sugar to anything artificial. Still, really good information Cindy, thanks so much!

[NettieB]

Triggers are different for each sufferer - but like Cindy noted, nitrates and additives are big culprits. For me, aspartame is a Huge No-No, but Splenda (sucralose) doesn't set me off (shrug). However, eat a hot dog or a lunch meat, and I'm in for it.

The sunshine thing - the more you migraine, the more sensitive your "receptors" get - and for many sufferers, light sensitivity either before or after migraine is very high. Sunglasses with polarized lenses are an expensive investment, but have become a "can't leave home without them" item for me, and have really made my life much better.

Only you live in your skin, and only you can take charge of your treatment plan - hopefully you can piecemeal something together from everything into something that works for you!

[JenTapler]

I've also been suffering from migraines for years. First I'll tell you what we finally figured out the trigger was and how - (and this is after YEARS of tests - allergists, daily headache diaries, trying all sorts of diets including one very similar to Cindy's that didn't change a thing for me) - anyway, for me the trigger was birth control pills. I started taking the pill as a teenager to help control and regulate out-of-control periods and had been on them since, so basically for like 15 years. When I finally figured all this out I realized that that's also around the time I started experiencing migraines (which is not too unusual for women). My migraines were NOT hormonal or cyclical on a monthly basis though. I have taken Maxalt for a few years with pretty good results (it doesn't make me sleepy - the opposite in fact - it seems to ramp me up a bit) and I was very worried about having migraines during pregnancy and not being able to take Maxalt.

Well, I stopped taking the pill and got pregnant right away and didn't have another migraine until around the time I stopped breast feeding (which wouldn't ya know it was also the time I tried to get back on the pill!!). I associated no migraine with maybe just getting lucky and the pregnancy hormones keeping it at bay or something, but now I know better - it was just NOT being on the pill!!

About 2 weeks after starting back on the pill (which was about a year ago) I got a sudden very bad migraine for which NOTHING was helping. This headache was the worst I ever had and lasted an entire 3 weeks without relief. I had multiple oral medications, multiple injections from my neurologist, just about every pain killer you can imagine (and I am normally VERY sensitive to pain meds) and nothing even touched it. This was one of those really bad migraines with vomiting and I ended up losing about 15 pounds (and I'm a small girl, I don't have 15 pounds to lose, so this was a very dangerous situation for me). I ended up hospitalized for 3 days with an IV of di-hydro-ergotomide (spelling might be off on that one), which they really REALLY don't like to use because it can have some pretty significant cardio side effects, but I was seriously in very bad shape. I hadn't been able to work in a month, had barely even been out of bed. I honestly thought I was dying (I even forced myself one morning to write my son a letter because I was convinced something terrible was wrong in my brain and I would not be here very long - I have NEVER experienced that kind of pain before and I have had BAD BAD migraines for a long long time!!!). I don't tell many people this, but I will say that if I did not have a child I honestly think I might have been suicidal - I could NOT live with that kind of misery much longer. Fortunately that DHE IV worked (without any scary side-effects) to stop the migraine and I was put on Topamax. Since then I've done fairly well with Topamax as a preventative (I had been VERY resistant to that for years because I do not like to take meds at all, but I do not ever want to experience that terrible headache again so I'm fine with it now) and I'm back with Maxalt as needed (which for me now is about 1-2 times a month). Maxalt typically works pretty well for me and the Topamax has controlled my headaches - taking them from needing my Maxalt 6-7 times a month to 1-2 times.

Anyway, that was way more info than I intended to share, but I can guarantee I will NEVER be on birth control pills again!!! (and I'm pretty sure until I figured that out for myself and explained the timeline to my docs, nobody would have ever imagined it was birth control pills causing them - it's more often that the pill will HELP with headaches - but now my doctor wouldn't prescribe the pill for me even if I wanted him to!!!).

[MamaBee]

Ugh... add me to the migraine list! LOL... when I was right in the middle of labor (natural) with my DS, my mom asked me what was worse labor or a migraine... my comment was I rather be in labor... at least I know that it will end soon, a migraine could go one for days if not weeks!

I, too, have had migraines for 20+ years... has put me in ER once... I find that the weather changes (like a storm front coming in), hormones, nitrates, and fake sugar are my main culperts. If I'm "tuned in", I will realize that when my sense of smell is highten, mirgraine will come within the next 48 hours... LOL, I'm constantly asking my husband... "do you smell that? Is it strong to you?" I think going through my pregnancy and stopping work has helped my migraines... I used to have either a migraine or cluster headache 2-3 times a week, now I'm down to 1-2 a month.

As for the imatrix (and all types of prescription migraine relief)... I get really tired. I assumed it was my body that is *sighing* a sigh of relief! I hate taking Imatrix and won't take it until the last very moment... I've had the same reaction as others of my throat closing so I won't take it unless my mom or DH are home to watch me (and DS)... then I need to sleep it off. My doctor had given me a list of "drugs" to take when I first feel a twinge of a headache coming... 4 Tylenol... wait 20 min, if doesn't work... 4 asprin... wait 20, if doesn't work... 1 Imatrix... wait 20 min, if doesn't work... go to the prescription pain meds, which is really prescription strenghth tylenal... I've only had to take the prescription meds three times in the last 7 years... most of the time I can ward off a bad one with Motrian Migraine Relief... LOVE that OTC... must buy stock in that company!

I so wish I could take the Extredin Migraine Relief... but that almost made me so dizzy and light headed (probably because of the caffine?) that I almost had to go to ER.

[ColleenSwerb]

So true Nettie, everyone is different. I'm not sensitive to light or sound when I have a migraine, but I still get them when I'm in the sun for too long. :shrugs:

I've been meaning to get myself some really good sunglasses anyway. It never occured to me that a good pair could help me out like that.

[cindyg]

Jen - there is a link between migraines and birth control like you mentioned, I had read about it: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1220010315.htm

With my migraines I experience all types of vision problems including complete loss of vision (temporary blindness) that has lasted from a minute up to 10 minutes. The last TIA I had which was several months ago, I was driving with my DD in the car and lost my vision - I had about a 10 second warning that it was coming (you can "see" it coming on) and it was a Sunday morning so the traffic was very light and I was able to pull over on the side of the road. I remember having no vision and my daughter talking to me and I could not comprehend what she was saying. I was trying to talk back to her to ask what she was saying and the words were all mumbled. It only lasted for a few minutes but when I think about it now, it scares the h*ll out of me because I now know what was happening. What I have learned since I started seeing my neuro is that those of us that have vision problems related to migraine are at a MUCH higher risk of stroke and, as my Dr. put it, not a stroke when you are 70 or 80 but a stroke when you are 30 or 40. This article scared the poo out of me too: http://www.sheknows.com/articles/5214.htm

My main migraine symptoms are extreme light sensitivity (to the point sometimes of needing dark sunglasses indoors), blurry vision (can't watch TV at times because things move around too fast on the screen -It's 100 times worse at the movies - I don't even go anymore), jaw pain, eye pressure and chronic headaches and then the vision loss (thankfully that isn't as frequent!). It is rare that I have the extreme painful "normal migraine headaches" anymore as mine are mostly visual now and have been that way for the last several years - in fact it took me a long time to wrap my head around the fact that this was migraine, my neuro had to keep convincing me that it was. The good thing is that after $10,000 worth of MRI's (which my insurance is trying to get out of paying by saying it was a pre-existing condition because I've "had headaches in the past" - ummm who hasn't?! (But that is a whole other issue), I didn't have any permanent damage from the TIA's.

I know this is all waayy TMI, but my point is that migraines are much more serious that I knew in the past and if you have vision problems associated with yours, it's really important to not let it go unchecked.

[ColleenSwerb]

Oh my gosh Cindy, that's terrifying!!!

I have no vision problems with mine either. I really have no symptoms or warnings with mine. I usually wake up with one, and go from there. It's very strange, but that's why I attribute it to being hormonal. I'm worried about what's going to happen with mine when I have to stop taking my preventative so we can start trying to conceive. I don't want to go back to where I was 2.5 years ago, having migraines that lasted for days on end and nothing helped.

[JenTapler]

Cindy, my neuro is watching me closely also because I do get visual disturbances with my migraines and that one very bad month last year was so frightening. My visual issues are normally just EXTREME sensitivity to light - like you, having to either wear dark glasses inside or just completely turn off all the lights and put a dark cloth over my eyes until the headache goes away. Very rarely I'll get "floaters" in my vision or wavy lines, but that is very rare. I've also read up on the correlation between migraine and stroke, especially in women. From what I can tell in the medical research the biggest link is those who have an "aura" (those "signs" that a migraine is coming) seem to be at the highest risk of stroke. Fortunately I don't really get an aura - by the time my visual disturbances happen I've already got a full-blown migraine - my first sign is the ice-pick pain in my brain, so the neuro says that's actually a good thing (as far as the stroke risk is concerned).

But...my other big reason for telling people who have migraines to really look into and think about birth control pills as being a possible trigger or at least a component of their problem...long-term use of oral contraceptives are also linked to a higher incidence of stroke in women. Yet another reason in my opinion NOT to take them!! (for me anyway!).

[jamie_jermark]

I suffer them as well!! No fun at all. Mine have the aura and I will have floaters and then one eye will go completely blind that will usually last about 15-20 mins and then I get the horrible pain in my head and it is always on the opposit side that I had the blinding eye on. I believe that mine come from BC as well, but my doctor don't think that the mirena will cause migraines because no hormones get into your blood streem. I never got migraines until after the birth of my 2nd child when I went back on BC. They got worse and Dr thought it might be the BC so I went off and got PG and didn't have any migraines until I went back on BC!! My Dr now has me on some preventative meds. I am taking Indreal twice a day and amatriptylne when I go to bed. So far these meds seem to be helping as I haven't had a migrain yet. Its only been 2 weeks on them so we will see. But I think they are helping as I was havine 3-4 a week! As far as the stroke issue goes, that scares the h_ll out of me as strokes are very strong in my family....

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you ladies have the mirena IUD and suffer migraines. I am really thinking to having it removed and getting a diaphram, sorry if TMI! I'm just tired of all the meds......

[Sheana]

I get super tired with all migraine medicines. I've taken Midrine, Imatrex and Axert and I always have to take a nap shortly after I take them.

[cindyg]

About the stroke aspect, my neuro put me on low-dose aspirin therapy (baby aspirin once a day) too - along with the Verapamil for prophylaxis. The baby aspirin is supposed to help prevent stroke. Before I went to the neuro, I had auras daily - without exception and this went on for years, it was just a part of life because I was used to them. I haven't had any in a few months now but I do still get the floaters, blurry vision and light sensitivity a lot.

I think I am going to try the Maxalt next since some of you are saying it doesn't make you as sleepy. I HATED Treximet - in addition to putting me to sleep, that stuff gave me some BAD side effects plus, I don't know how much it is where you live, but here in FL where we have the worst insurance in the world, it cost $200 for nine pills (with insurance). Relpax works good for me but it knocks me out. One of the BEST meds for my migraines is Prednisone - I have a prescription for that too but was told only to use it as a last resort when any of the other meds don't work. If I could, I'd take that all the time - no side effects and it helps tremendously. Apparently its supposed to mess you up if you take it too much though as it lowers your immune system. Figures.

[NettieB]

oh yah. Personally I think there will be a Special Level of You Know Where for Insurance Adjusters Who Have Denied Migraine Claims. There they will get a Whopper Migraine with All the Bells and Whistles and Blinking Lights for um, a while. Not that I have er, some um anger to resolve to forgiveness here, ummm...

Amerge (sp?) is good too, and even better, long-acting! -- for acute relief, plus - for preggo women, oxygen therapy works for low-level help...

For anyone in the Seattle area who needs a good neuro, PM me, I finally found a good one, and in the Portland/Vancouver, WA area, my old one relo'd down there...

[jessica31876]

I ended up last night in the ER because nothing was making this headache go away. They did a CT and it did not show anything which I suppose is good but having an actual physical reason might have made me feel a little better dont ask me why. My blood pressure was way up which the doctor there thought was causing the headache. I kept telling him my blood pressure is usually normal that I think it was a combination of the medication and the pain and he kept saying it shouldn't be that high from those two factors alone. If blood pressure though was a real factor why wouldn't the neurologist have prescribed something to see if that got the headaches under control? Well the ER doctor prescribed some steroids for imflamation and something to get the B/P under control and finally a different headache medication. I go back to see my neuro on the 5th and see what he says. Im just really glad this episode is pretty much gone. I still have the pressure at the base of my skull but Ive had that for months now and the doctors keep saying that is from a herniated disk.

[RatherBScrappin]

Wow! You gals are a gold mine of information! I was tracking my migraines and thought they were hormonal, so my doc prescribed a new drug called "Frova" that I'm supposed to take on the onset of the migraine. I haven't had one in three months, so I don't know if it is the right drug, but I know I at least have something to try when I do get one.

I'm going to subscribe to this thread for future references! Thanks and hugs to all the migraine sufferers!

[jessica31876]

Cindy I live in FL too and would be paying 260 dollars for the Treximet. My husband was put out of work in December because he could not do his job anymore because of a car accident at the end of November. Well he was the only one working at the time so we lost all insurance and income when that happened and in May after all our savings had been depleted had to apply for medicaid. Medicaid pays for the Treximet 100% right now.

Originally Posted by cindyg

I think I am going to try the Maxalt next since some of you are saying it doesn't make you as sleepy. I HATED Treximet - in addition to putting me to sleep, that stuff gave me some BAD side effects plus, I don't know how much it is where you live, but here in FL where we have the worst insurance in the world, it cost $200 for nine pills (with insurance). Relpax works good for me but it knocks me out. One of the BEST meds for my migraines is Prednisone - I have a prescription for that too but was told only to use it as a last resort when any of the other meds don't work. If I could, I'd take that all the time - no side effects and it helps tremendously. Apparently its supposed to mess you up if you take it too much though as it lowers your immune system. Figures.

[JenTapler]

Originally Posted by cindyg

About the stroke aspect, my neuro put me on low-dose aspirin therapy (baby aspirin once a day) too - along with the Verapamil for prophylaxis. The baby aspirin is supposed to help prevent stroke. Before I went to the neuro, I had auras daily - without exception and this went on for years, it was just a part of life because I was used to them. I haven't had any in a few months now but I do still get the floaters, blurry vision and light sensitivity a lot.

I think I am going to try the Maxalt next since some of you are saying it doesn't make you as sleepy. I HATED Treximet - in addition to putting me to sleep, that stuff gave me some BAD side effects plus, I don't know how much it is where you live, but here in FL where we have the worst insurance in the world, it cost $200 for nine pills (with insurance). Relpax works good for me but it knocks me out. One of the BEST meds for my migraines is Prednisone - I have a prescription for that too but was told only to use it as a last resort when any of the other meds don't work. If I could, I'd take that all the time - no side effects and it helps tremendously. Apparently its supposed to mess you up if you take it too much though as it lowers your immune system. Figures.

Yikes! I forget that fortunately I live in a place with AWESOME healthcare! (not to get political, but Kaiser is one of the "plans" they are looking at modeling with a Universal HealthCare system and in my opinion, this would be AWESOME for everyone!! It's not perfect of course, but nothing is). Anyway, Maxalt works pretty well for me. My insurance covers all prescribed drugs except for a $10 copay, so I get 12 Maxalt tabs for $10 and I get 90 Topamax pills for $10.

Cindy - I forgot that I had been put on a Prednisone dose pack when I was having that terrible month-long headache last year and it helped A LOT, but as soon as it started tapering down, the headache came back full force. And of course, I don't want to be on prednisone long term!!

And whoever it was who mentioned Mirena...according to my OB/GYN...I would be careful with that - they do contain progresterone, which is the hormone that is most likely to cause a migraine and even though it's in small doses, it's definitely enough to get into your blood stream and possibly cause a headache (I'm not sure yet if I'm ready to take that risk - but of course, if it did cause a headache, you just have it removed)!!!

[Cheryl Ashcraft]

I have menstrual migraines, and use Imitrex. It also makes me very sleepy, but a couple hour nap is worth it to me to not lose 24+ hours.

[jessica31876]

yea I dont mind the nap I cant do anything really when the pain is that bad because I cant focus on it. I couldnt even answer the questions of the triage nurse last night I had to keep asking her what she said because I could not concentrate. I was just wondering how common the sleepiness actually is because the pharmacist said it is relatively rare. Maybe just not reported often?

Originally Posted by gonewiththewind

I have menstrual migraines, and use Imitrex. It also makes me very sleepy, but a couple hour nap is worth it to me to not lose 24+ hours.