Migraine Relief

[DailyDi]

In bed with a bad one tonight, but feeling better thanks to hydro condone and a BeKool strip. Surprised how well these strips work better than I expected stays cool longer than a gel ice pack.

[sarah_ab]

i had to go to the ER a few weeks ago for hte first time in almost a decade for a migraine.. and to my surprise the treatment was an antiinflamatory, and anti nausea and benydryl... i asked the MD about this, and he said that the anti inflamatory is for that and of course pain, the anti nausea is obviously for the nausea, and the benydryl they don't know why by something about it helps with a lot of migraines.. and the combination really did work.. but perhaps you could try benydryl? I mean its over the counter... and its not too expensive.. and if it helps... well there ya go... and if not.. well u just get relally tired for a night.....

[Little Faerie]

After years of treating it with strong narcotics because I never could get a doctor to prescribe ergotamine based migraine abortives, I discovered purely by accident that Nyquil will abort a migraine headache. I managed to have a cold and a migraine slam me at the same time and downed a liberal 2 tbs of NyQuil, I was out of vicodin at the time, and about 45 minutes later it just vanished, then I fell asleep. I later looked up why it would do that and it turns out that psychoactive drugs have profound effects on migraines, which is why the ergotamine based migraine abortives work so well. They're doing studies using psilocybin with minor success too. The main ingredients in NyQuil are Dextromethorphan, which aside from being a cough suppressant is a mild to moderate hallucinogen depending on the amount ingested, and Doxylamine Succinate which is an antihistamine/hypnotic with side effects such as hallucination and sleepiness, and together that seems to speed up how fast it works. In normal doses, it just makes you sleepy and feel weird, or for some people gives them a very mild type of hallucination such as geometric shapes when eyes are closed, or if one looks at wood paneling or textured paint it seems to slide a bit. Some people just get a little tired. I'm one of those people that get the full range of side effects including the slidey walls and eventual sleep, and it gives me bizzarre and vivid dreams when I sleep on it. Anyway the mechanism that causes the sedative and hallucinatory effects is also the one that works on certain types of migraines and cluster headaches, and it turns out that mine are the kind susceptible to it. The Nyquil for colds which contains no acetaminophen (no tylenol) is the type I used. I have tried Delsym for one which only has dextromethorphan and it will kill a migraine too but it takes an hour and sometimes it comes back so it seems that the combo of those particular ingredients is the best to use as a migraine abortive. I checked with my new doctor about using the cold formula Nyquil for when I get a migraine and don't have a cold, and she approved. It is a lot safer than having to take hydrocodone ( I had to use 2 vicodin when I got them!) if it will work on you, so if you are able to take it, grab the tylenol-free formula and give it a shot. At worst, it won't work and you can take the hydrocodone safely about 2 hours after trying the NyQuil if you're still awake lol.

[sarah_ab]

ohh careful with narcotics.. problem is 'long term' use of narcotics (basically more than 4-6 weeks) causes rebound headaches/migraines.. the vicious cycle .. you take them to kill pain and they cause different pain...

good to know about nyquil.. i know LSD actually can take care of a migraine real well.. clearly i don't recommend it... but they do know it will kill a migraine...

[Little Faerie]

Oh, it's NyQuil "Cough" not "Cold". It's harder to find that variant because it's abused by teens trying to get high.

[sarah_ab]

hahah teens and college students! at a store in town where i went to college, they had mexican robotussin for $0.99 cents.. we used to go robotrippin' every weekend! I hear we had a good time!

[square_duck]

I have a couple of other friends who get these, and I'll try and remember to pass this info along. I am sure one of them might find it very useful, as she gets migraines a lot, which is sad

[nhdl]

I used to get severe migraines. Found out coffee was the cause.

[Dubious]

a painkiller and some whiskey

[diaperpt]

I cannot attest to this personally and I am pretty sure it will not work for all people and all types of migraine. However, I have friends who used to get migraines frequently and found that if they eat some ginger snaps as they feel the migraine coming, the migraine would either be less severe or would not even develop.

Ginger...

So, if you want to give it a shot, I don't think you've got anything to lose - I wouldn't give up on your own 'tried and true' remedies, but this might be an alternative for some.

[DailyDi]

Day five of this attack! using all the advice to dull them, but it keeps coming back.

ice pack to the back of my neck still numbs them the best until meds kick in.

[diaperpt]

That's gotta be awful. Sorry you're hurting and hope it goes away soon.

[feralfreak]

ive read that an over the counter sleep aid called melatonin can help with migraines, and when a friend of the family gets something like that, she likes to have something massaging her neck like a can or a rolling pin

[Little Faerie]

diaperpt, your friend's headaches may be caused by otherwise asymptomatic low blood sugar, if all it takes is eating some gingersnaps to ease it off significantly. Ginger is typically a stomach remedy, but those cookies are carb heavy which give a boost to blood sugar pretty quickly. I get this weird headache in the front of my head when mine is crashing, and nibbling a quick carb fix like crackers or gingersnaps resolves it until I can get some "real" food in me. One of my favored cookies, so I recommend them even if that isn't the case, just because they're tasty ^.^

[diaperpt]

Little Faerie, I have no idea why ginger works. Again, it is more than one person I've heard report that this works for them. I've even heard of people who will open the jar of ginger spice and have some, successfully knocking out a migraine.

I have little to no medical knowledge, but I am guessing that migraines might have many different triggers for different people. In that case what works for one person certainly wouldn't necessarily work for another and so what you say quite probably is very true!

I'm glad you've found a fix and hope others can find their own. Thankfully I can't remember any headache anywhere near severe as people who have migraines describe.

[gah!ghost]

Caffeine works best for me. Also perhaps unsurprisingly wearing a diaper helps due to it being a comfort. Woke up with a pretty horrible one this morning .

I am also 100% convinced the only migraine "trigger" is stress.

[DprDJeff]

Caffeine - dilates the capillaries.

Aspirin - thins the blood.

Acetaminophen - reduces the pain.

[DprDJeff]

And I just realized this is a three year old thread that has been resurrected. lol

[Baby Brian]

And GahGhost is the one that resurrected it!

[DailyDi]

I get them every so often (Spring/Fall allergy seasons mostly.) so advice is always welome!

[AwakenEvil]

My friend gets those and I know it totally shuts him down

[Baby Brian]

I get them every so often (Spring/Fall allergy seasons mostly.) so advice is always welome!

[Shy-Diapers]

My family swears by a trick my older brother came up with. "Protein and Caffiene" if you eat protein and caffeine on a regular basis they will usually help migraines. They do for me and I am constantly in bed with bad migraines where the medication doesn't work. Those strips are a life saver, if the migraine is in the front of your head try putting the strip so the bottom is just below your eyebrows and it helps. Also, I've never had the money to try it, but apparently rose oil helps allot.

[feralfreak]

an over the counter sleep aid called melatonin has been said to help with migraines, and if you take it for a while it will lose its affects of making you sleep(that part i learned from personal experience due to insomnia)

[adhb]

My doctor prescribes Maxalt. Works like a charm!