HELP my migraines

[migrainemom29]

I am a 46 year old female whos had migraines all my life. They run on my dads side of the family. They started in high school and I have been able to manage them but lately they have become debilitating. I changed birth control pills in October 2007 from Orthonovum to Yaz. I had been on Orthonovum for 20 plus years. The YAZ helped the PMS symptoms I was having really well but I would get terrible headaches at the beginning or end of my cycle. I have tried a number of migraine medicines over the years and found relief with Maxault, Relpax and even Excedrin Migraine however, the last 3-4 months, those drugs don't seem to help anymore. I got my tubes tied in December 2007 but continued taking the Yaz until Jan 18th 2008. I had my period Jan 21st-26th and got a bad headache the last day of my cycle. I am anxious to see what the month of February will be like with no BC pills in my system. l also suffer from allergies and sinus problems and I assume all that plays a part in my migraines. My question is what should my next step be? See my family doctor and ask for a daily medication to prevent them? See a Neurologist? Any advise is appreciated.
Deborah B.

[jenhop4]

I am concerned that help may only be short term but I guess I will stick with it until it doesn't work anymore.  My blood pressure is very high during the migraines as I have a cuff at home.  I believe pain can cause it to rise,  as well as high blood pressure can cause migraines,  no win situation!
I complained that the cost of our prescriptions went up when we switched health care providers from $11 per prescription to $25....I couldn't afford $10 per pill!  
I am sure that the base of my problem is hormonal also,  that is why I believe they have gotten so bad with age.  I know my hormones fluctuate more often because my pms symptoms can start 2 weeks before I even get my period and even though I have a very light period since the thermal ablation,  it lasts from start to finish for about 10 days,  then throw in ovulation in that short time frame I only have a few days of level
hormones. I also have daily headaches. That is why menopause is looking good, haha!
One last tip that I can say because I live in Minnesota is that when I have a bad
migraine there is nothing like a sub-zero snow bank!  :-)
Hope you find something that works.
Jen

[Crystlas]

Looks fine to me!!  Welcome to the world of forum posting!  I love it, get lots of support and good advice!  

[migrainemom29]

am I doint this right, do I reply to folks that have written to me like the ones above by clicking on "POST COMMENTS" at the bottom of my page?

[migrainemom29]

Thanks, I am not taking the pill any longer. I got my tubes tied in December so I am anxious to see what next month brings headache wise.-thanks!

[migrainemom29]

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried the imitrex pills AND nose spray. That is the first thing my doctor put me on. It worked for a while but then like everything else, its not helping any longer. After the Imitrex, I tried Maxualt and Relpax. They both use to work. When Maxualt didn't, the Relpax would but now those don't even work. Plus, the Relpax is expensive. It cost like $10 a pill WITH INSURANCE! I really think my problem is hormonal since they are really bad during that time of the month. I have headaches most of the month but I can deal with them. I have sinus and allergies too so I am sure that doesn't help. My supervisor suggested I keep a blood pressure cuff handy and check it when my head hurts really bad. I think i'll try that. Hadn't thought about my blood pressure being an issue.... Any way, thanks for the reply...

[Crystlas]

I take 250mg twice a day, morning and night for my migraines.  My nurse practioner recommended dosing it like this.  

[Crystlas]

Too strong of a birthcontrol pill can trigger a migraine.  In fact, anything stronger than Aleese gives me headaches within two days of taking it.  Also 500mg of magnisium a day really helps cut my headaches down a whole lot.  I went from a few times a week to only suffering a few every few months or so.  Hope this helps!  

[kellsc]

Hey...... My mother suffers from migraines and wakes up every morning with a headache. She' s taking different things for it.  I'm not sure exactly what she's taking.  I believe she's taking Ultracet and takes Goody powders on occasion.  I have heard that Imitrex works pretty well for migraines. I am pretty sure that my aunt is taking this medication and it works great.  Talk with your doctor and see what he thinks.    

Kell

[jenhop4]

I had to chuckle at your name-migraine mom.  That is how my kids would describe me.
I have had migraines similar to yours all my life.  Beginning at age 12 with my first period.
When I was young generally they were monthly and I could count on them for sure with each period.  They were very debilitating.  My mother got them also.  Of course for the times, ie; the 70's,  there wasn't much help especially for kids.  It was strange because people,  especially other kids that didn't even get a headache really couldn't understand.  I kept them to myself and would practically fall into the front door after school to have my mom help me to bed.  Then when it was over I felt like Whew!  made it through that one and put it out of my mind until the next one.  I was very social and active in sports etc.  I only dealt with them when they came and then moved on,  over and over again.  Never going to the doctor for them.  When I was 20 I went on birth control because I was getting married,  some told me they might help with my migraines,  they didn't.  They also raised my blood pressure,  alot!  So,  I went off them.  Almost 26 had my first baby,  only had one or 2 migraines during my pregnancy.  Then during labor (huge change in hormones) I had a mega migraine in the hospital.  Then slipped back into my monthly migraines plus in between and heavier periods.  Had my second baby at age 29 and started getting heavier and heavier periods and migraine after migraine.  Finally, so heavy I became anemic and
they wanted to put me back on birth control.  I reluctantly tried it,  I was asking for a hysterectomy.  At that point I didn't care.  After being on birth control-only a low dose my blood pressure went bannanas-200/100 and my migraines were almost constant.  I  went off the birth control and had a thermal ablation to thin the lining of my Uterus. This I'm sure saved my life,  I was literally hemorrhaging. This helped for a while with my migraines as I was just healthier.  But they have gotten out of hand again as it seemed to with my mother also during her 40's. I have tried in the last few years Imitrex tablets but with my nausea they were awful and I threw up for hours after taking them, thus, not helping the migraines at all.  So,  after another really bad few weeks with migraines over and over again I went back to the doctor and he prescribed a low dose of amitryptaline and Imetrex Nasal.  I am not a pill taker so this was hard for me to accept.  But,  the migraines were not good for me either.  In high doses the amitryptaline is an anti-depressent but in lower doses it has been shown to help as a preventitive for migraines.  I take 1 10mg dose before bed.  (I wake up with alot of migraines)  I have been on them almost 2 weeks.  The first week I did feel sluggish during the day and was having my doubts.  I did have some small headaches too.  But I had just come off 2 weeks of really bad migraines.  This week was much better as tuesday and wednesday my head was really clear and no headaches and pretty good energy.  I am in PMS so today I woke up with my usual good headache behind my eyes and felt a little crappy like I always do with my period migraine.  So,  also reluctant to try the Imitrex nasal I did it!  And for the first time ever in my life it warded off the migraine.  I am in complete shock as I was such an nonbeliever.  Maybe because I have lived with migraines so long I almost expect them and think there is no way around them.  Anyway,  I took the Imitrex at about 11am and it is close to 4 and I still don't have a headache(thinking it would bounce back for sure) Anyway,  this isn't a good way to make a long story short,  but I thought it might help to hear my situation to compare notes.  I am going to try to stick with with amitryptaline for a few months and use the Imitrex as needed to see if this helps a life time of migraines. And maybe as with my mother (although, she believes she didn't get as many as I) it will get better with menopause,  don't want to wish my life away,  but I wish it would come sooner than later if it helps.  Even if I wasn't missing every important event in my families lives I wasn't always fully there because I was battling a migraine and believe me I have missed important events to.  You know what I mean if you get migraines to.  Anyway,  this is just an option to talk to your doctor about.  I'm not a doctor and certainly not the best patient because I hate taking medication.  I do plan to ask on monday,  why he prescribed amitryptaline over Topamax,  they are 2 very different medications.  He did comment that amitryptaline can help with people that wake up with migraines.  So, we'll see.  Good luck.  Maybe someone more medical will answer you too.  Take care,
Jen