Migraine / Neck Pain

[Melissa_Backes]

A little over a month ago I decided (after a 6 day migraine) that I needed to see a neurologist. He diagnosed me with Classic migraines and prescribed me Maltax and Propanolol. I have had zero relief and have literally had a headache / migraine every day since. They changed me to Imitrex instead of the Maltax and added Amitriptyline at night. Still...no relief. So far I have had an MRI and an MRA but nothing showed up that would explain the headaches. About three days ago I started getting really bad neck pains that gradually would get worse throughout the day (just like my headaches / migraines). Last night it was the right side, from my temple to my jaw and down to the base of my skull and tonight it's the left side. My occipital nodes are also swollen and have been for weeks along with pretty severe neck pain at the base of my skull. My primary ordered blood work to check for infection as the cause of the swollen lymph nodes, but nothing showed up. Tonight it's so bad that I can't sleep (it's 4:40am).  I just don't know what else to do and I think my drs are getting sick of hearing from me all the time. I'm in misery! Completely not able to function and haven't been for a month. Any suggestions?!

[Paulma2010]

Also be sure to cut out all artificial sweeteners including mouthwash that contain any form of saccharin.

[migrainesnofun]

addition notes. dont take pain killers they make migraines come back much worse when they wear off. pain killers do nothing for inflammation. consider getting a blood glucose test and testing yourself. thats what im doing next. and botox is not a cure but it does help reduce attacks. exercise and get a sleep routine vs sleeping in and staying up late one day then doing something entirely different the next.  our systems are sensative and best thing to do is not stress it out. also get checked for ibs. thats next on my list also.

[migrainesnofun]

Migraines are caused by inflammation which is caused by triggers. There is no migraine preventative made yet. The preventatives are all for other conditions and happen to help some people. None of them helped me so I dont bother. Tripans are the only True migraine drug. Try Relpax and Keep imitrex.  I rotate between both but do not take within 24 hours of one another. always have ibuprofen which is for inflammation.  Get tested for celiac disease and diabetes and have an mri but not too often if they find nothing. check your eyes teeth and control allergies. switch to raw food diet. ditch the microwave as foods over heated have no nutrition and have been found to cause inflammation as the food  chemicles and changed to toxins when heated too much. for starters cut out chocolate alcohol nitrates aged cheese for a week and see how that goes. heat vs ice pack and take the tripan as soon as u feel migraine starting. dont try to will it away because that never works. i split all my pills in half. they kick in faster and half usually works if u take right away which gives u more meds later. 15 years suffering weekly.  

[Ball123]

The combination of propranolol and amitriptyline is usually highly effective but as AKC_75 said it takes several weeks to start to work.

Imitrex is used to try to stop the attack. In the end morphine will help if nothing else.

You are very likely to get better soon because of the propranolol and amitriptyline but if it gets too bad in the mean time you must get a better abortive medicine, since Imitrex did not work.

Continue to call/see your doctors. There is no way they will get tired of you. Even if migraine is not considered a serious disease by most docs, chronic migraines is, and it needs serious treatment. You might even need to be hospitalized.

[AKC_75]

Hi and welcome to the Migraines & Headaches Community.

The medications you have named off are all preventative meds and will take several weeks (4-12 wks) to start seeing improvement. What you need is something to help stop the migraine(s) you have, something PRN. I am actually surprised he did not give you anything to take PRN.
Here are a few tips:
There are many symptoms of a migraine and you can experience one or all or any number in between. What causes the pain of a migraine is the blood vessels in your brain become dilated so, it usually helps if you apply a bit of pressure on those blood vessels. You are probably doing that already, unconsciously with your fingers. Get a cloth headband or even a bandanna and wrap it snugly around your head.
You can also rub Mentholatum across your forehead and temples. You can do that with or without the wrap, depending on whether you like the heat or not.
I have found Excedrin to be the best OTC med out there...it is a combo of Tylenol, Aspirin and Caffeine, which is a great combo for migraines.
You can also try ice pack or heat pack...sometimes one will work and other times the other will.

You need to understand that treating migraines is a marathon, not a sprint. I have had migraines for 20 years...with the past 5 years being pretty much every single day...and no, I am not exaggerating.

Try these tips while you are waiting for your other meds to kick in and then see how you are in a few weeks and Please keep us posted!!