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rescue medication

What rescue medications do people take?  I was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago with a complex migraine (the excruciating headache has yet to go away) and Fioricet is doing hardly anything to lessen the pain.  Wondering if anyone out there has found anything else to work well for them?  Also I was reading on the internet about Pericranial injections of 50-U BTX-A of complicated migraines take a "serious turn".  Has anyone heard of this or taken it before?
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Avatar universal
When you said soluble asparin are you meaning aspirin or something else - if it's not aspirin where can I get it?   And what is a 'full-fat' fizzy drink?  Also, where can I get a 'migracap'?  Target, Walgreens or some place like that?  Sorry for my stupidity...
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Avatar universal
Hi,

Botox A is the most commonly used serotype used for treatment of chronic headaches especially migraines. Studies have shown that Botox A is successful in controlling the symptoms to a large extent.
The beneficial effect was seen to peak at about 180 days after starting treatment. Pericranial injections of Botox A have been used successfully especially in patients with chronic tension headaches because muscle tome is known to play a strong role in the etiology of headaches. However on the other hand some studies have shown no significant differences between placebo and Botox A.

Thanks
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768044 tn?1294223436
Hi.... in order that I use them:

Home use:
- Zomig nasal spray... it is a triptan... so, a migraine medication. At the first signs of a migraine.
- Naproxen tablets. If the triptan doesn't provide relief. Help it out with Naproxen... a strong prescription NSAID that is often used for migraine pain.
- Gravol tablets. Also will use this if the zomig doesn't help. OR i will use this along with the zomig right away if i have nausea with the migraine.
- Hydromorphone tablets 1mg (a type of synthetic morphine that is stronger and does not have any of the nasty upset-stomach or nausea side-effects that morphine has) if the Zomig, Naproxen and Gravol all do not help and the pain is at a 8+/10 level.

At the clinic:
- Trigger point injections / Nerve block

At the hospital ER (for a 10/10 headache or anything beyond a 10/10 headache, i call those headaches "suicide headaches" or for a severe headache that has not responded to home-treatment for days or a moderate-to-severe headache that has not responded to home-treatment for weeks):
- IV hydromorphone (2mg to 4mg to start depending)
- IV fluids (1 liter I think is what they usually give...)
- IV Maxeran (Metoclopramide) - anti-nausea but ALSO helps other medication absorb better AND also can stop a migraine on it's own for some reason apparently
... I have usually taken the max dose of triptans at this point, so they never give me triptans at the hospital. They rarely give me NSAIDS, sometimes an extra-strength Advil or Tylenol or something silly like that while I'm waiting for the nurse to get the IV set up or if it's taking a long time for a doctor to see me... or sometimes on top of everything else just for the hell of it. Otherwise, outside of the hospital, I avoid that over-the-counter stuff because of rebound headaches... which I get, and get really badly.
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Avatar universal
Hi Dolly,

Complex migraines take their time to go, I think the longest one of mine lasted was about four weeks, and frankly, I would have drilled a hole in my head to make the pain go away.  
In terms of rescue, I use 20mg Domperidone (it makes the stomach empty so that you absorb more of the medication you take with it), along with an normal dose of soluble asparin dissolved in a 'full-fat' fizzy drink.  I was so cynical when the specialist told me to try this, I've had every painkiller going and none of them did anything, but this is really good, and worth a try.  
The other thing I swear by is a 'migracap', the cap with cold packs in it that you keep in the fridge, if nothing else it does give a short respite from the pain.
I was diagnosed about a year ago, and to be honest, everywhere I look, it just says that complex migraine exists, but it's really rare, and that is about it.
Good luck, and remember that you are not going crazy, even though it might feel like that at the moment!
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