So the most effective tool against a migraine in progress is triptans. It just is. But not everyone can take them. And for some people, they actually don’t do a thing. But for those of us that they actually do work for and can take them they are the most effective tool. If you use them right away. And when you have migraines frequently sometimes you want to wait and see ‘how bad the pain is’ before you take it, thus decreasing its effectiveness. Or you have one of them special wake up with a full-blown migraine and then it is already well past the window.
Here is what typically happens:
- The migraine is actually completely aborted. Yay!
- Absolutely nothing happens. Boo!
- It aborts the migraine. Yay! But then later, maybe even just a few hours later, it comes back full strength. Boo!
- It sort of dulls the migraine which then sort of gains strength as the day goes on. Uhg. That is a Boo.
It isn’t, like some think, a magic aborting pill. I wish it were. But there are days when it does a wonderful job. And lately, mine is not. Which likely means I need a new one. I think my brain has gotten used to this one. It aborts, for a bit, but the migraine always comes back. And trying to sleep like That, isn’t working well for me right now.
I get some bad side effects but even if I didn’t these are typical side effects:
- Your brain completely shuts down.
- You Seriously want a nap
And if you get migraines every day there is this little factoid:
- You can only take 2 a week which leaves 5 days unaccounted for. Uh. This seems really problematic to me. Even with really frequent migraines, but not exactly daily, this can be a problem. Untreated migraines? Not fun, man, not fun at all. Especially when people expect you to Function through it.
Nevertheless, they are the best we have right now. And I wouldn’t ever want to go without them, that is for damn sure. Only relief I ever get is on those 2 days.
i understand exactly what you mean. Unfortunately insurance won’t cover the new GammaCore (I think that’s the name) it’s a nerve stimulator so no drugs, so we wouldn’t have to worry about medication overuse headache. Hopefully, they will cover it soon and it works for both of us.
and there’s new preventative meds coming out soon. I sure hope insurance will cover that immediately. here’s to more pain free days (or less pain)
xo wendy
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Oh how I am really hoping those new CGRP medications work wonders for us all. We all need some sort of relief. But also there was a new abortive coming out for people who cannot take triptans. I was thinking of trying that when it does due to the more extreme side effects I can get.
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