OT - Migraine Med - tried something new

OK - so in 2008 the only thing seeming to not go wrong - I hadn't had any
bad migraine attacks. But, alas....that, too was to go.

Yesterday - on DH's b'day, we wnnt to the grocery store on a short trip
-after his birthday lunch at Eggspectations (a restaurant from Canada that
is here in the DC area), and a lovely drive around the horsey farm areas....
Anyhow, while walking through, about 20 min into our "visit" - I suddenly
got struck by a really strong aura interfering with my vision. And, within
about 2 min had lost almost all my peripheral vision. Weird - but glad to
have the warning aura. We finished up, got home, and I stumbled upstairs.
Thankfully, DH was really more concerned about me than missing his b-day
dinner, or baking the cake he'd picked from his mom's recipe file.

So, I decided to try FROVA, which is a triptan but different than Imitrex.
http://tinyurl.com/7qj3zn

I have a bunch of samples, they are in 2 packs, got them from the prior job.
Anyhow, fortunately I read the prescribing info, and took 1 - not both.

So, how did it work? Well, it says to take once you have the headache. The
pain had just started up, but was only likely about half-way - at the
head-clutching, but not quite writhing stage. I was getting the nausea,
though. It took a while, I just had gone to lay down in a pretty dark
bedroom - and after about 30 min must've fallen asleep. Woke about 80 min
later, still with some pain. But, it was tolerable. Ended up spending the
night in bed - not really functional til about 11 pm (had started before 6).

I resisted taking the 2nd pill, but probably should've. I think on the
scale, if the headache was in full swing, I'd need 2 pills. But, I didn't
have any real negative side effects, which is good - must've really been
having a migraine, as I didn't get any of the palpitations, or tightening
feelings that could happen if it's not a true migraine.

So, thought I'd ask if anyone else has tried this? Reactions? It was okay,
but I think I'll have to refill my Imitrex injector or nasal spray for the
quicker action, more terrible headaches.

At least today, I'm feeling okay, if a bit vague, for lack of a better term.

Ellice

On 12/31/08 5:50 PM, "Jangchub" wrote:

I'm so sorry, Elice. My mom gets them and I always felt helpless when
I was there during an attack. It's funny because about 20 messages
back I thought, I wonder how the headaches were going, and then this.
Fortunately, the head is not an area I have pain. What I get is a
twist in my traverse colon and nothing can get through, including the
medication which must be absorbed by the intestine to work. So I just
take it every day now to stave it off. When I get an episode I am
literally in writhing pain for at least 12 or more hours, trying to
tug my colon open above my skin, heat pad, massage, and I have to be
in a totally dark room. Strange.


I'm always sorry for anyone having to deal with pain. The migraine things
are just really annoying - and painful.

Doesn't ordinary high strength pain medication work on migraines? I
should know this from my mom...

Pre the triptans, people took pain meds or narcotics to just dull them out.
I am allergic to NSAIDs, and tylenol really doesn't do much. Has to do with
the mechanism. The triptans work on the migraine mechanism. Narcotics -
well they just block out pain differently, and I prefer not to go with them
- I have a limited tolerance for opioids, and prefer to save that for when I
really need the big guns.

On the whole, I was okay with the Frova, and glad that I took it before the
migraine had completely exploded - perhaps that's what they mean in the
directions to wait for it to start - an aura, counts, as opposed to taking
it prophylactically.

Ah, well - off to do some New Year's Eve cooking.

Ellice


On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:21:40 GMT, ellice wrote:

OK - so in 2008 the only thing seeming to not go wrong - I hadn't had any
bad migraine attacks. But, alas....that, too was to go.

Yesterday - on DH's b'day, we wnnt to the grocery store on a short trip
-after his birthday lunch at Eggspectations (a restaurant from Canada that
is here in the DC area), and a lovely drive around the horsey farm areas....
Anyhow, while walking through, about 20 min into our "visit" - I suddenly
got struck by a really strong aura interfering with my vision. And, within
about 2 min had lost almost all my peripheral vision. Weird - but glad to
have the warning aura. We finished up, got home, and I stumbled upstairs.
Thankfully, DH was really more concerned about me than missing his b-day
dinner, or baking the cake he'd picked from his mom's recipe file.

So, I decided to try FROVA, which is a triptan but different than Imitrex.
http://tinyurl.com/7qj3zn

I have a bunch of samples, they are in 2 packs, got them from the prior job.
Anyhow, fortunately I read the prescribing info, and took 1 - not both.

So, how did it work? Well, it says to take once you have the headache. The
pain had just started up, but was only likely about half-way - at the
head-clutching, but not quite writhing stage. I was getting the nausea,
though. It took a while, I just had gone to lay down in a pretty dark
bedroom - and after about 30 min must've fallen asleep. Woke about 80 min
later, still with some pain. But, it was tolerable. Ended up spending the
night in bed - not really functional til about 11 pm (had started before 6).

I resisted taking the 2nd pill, but probably should've. I think on the
scale, if the headache was in full swing, I'd need 2 pills. But, I didn't
have any real negative side effects, which is good - must've really been
having a migraine, as I didn't get any of the palpitations, or tightening
feelings that could happen if it's not a true migraine.

So, thought I'd ask if anyone else has tried this? Reactions? It was okay,
but I think I'll have to refill my Imitrex injector or nasal spray for the
quicker action, more terrible headaches.

At least today, I'm feeling okay, if a bit vague, for lack of a better term.

Ellice
Victoria

http://gotbodhicitta-wangmo.blogspot.com/
Updated daily when able.