Google “NPR + migraine” and you’ll see a bunch of articles addressing migraine relief.
For me advil + excedrin work real well together, also made sure to walk to a nearby food joint during lunch as the fresh air was nice.
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My folks hit me with this one when I asked if they had anything on hand that would alleviate my huge headache. (This was at a hotel we were at.) Two Excedrin and two Advil and (very important) downed with Coca-Cola. Blew my headache away in less than 10 minutes.
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New research suggests that acetaminophen + ibuprofen together is just as safe as either alone, and as effective as / more effective than opioids for some people.
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Careful with that: acetaminophen and ibuprofen together can mess up your liver.
If I can’t lie down with a towel over my head to try to sleep it off, I do Advil for the pain, ginger pills for the nausea, dark glasses and earbuds plugged into nothing for the light and sound. Just going after the headache isn’t enough. Sleep, even if it’s for the better part of three days, works best, though.
Here’s the article I was thinking of: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2661581
I guess it doesn’t directly address risk factors per @MalevolentPixy’s comment. There are definitely kidney toxicity risks with acetaminophen and cardiovascular risks with ibuprofen though.
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Shinny new thread
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I feel… relieved!
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Sumatriptan succinate works quite well for me; I’d say 9/10 times if I take it soon enough.
When an attack develops while I’m asleep the pain wakes me up at some point, but at that point it’s usually too late for the sumatriptan to be fully effective.
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-7741/sumatriptan-oral/details
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Acetaminophen/paracetamol and ibuprofen is great if you’re one of the people that responds to it. Although unfortunately this is being used as an excuse to deny safe, effective painkillers to a whole lot of other people.
In my case acetaminophen does nothing for a migraine (it does work for minor muscle aches, although I prefer aspirin).
800 to 1600 milligrams of Ibuprofen and a shot of whiskey works, but causes painful bleeding holes in my guts.
I don’t know if injecting botulinum toxin directly into my brain will work, because I have refused that therapy. My wife has a friend who gets it at regular intervals, though.
For me olanzapine (an anti-psychotic) and meditation in a dark room will work for a mild migraine, but not for a whopper.
Mefenamic acid (ponstel) used to work very well, but I developed an immunity to it. It’s definitely worth a try, especially for women with migraines related to the menstrual cycle, for whom it can be a wonder drug.
Sumatriptan works as long as I take it in during the initial aura phase and continue to take it every two hours. It won’t work if I don’t take it until after the aura (which is a major problem if I wake up at night with a migraine already going) but I understand this is not a very common problem. EDIT: but I see Wing Commander @FGD135 has this issue too!
My last migraine I took 5mg intravenous sumatriptan initially, 200mg oral fifteen minutes later, and then 50mg at 2 hour intervals for six hours. That was very effective, because I caught it in the aura stage.
Frovatriptan works the same as sumatriptan (but my insurance doesn’t cover it so I spent $600 to find that out). None of the other triptans seem to be quite as cost effective as sumatriptan either (although again, it was very expensive to find this out).
Cafergot (rye madness + caffeine) doesn’t work long enough for my migraines; I exceed the safe dose of ergot before the migraine ends, at which point I’ve had so much straight caffeine I have belly pain, too.
I’m really happy about new therapies coming down the line, since safe and effective opiates are no longer being prescribed.
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Thankfully mine are manageable and don’t require stronger medication, but i have experienced intense awful migraines a few rare times in my life. Enough to make me kind of loopy and black-out. Maybe 2-3 times in my 34 year life.
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May you never have another!
I’ve never found a medication that 100% cancels out the loopy part - even with sumatriptan and ponstel there’s always at least a small amount of cognitive compromise - but sumatriptan really works great for preventing visual distortions and blackouts. At least for me, anyway.
You have to have a heart test before you can get prescribed sumatriptan, because sometimes people with undiagnosed heart conditions literally drop dead from taking it.
I’m out, g’night, all!
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I usually don’t have an aura, that’s quite rare.
Having migraines started in late puberty, so I have some hopes for male menopause. (No luck so far.) But the symptoms changed a bit over the years.
I more or less tried everything there is except botulinum injections and beta-blockers.
Acupuncture did help somewhat, but it’s not something feasible as DIY, and doctors who are good at it are rare, and anyway it’s more convenient just to take a pill.
20 years ago or so I did have a family doctor who was good at it, but he moved to New Zealand.
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I used to get migraines often up until a few years ago.
My cat passed.
I’ve been migraine free ever since but, now there’s a hole in my life.
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