Any home remedies for intractable migraine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daily exercise helps prevent mine. Nothing too intense...just 30-40 minutes of walking a neighborhood with a few good hills that get my heart rate up.

DS says that LED lights trigger his. He sits in the dark a lot and we still buy incandescent bulbs. Not sure what we will do when they phase them out.

There are warm light LEDS, and you can install shades so he can't actually see the bulb. You can also install dimmers - extremely useful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Daily exercise helps prevent mine. Nothing too intense...just 30-40 minutes of walking a neighborhood with a few good hills that get my heart rate up.

DS says that LED lights trigger his. He sits in the dark a lot and we still buy incandescent bulbs. Not sure what we will do when they phase them out.

There are warm light LEDS, and you can install shades so he can't actually see the bulb. You can also install dimmers - extremely useful!

+1 you need to buy bulbs that are on the warm end of the spectrum and get shades. I have a "no bare bulbs" rule in my house.

[Anonymous]

Nurtec has been working for me. They just approved it for every other day use. I used to take triptans but I can’t because of an underlying medical condition. In a pinch excedrin migraine will work - But don’t take too often! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP, I used to have GERD and didn’t think I could take NSAIDS, but I read something that said the slow release of the pills and being in your stomach for so long is what causes the irritation. I tried the liquid gels and those have been a game changer. I usually take Imitrex, Aleve and if nauseated, Zofran. And Benadryl at night. DD also has migraines and takes B2 and Gabapentin as a preventative.

[Anonymous]

Nothing at home really works for me but I try to stay hydrated, regular light exercise, regular sleep habits, and I take magnesium and riboflavin supplements just in case.

I get 20-24 migraines a month without any preventative. Botox knocks it down to 10ish and ajovy has it down to 0-3 a month

[Anonymous]

I am similarly in a diagnosis stage for my migraines, OP. Had them for years but they've gotten really bad in the last 6 months so we are trying out some different prescriptions and dietary triggers to see if we can address it.

But in the meantime, here are my go-tos for when I get a bad migraine and my current meds are not working or not working fast enough:

- Add caffeine to my meds. Like I'll take my medication with half a can of coke. The caffeine seems to help lessen intensity and maybe makes the meds work faster?

- Cold compress (damp washcloth in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, then laid over my "migraine side" while I lay down)

- Total dark while I wait for meds to work. I have a sleep mask that I use for sleep and for this purpose that really does seem to help my migraines. I'm crazy light sensitive during migraines. Anything I can do to reduce light exposure while I wait for medication to kick in helps.

- When all else fails, I take a warm (but not hot) shower in the dark. Since a shower in absolute darkness is... impractical, I usually create an indirect light source (no fluorescents or LED, incandescent or natural light only) by turning on a lamp or opening a window in an adjacent room and then cracking the door while I shower. I also sometimes light a candle in the bathroom and but place it somewhere that I can't see the light source. The shower helps by relaxing muscles and there's also a sensory deprivation aspect that seems to help. I do this often when I have a migraine that is preventing nighttime sleep -- even if I cannot get rid of the migraine altogether. 20 minutes in a dark shower will often relax me enough to lessen it's intensity so that I can fall asleep.

Good luck. Migraines are awful.

[Anonymous]

Use the roll on Freeze It or Bio-Freeze on your temples, forehead, back of neck. Hide in a dark room until medicine kicks in.

[Anonymous]

Peppermint
Caffeine
Water
Exercise
Meditation
Music
Silence
Darkness.
Conversation
A quotable movie like princess bride
Ice
Outside
Throw my head under a pillow
Shower

[Anonymous]

I started Q10 daytime, and magnesium chews + melatonin at night, and it's made an incredible difference. Went from daily or every other day migraines to 1-2/week. If I feel one coming on, I pop 400mg magnesium and a Q10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started Q10 daytime, and magnesium chews + melatonin at night, and it's made an incredible difference. Went from daily or every other day migraines to 1-2/week. If I feel one coming on, I pop 400mg magnesium and a Q10.

these are the mag chews. picking mag can be tricky. too much mag citrate can have a laxative effect, but these are a mix and are fine for me.

https://megafood.com/products/relax-calm-magnesium-soft-chews

[Anonymous]

^^^ and in a pinch, Nurtec is amazing

[Anonymous]

Short term, epsom salt bath, sleep, avoiding wine, staying hydrated. Long term: dry needling and pilates to address poor posture that was causing tension in my neck and giving me migraines.

[Anonymous]

You mentioned steroids--you on Prednisone? If I get an intractable migraine I take Prednisone 10mg and the headache will often break with one dose; sometimes I take a second dose a few hours after the first. It's probably not the way I'm supposed to do it but it will break the headache. I only do with for intractable, 3+ day headaches.
Good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years of migraines here. Triptans stopped working for me after about 10 yrs, so I take a very low dose of amitryptaline every evening, and it's been a miracle drug for me. I was getting 3 weeks of migraine a month, and now I maybe get 2 migraines a year. When I do, I take Sprix nasal spray.

NP who has had chronic daily headaches and multiple monthly migraines for about 15 years. I have tried *everything* in those years, except the tricyclic drugs like amitryptaline because I’ve had bad luck with those in the past. This fall, a doctor talked me into trying nortriptaline for a different chronic pain condition, and it was a HUGE help both for the other condition and, unexpectedly, for my headaches. Had to stop that one too because of side effects, but I’m going to try again at a lower dose because nothing else has helped as much as the nortriptaline did.

[Anonymous]

I do Aleve and Relpax together. I put light pressure on my eye 20 on, 20 off. Ice packs on my head.