Since we got into this a bit on another post, and it seems we have some sufferers here, what do you use?  I am one of the unlucky ones for whom the triptans do not work.  I take Fiorinal, with codeine, instead.  Might have a different name in the UK, have searched but don't see what it might be.  It doesn't work as well as it used to and I wonder if there is something else I could try.  I have asked my doctor and he says no, something I find a little hard to believe.

i am on pizotifen as a preventative and have pills to take from the doc if i get one but can;t remember what they are called (sorry). on the other hand i find that accupunture is brilliant. i help out at a clinic from time to time and on one of the first days i did for them i got a corking migraine on my way to work, couldn;t see, thumping pain and knew it was going to go on for days (i get em bad!) and i had no pills with me. well the doctor noticed i was not well and said he;d fix it. i was pretty sceptical at this point but figured i might as well give it a go. three needles and 10 mins later i was perfectly fine! the aura had cleared, i was not nauseous, no pain, brilliant

The only thing that works for me is to throw up then sleep in a dark room with no noise and no-one touching me for a few hours.  Hate it but it's the only way to go for me

I'm on Naratriptan but I need to take 2 ibuprofen & 2 Paracetamol at the same time to shift a migraine. Soluble tablets are better as they work faster when your stomach processes shut down with a migraine, soluble anadin or Nurofen meltlets are good. Two of the best painkillers I've found if it is really bad are Nurofen Migraine pain or Syndol (it has a muscle relaxant in it so helps if there is a tension headache hanging about there too). Watch if you are doubling up on painkillers that they don't have the same ingredients ie paracetamol and aspirin or ibuprofen are OK but don't take two lots with paracetamol thats dangerous!

yeah a friend of mine rather over did it once doing that, the ninny she said it was just to sore and couldn't understand how i usually go without...i've had them regularly since i can remember, so kinda used to them. i also have not eaten chocolate or cheese for 5 years now cause i know they are my main triggers. thing is stuff like sudden light changes, tiredness, stress are difficult to avoid aren't they?

Imigran which is the brand name for Sumatriptan.  I also take an anti-nausea tab which disolves on the gum at the same time to combat the nausea and sickness.  I didn't realise in the early days that the migraine shuts down the digestive system which was why the Imigran didn't always work and why sometimes I would be sick and then not know if I'd thrown up the Imigran and whether or not I should take another.

Recently my migraines became out of control and I am now on Propranalol to reduce severity and occurrences and thank goodness it's working a treat.

Tiredness, stress, dehydration are all potential triggers for me.  Can eat chocolate and drink red wine in moderation but if I mix chocolate, wine and cheese I'm in trouble.  I guess there are probably some other food triggers but the  constant variable seems to be hormones.  In other words, when I'm 'hormonal' any one of my other triggers can potentially activate a migraine.  It's a bit like walking on egg shells.

Hormonal for me too I'm afraid - who would be female I don't seem to have any food triggers, just hormones which are unavoidable - roll on menopause (no don't tell me any menopause horror stories I don't want to know - just let me think it will all be magical )

Triptans are the thing for chronic migraine. Analgesics ( painkillers) don't normally work in true migraine because the digestive system shuts down when a bout starts and they can't be digested. I have tried most of the Triptans and found them completely useless until I stumbled on Zolimitritptan ( branded as Zomig). A complete cure if taken in time. Otherwise it was 2-3 days in bed for me so it has changed my life.
I don't know about you, but one thing I cant stand is people saying " Oh I've got a migraine": - they take a paracetemol then an hour later they are back to normal..........I just want to say "No dear you dont have migraine you have a bl**dy headache"
Unless you've suffered true migraine you haven't got a clue. Even migraine sufferers get headaches -they are different.

>I don't know about you, but one thing I cant stand is people saying " Oh I've got a migraine": - they take a paracetemol then an hour later they are back to normal..........I just want to say "No dear you dont have migraine you have a bl**dy headache" Unless you've suffered true migraine you haven't got a clue. Even migraine sufferers get headaches -they are different.

Couldn't agree more.  What makes that worse is the fact that people who don't suffer migraines then think that migraines are just headaches.

Like you, my migraine medication changed my life.  When I first started getting them my children were very small and I was working part time but my migraines would completely stop me in my tracks.  At that time, before finally getting a GP who prescribed the Imigran, my migraines would last about 3 days but were running into one another so that as the after affects were wearing off so the next one would start.  It was a living nightmare trying to cope - well, actually, I don't suppose I did cope very well.

same with my sister in law hormonal triggers her off,
her mum get them as well plus my husband all 3 are related plus the other sister gets them too,andrew gets them that lease 1 a month food triggers his off and the only day he off triggers it of to.
but i think it a family thing as well,

both andrew and sil get their tablets from the chemlists which you got to fill in a form over the counter,you only allow so many in a year,
he gone to work now when he home i find out which one it is.
but he and sil swear by them the pain in the head gone with in a hour.

The only thing that works for me is the Imigran nasal spray. Anything taken orally didn't work (digestive system shutdown), but the spray works a treat.

I agree, many people think they have migraines but really only have a bad headache.  However, I suffered from hormonal and weather triggered migraines for years before discovering they were migraines.  The hormonal ones especially were not so bad I couldn't cope with no pain meds. at all.  What a convoluted sentence, must be because my head is beginning to not work right now.  Ordinary aspirin didn't touch them but the pain was not bad, mostly I was dizzy and had blurred vision. It was when the pain worsened in my 40s that Doc said, Oh, those are migraines.  The weather ones though, what a whammy.  At one point in my life I would vomit for most of the day, on an empty stomach, and seriously consider why I had not learned to handle some of the many guns the OH has in our house.  Now I too have discovered the reason for the nausea and vomitting is because the digestive system shuts down and my Doc has me on Domperidone.  It gives me a tickle to think the thing I take for vomitting sounds like a fine champagne.  I could eat a meal of hard cheese, red wine and dark chocolate for dessert and not get a migraine so am lucky that way, I guess.

Everyone I know who has tried the triptans says they are great, especially Imigran, the nasal spray.  Because the others have not worked on me, including Zomig, my Doc thinks the spray will not either but I am going to ask him again.  Thanks for all the input.  Sometimes I take four Fiorinal C1/2 in a day.  That's 120 mg of codeine in the day and still I am pretty well out of commission.  It would be nice to have something else to try and not worry about getting addicted to the Fiorinal.

Me too for Imigran, I get through 6 - 12 in any month of the 100mgs, it is light a magic light switch after years of misery!!!
If however I dont take one in time then it's miserable and and I do have a tendancy to go into denial and say to myself 'it's only a headache this time....' why oh why but I guess it's part of migraine that you cant think straight. I have trouble reading and digesting what I read, and also get very noise intolerant. Just to add to all the above to which I can also relate!!

KAren

Jetstone Jewel - I tried Imigran tablets, Zomig tablets etc which didn't work for me but the nasal spray DID. Might be worth a go!

I feel for you that suffer from them regularly. i've only had 3 in my life. Thought my head was going to explode. Was in such pain it hurt too much to cry.
I was sick and tried to sleep in a dark room but it was too much pain to even close my eyes. Dont know how i managed it.
lets hope they find a miracle cure for you all soon

I can't tolerate codeine at all, makes me so dizzy and woozy, I was really annoyed when they took co-proxamol off the market as co-codamol makes me feel so ill! It irritates me too when people think their tension headache is a migraine - I was incapacitated for 1 week in 3 before I started Naramig. It makes such a difference when you find something that works for you but it can be a long haul getting there!

Hi I have suffered with migraines for years. I seem to have periods where I have them regularly and then none for ages. I hadn't had a migraine with the aura for about 2 years and then just before xmas they started again. I did still get them without the aura though. At the moment I take atenolol as a preventative and zomig and solpodol when I get an attack. If I get a migraine with the aura I sometimes have a panic attack for some reason. Recently I started doing the Slimming World diet, I have changed my eating pattern and what I eat and my migraines have improved tremendously which has shocked me as I have always insisted they were not food related. I agree with some other posts there is a huge difference between headaches and migraines. It does take a long time to find something that works for you and it can need changing as time goes on, but, the relief is fantastic.
jane

If I get a migraine with the aura I sometimes have a panic attack for some reason

of course you get a panic attack! if i have a migrane with aura i go partly blind for half an hour, no wonder people panic!

What I never understand is why I never seem to be rational and realise a migraine is imminent, always try and kid myself that it's not really happening....worse yet all my family know and tell me and I argue or quietly think theuy are wrong....they never are.

Karen