So, I have had migraines for 20 years, since I was 11 years old. They started as menstral migraines and over the years have evolved to be sensitive to changing weather conditions, hormonal changes and only God knows what else as they appear out of nowhere. about
6 or 7 years ago I started getting them for a month straight (daily and sometimes multiplie migraines daily) during the spring and the fall. They have progressively gotten worse and the seasonal lines are blurring.
I have been taking Relpax as an abortive, which I love, but of course, that's just temporary relief. In October of this year I went through a 3-week steroid run to get off all meds. I was taking loads of Excedrin migraine, Ibruprofin, and sudafed in between my very critical 6 Relpax a month which is what was helping dull the pain in the in-betweens, but also causing rebound headaches.
Anyways, after the steroid run, we tried Topamax - TERRIBLE! I know this drug is a lifesaver some people and with minimal side effects, but I was not one definitely NOT one of those people, it made my migraines worse and I was completely out of commission - cognitive functions were shot, no short-term memory on everyday stuff, I would slip into comatose states out of the blue, crying fits, started getting anxious, depressed and totally paranoied. The holidays were awful for me this year.
After that we tried Nortryptaline - minimal side effects at first but after 2-3 weeks I started seriously losing my hair, so I got off of that. My headaches weren't as frequent for those couple weeks, but as I wasn't on a high enough dosage and the weather was actually cold and dry those couple weeks (which is when I tend to be better), we don't really know whether there was any benefit or not.
Then I tried TPI and stopped preventative pills for a few weeks. No luck.
I am currently on Zonegran and stopping today. I started on 25mg 3 weeks ago, and was supposed to increase every two weeks, but again with the hair loss. 25mg isn't doing anything and I'm getting near daily migraines as I enter my spring migraine cycles. We did a mini steroid run 2 weeks ago to break a cycle, but within a few days of being done wit hthat, I'm back into a new cycle... so...
Doc just prescribed Zanaflex. We're in the process of getting Botox approvals, but since that takes so darn long, we need to do something in the meantime as my monthly supply of Relpax is down to one pill for the next 3 weeks! Has anyone had any good/bad/indifferent expeiriences with these drugs for migraines? Especially if you've had any of the reactions I've had to the other previously mentioned drugs?
Thanks!