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Have you ever treated chronic migraines?
Added another diagnosis to my medical chart recently: chronic migraines.
My doctor has been great with me. However, the treatments that typically work for most patients haven’t worked on me, so there has been a lot of back-and-forth over the past few months. Typical. I’m always the outlier.
That said, he wants me to take Nurtec now. Have you ever treated chronic migraines?
My body is super sensitive to medications. I always joke that I’m the reason why the FDA has to add side effects to medication bottles. It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it gets my point across.Needless to say, I’m worried about taking a new drug! I have so many other issues as it is. I’d hate to trigger something while trying to treat something else. Have you taken Nurtec before?
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11 Replies
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Never taken Nurtec before, but I was getting hormonal migraines every month for a while. Didn’t even notice it. I was tracking the migraines and that’s when I realized they were happening right at my cycle.
This is important.
Hormonal migraines act different than regular migraines and require different medication.
The reason I bring this up is because, even now, there are a lot of doctors who discount the effect of hormonal shift in our bodies. Start tracking your migraines, menstrual cycle, foods, and medications. It could be something that seems innocuous like the way grapefruit juice affects blood pressure medication.
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Yeah, I was actually wondering the same thing a few months back, so I’ve been keeping an eye out for patterns! The migraines seem pretty consistent and chronic versus just coming around my menstrual cycle, so I don’t think that’s it. However, I will say I’ve noticed they get worse the week before my period.
I’ve had vestibular issues for years, but my only symptom was vertigo up until earlier this year. That’s when I started getting migraines on top of it. My doctor says I’m showing classic signs of vestibular migraines, which is why he prescribed the Nurtec. I just see the commercial on tv all the time and cringe every time I hear the side effects. I understand they are required to do that by law and that all medications have side effects, but every time I hear “breathing issues,” I’m like… 😑
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I should also note that the vertigo began after a mild concussion and has nothing to do with my menstrual cycle.
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I can only speak for myself, but “keeping an eye out for patterns” was not nearly enough. Memory can play tricks on all of us, dismissing symptoms or even forgetting snacks.
You’ve already noticed that the migraines intensity is worse around your cycle. There are dietary triggers with vestibular migraines, so it’s definitely worth a shot cutting some of those out of your diet.
Hmm, the vertigo started after a concussion? Have you considered getting a chiropractic adjustment? I was really concerned about brittle bones the first time but I found gentle adjustments to have been really helpful with pain management. What I mean by gentle is stretching my neck and my back a little bit, mostly to ease compression.
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I haven’t tried Nurtec personally, but I understand your concerns about trying a new medication, especially when your body is sensitive to treatments. Chronic migraines can be difficult to manage, and finding the right solution is often a long journey. While medications like Nurtec may work for some, a friend of mine works at a clinic in the UK and told me they offer medical cannabis treatments for conditions like chronic migraines. Although I haven’t personally tried this option, he mentioned that many patients have seen significant improvements in managing their headaches.
In case anyone in the UK is reading this and is interested in these treatments, you can check here: https://releaf.co.uk/conditions/pain/cluster-headaches-medical-cannabis-treatment-uk
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I ended up trying the Nurtec. It worked really well, but it made me feel kind of out of it. It was a strange feeling. I felt like I had absolutely nothing going on in my brain. I talked to my doctor about it, and he said he hadn’t heard anything like that before. Pretty much how it goes with me and medications. 😅
That said, I still take it when I get migraines. Now that I know what to expect, I plan accordingly. Do you get migraines? What works for you?
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I have been on Nurtec since August 2024 as a treatment medication and it has worked very well with me. Right now, I don’t take migraine medication every day, but I believe that within the next year or so that I’ll have to be. I do not have any side effects with Nurtec so far. I have become very sensitive to different medications that I have taken for years or since childhood, but not with Nurtec. I was on Zomig previously, but it stopped working for my migraines after 2 to 3 years and the very last time I took it I got a weird side effect from it. The most common side effect of Nurtec is nausea but I haven’t experienced that so far.
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I get cluster headaches often and Nurtec has worked well for it. If I keep getting frequent migraines, which I am unfortunately, my doctor said the next step would be to get on a injectable preventative medication. Have you tried one of those?
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I’m glad Nurtec works for you! It’s effective for me, too, but gives me that weird “out of it” feeling. No idea why because it’s not listed on the side effects. Since posting this last summer, my regular migraines have subsided, but I still have vestibular migraines, which are essentially chronic vertigo. Also not fun.
I’ve never done an injectable preventative medication before. What type of injection is it? I’ve only ever heard of Botox for migraines, and that’s dangerous for people with SMA, so I’ve never explored it.
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Aww, I’m sorry to hear that! The injectable I’m talking about is called Ajovy and it’s not botox.
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Oh, good. I hope it’s a good solution for you. If you end up going down that route, I would love to hear your experience with it!
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