Migraine

Hi again,
Sorry to be a pest. I finally went to see my doctor yesterday after being stuck in a five day migraine this week. The Topamax hasn't done it's job yet, so I wanted to check with him and see if he wanted to up my dose at all (I was only on 50 mg) before I filled it.

Anyhow, I still hadn't been able to kick this last migraine. On a side note, in response to my other post about menstrual migraines, thanks for the info and, yes, I now know what a "rescue med" is, as my neuro gave me a Stadol nasal spray to go home with. He said at this point none of the triptans were going to work.

Here's my question. He's putting me on a 5 day course of 60 mg of Prednisone (which seems like kind of a high dose for me - I only weigh about 98 lbs). He says I'm stuck in a bad migraine cycle and the Prednisone is supposed to break me out of it. Has anybody ever heard of this or been on Prednisone? I'm nervous about all the horrible side effects I've heard about Prednisone? Thanks for all your help! You guys are all great!

Hi Jodi,

I'm so sorry you're going through this migraine cycle but I'm glad you were able to see your doctor yesterday. I have never taken Prednisone myself but I know others on the forum have. Hopefully, they'll be along shortly to share their experiences with you. I was able to find the following Ask The Clinician question to help get you started:

Prednisone ATC question

I hope you start feeling better soon, take care and please keep us posted, k?

Hi, Jodi,

Yes, as the link Laura gave you says, prednisone or other steroids such as Medrol can be given to break a migraine that has gone on too long.

I am on a course of Medrol right now to break a five day migraine. The reason it works is that cortisone and prednisone and other steroids are very efficient anti-inflammatories and reduce the swollen blood vessels in the brain from the migraine. At least that's my understanding of it.

Hope you feel better soon! Glad you found the site. It's great.

Jodi,
I have taken a round of prednisone to get me out of a 4 day cycle and it worked great. By the second day, I was feeling a lot better. I had a little bit of the migraine left and when I ask my doc, he said the prednisone would get rid of it all and for me to finish the round. He was right-by the time I was done with the 5 day course, no more migraine. I've only had to use it that one time, but it worked for me.

I hope you're feeling better soon!
Lynn

I've taken Prednisone to break a migraine cycle in the past. I checked my log of medications and I didn't list any adverse side-effects. So I seemed to tolerate it okay. I do remember having quite a bit of energy in the beginning of week and a bit grumpy toward the end, but that may not have been the medication.

Remember that the side-effects listed are just potential effects.

Thanks - good to know I'm not the only one. Does anybody remember what dose they took? 60 mg just seems really high. Did your doctor do any sort of taper either?

My doctor prescribed a 5 day prednisone pack for me for my medication overuse headaches I was having, and it worked extremely well for me with virtually no side effects. The dosage started off high the first day, then tapered off(I don't rememember the highest dosage). Like you I was a little worried about taking steroidal medication, but the benefits outweighed the negatives, at least in my case they did.
Hope they work for you!

Valerie

Like Valerie, I had a five day pack. I don't remember the dosage of the first tablet.

Maybe call the doctor's office or the pharmacy if you are still concerned. It would certainly make you feel better, and it will be one less thing to stress over.

Liz

I've taken a 5 day course of prednisone a few times to break a migraine.

Steroids do make me feel a little agitated, but for me at least it was totally worth it to get some pain relief. I felt improved on day two but even better on day three.

I can't remember the dosing though.

A few years ago I was prescribed a short course of prednisone for a non-stop migraine cycle. Strangely enough, it didn't work, or it worked so late the migraine ran itself out.

My current neuro prescribes dexamethasone (another steroid) for non-stop cycles to be taken rarely as an absolute last resort. I probably take one tablet no more than three times a year. I am only dispensed a couple tablets at a time.

The dexamethasone has made it possible for me to avoid infusion treatment or the ER for non-stop migraine cycles.

It does break the cycle after several hours, but even when taken with a full meal it causes stomach discomfort and pressure; the pharmacist and neuro have said that is common.

My father-in-law took high daily doses of prednisone for an autoimmune disorder and eventually the prednisone wasted away his heart muscle, which caused his eventual death. I'm terrified of prednisone, yet I feel it's acceptable to take on an extremely rare basis. I prefer dexamethasone, however, because it works after one tablet for me.

I also had a five day treatment with prednisone to break a cycle. I think I took 50mg the first day, 40mg the second, and so on until I was done. I also tried it as a preventative but found that it gave me a daily headache. I definitely don't need those!

I'm a little late to this thread, but I'm glad you posted this question. My new doc prescribed a 10-day course of prednisone for me, to try to break a months-long migraine I've been stuck with (since November). He has me taking 60 mg the first 5 days, then tapering down over the next 5 days. I haven't started it yet - I just picked up the script yesterday.

At this point, I have the attitude that I'm willing to give it a try since I haven't had much luck with other treatments. We're doing this steroid pack while we're waiting on getting me in for Botox, so hopefully it will give me a break in the pain.

Anyway, you may have already finished your prednisone by now, but I figured I'd add my little bit of experience. We'll see how it goes.

I took a similar course of prednisone about 7 years ago to break up a headache. It did work for awhile. I had tremendous energy (and couldn't sleep) during the first part. In fact, I quilted an entire baby quilt (we call it the steroid quilt) in three days! When I came down I did get kind of depressed and irritable, but my brother who is a nurse had warned me about that, so I just kept away from others as best I could, and kept my mouth shut.

It's definitely not the worst side effect I've ever had. I'd say, find a way to channel extra energy if you get it. Otherwise you'll be pacing in circles.

Lynne

I'm going to be starting my prednisone pack tomorrow, so 3 days of the 5-day burst will be over the weekend when I'm not at work. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I'm a bit nervous about it, as I am when I try any new medication, but I'm hopeful it will help.

Hi gang -
I've never had prednisone for migraines, but when I had anaphylactic allergic reactions 5 years ago, I was on prednisone packs, with the taper and all that, both times. I guess it has the same anti-inflammatory effect. In any case, I just wanted to say it made me a little bloated and a little irritable, but nothing more than that. Really a pretty minor reaction - I hope for both of you that it is no big deal for you and that it works to break the pain!

- Megs