Migraine

Hi,
I suffer from severe migraines and i have tried every kind of treatment without result. Nowadays i am taking Pizotifeno ( Sandomigran)(i don´t know the " english" word for that drug), magnesium 600 mg/day and Riboflavin 400 mg/day. with a few positive changes but i am still looking for another nos side effects treatment. I have googled 3 different alternative treatments which are not distributed in my country ( Argentina) so they are REALLY expensive to me so i wanted to know first the experience of someone who have tried some of them.

1) CEFALY http://www.cefaly.com/es/

2) MIGRACALM http://www.migracalm.net/

3) TENS units http://www.tensunit.com/ ( there is something called " micro" tens nit for the head)

I would preciate if you could tell me your experiences befor i try one of them. it is well known that internet can be really helpfull but sometimes can be a fraud.

thanks!!!!!! sofi

I don't know if I got the chance to say hello or not when you joined back in March of 2007, when your other post would probably be. So, hello.

An official greeting is in order, too...

Hello and welcome to our forum family! Our goal is to provide everyone with the information and support that we all need to manage our Migraines and/or headaches. To that end, we consider this a “safe harbor,” where nobody tries to sell us anything, and we all use “family-friendly” language so parents are comfortable letting their children read the forum with them.

Please take a few minutes to review our policies and guidelines along with the other information in the START HERE folder. For information about Migraines, a good article to begin with is Learning About Migraines - Where to Start

I could be mistaken, but I don't think Sandomigran is available in the United States anymore. I think it was discontinued here a few years ago. Unless, of course, I'm thinking of another med entirely that also starts with an "S". If I'm mistaken, anyone can feel free to correct me.

Riboflavin is most often taken at 400 mg/day for migraine prevention. Magnesium doses for prevention can vary greatly. Just from anecdotal and informal tallies over the years, it seems like most people take around 1,000 to 1,200 mg of magnesium/day. Some of us do get by with less than that. I take 400mg/day. Most take much more than I do, though. It varies greatly. It's important if you can handle calcium supplements that you take them along with magnesium, since they work together and balance each other. There's a ratio for that, but again, I'm an odd person in the mix with this. I can't tolerate calcium supplements of any kind, so with my doctors' collective blessing, I skip it.

TENS units can be very helpful if you get tension buildup in your neck and shoulders with migraine, as some of us do. They're also great if you tend to get tension-type headaches that in turn trigger migraines. The idea is that if you can use the TENS to alleviate the tension, then you can deal with it before it helps you trigger into a migraine. Some people have good luck with that. Usually, though, once the migraine sets in, they aren't going to be able to do anything to shut down the migraine process. I have a TENS unit which I use when my fibromyalgia is flaring badly. I've used it once or twice for tension and deep aching that accompanies a migraine, but it's never done anything for the migraine itself. I know that here in the US, in order to get a TENS unit you need to get a doctor's prescription. The best ones aren't cheap, either. I got my prescription and then had to go through my physical therapist to get it filled. The PT department I got my unit through will only use quality TENS units. It was around $800. I wouldn't trust the cheapo versions available on the internet. You'd need to go through a good, legitimate source.