Migraine

I'm on day 11 of a migraine and have been through everything the neuro and ER have had to offer, but still have the migraine. I can't take any more triptans (already taken three in the last week), but I want to try another abortive.

I've been given a steroid pack (which hasn't helped - i'm on day 7 of 10 of that), and was given a shot of dilaudid with phenergan at the ER, which just made me sleep for a good day and a half. My neuro, the last neuro on call i talked to, and the ER all seem to be unaware of other abortive options.

So the question is, if you were to pick an abortive to try next, which would it be? In my limited reading on this site, it sounds like Midrin is great, but that you have to take it during the aura before the migraine starts or it's no good. Any opinion on the others? I'm nearing the end of my rope, ugh

I take Midrin but I rarely get aura. I do try to take it as soon as I can.

We have some information on Midrin that might help:

Midrin

I'm a big Midrin fan. As for taking it at the first sign of migraine, it does work best, but I've had decent luck with it after migraines had kicked in, too.

The only ergotamines I've had were Ercaf, which I liked and worked well, but they quit making, and Ergomar, which is the sublingual one. Ergomar wasn't all that great for me. I've not had Migranal or DHE.

Thanks for the info, guys! I think I'll print out all the information on all the available abortives and the IV therapy and take it to my doctor next week. If this happens again, I do not want to be stuck in the ER only given the option of painkillers again

That sounds like a good plan, e. How is your head doing?

Thanks for asking, maxjerz... still feeling pretty awful. I think I overdid it a bit with the exercise yesterday. I'm not sure if it's just still postdrome, or if i'm actually coming down with something, but i'm definitely taking it easy today

How are you doing today e?

I used Migranal Nasal Spray for at least 6 years with very good effect. I have a real problem with rebound on the triptans and didn't rebound to the Migranal. However, you can't take ergotamines and triptans together, so you have to commit to one or the other. And ergotamines can have some nasty side effects over the long run. One of my "special" headache docs actually poisoned me with IV DHE before I fired him, so I don't touch the stuff anymore, just deal with the rebound to Zomig.

Tracie

I've used both and generally liked both. Here's my experiences:

Midrin--
+ Worked pretty fast (20-30 min)
+ Mild sedative always helped me sleep off rest of migraine if it didn't fully abort it, which sometimes happened
+ It's CHEAP!
- Mild sedative could make me kind of dopey at school/work (I'm a bit sensitive to any sedative)
- The APAP irritated my stomach

Migranal--
+ Could take during aura or during full-blown attack (try to take during aura for best results but when you wake up with one or you just can't get to it fast enough, it's a nice feature)
+ Usually kept me migraine free for up to 48 hours
+ New system is easy to administer and it doesn't have to go through my (usually very upset) tummy
- It can be very sloooow acting, sometimes it took up to 2 hours to get the full effect
- Very expensive, many pharmacies have to special order it

Thanks for the info! It always helpful to get real input on these things