Migraine

Hi everyone,
I just had an interesting week or so and a visit to the headache specialist.
Fortunately/unfortunately I had a recurrent migraine early in the morning before my appointment. I was not able to take myself there and my wonderful sister in law took me. In some ways it was a good thing for him to see me in the state I was in.
He has me taking a DHE injection every day for a week and then I am suppose to call.
I actually felt pretty good this week without too many bad side effects from it and only one really difficult day. (The weather has been stormy)
I like the fact that he wants me to call and check in.... He also prescribed ergonovine for me to transition to later I think.. I am not sure yet. Has anyone else had experience with the ergonovine. It is a drug that has to be compounded and only certain pharmacies do this.
I remain hopeful for now.

I haven't had Ergonovine or DHE before. A decade ago, I did take an ergotamine called Ercaf, until they discontinued making it. After that, I tried a sublingual ergotamine med called Ergomar. The Ercaf was big time effective for me. The Ergomar, not so much. Ergotamine meds used to be quite popular for migraine before the triptans came into the picture. I don't think, though, that many still exist. There's the DHE, of course, as well as forms one might get through a compounding pharmacy, but other than that I think they've pretty much ceased to be, since the triptans are migraine-specific and generally considered to be somewhat safer.

Well, this was a definite bust. My headache specialist told me to check back in a week and let him know how I was doing.
After following instructions to take 6 days if IM DHE the migraine reurred and he was "out" ! I thought any more than 3 days of an abortive would lead to rebound? It seems it has and now I am suppose to start another steroid dose pack. I still have pain and I feel like I am losing my mind.. I am really losing it and winter isnt even here yet.
Now what?

Hi kja,


It’s important to note that neurologists aren’t necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Neurologists treat so many different conditions including MS, stroke and epilepsy it is difficult for them to be experts in any one area. Migraine specialists devote their practice to one condition - ours - Migraines and headache disorders.

So, if your doctor isn’t able to help you, it may well be time to consult a Migraine and headache specialist. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.

I hope this helps,
Nancy

Yes he is a recommended specialist from this site.
I am really not sure what he was trying to do. This has been an awful weekend and I will talk to him tomorrow. Then I will decide where to go from here.
so I can understand where was going with this.
Thanks

It can lead to rebound, but it doesn't necessarily always. We all have different susceptibilities to rebound. Some of us will get rebound from just a single dose of an offending med. Others of us can take it for some time, and sometimes daily, without getting into rebound. That said, the three days rule is a good rule of thumb, because it's about caution. It's always good to have a level of caution about rebound, so that you can actively attempt to avoid it.

quote:

Originally posted by kja:
I thought any more than 3 days of an abortive would lead to rebound?

I am doing pretty well on this current treatment. I have only had to use the DHE once this week. I am almost reluctant to say anything for fear of jinxing it but I wanted to share in case this helps someone else. I am now taking Inderal80 LA , Amitryptilline 35mg and the latest is the ergonovine 3 times a day. We'll see what happens when the storm fronts move in