1y ago

Anyone got any tips for knocking a migraine when medicine doesn’t seem to be enough?

Hey there!

So I’ve had a migraine that has been going for a couple days now. Nothing entirely new, but it’s frustrating. Dark room, low noise, tried sleeping it off, taken multiple medications for it including my Ubrelvy which normally knocks it. It took the edge off, but now I’m going on day 3 with the migraine with no perceivable end in sight.

Anyone got any tips that normally helps them to knock their migraine that’s worth considering? Normally I don’t care too much as I’ve put up with them for years, but this one has me all nauseous which makes it that much more miserable.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Sorry for not seeing the responses on this sooner. I went back to bed afterward and mostly stayed in bed and holy crap the responses blew up. I also called my neurologist and told them about it much like some of the advise that others have mentioned, and they started me on a round of prednisone to help. Fingers crossed it gets rid of it. Seems to be helping, but only time will tell. If it doesn't, I'll see about giving some of these a try. Thank you so much!

112 comments

Generally speaking, a migraine episode should take a maximum of 72 hours. This is actually one of the diagnostic criteria (4-72 hours). If it takes a lot longer than that, my advice would be to contact your caregiver and discuss this. Try getting enough sleep, listen to your body signals. Some neck stretches focused on the trapezius can also help alleviate a headache loop. This last suggestion always helps me out a lot.
- This comment right here.
  Any migraine (or headache) longer than 72 hours is not normal and should be looked at.
  I've had 2x migraine periods in my life, one caused by a gum infection. Worst pain in my life Felt just like an ocular light induced migraine until day 4 or 5 when the pain got to ice pick levels of pain. Ended up needing oral surgery and tubes placed inside my mouth / sinus for a few weeks to belp drain pus and stuff.
  Check any part of your face / forehead for pain and swelling.
  The other was series of minor and micro strokes. I only experienced tingling, migraines and hand pain.
  Had no idea! Get bad and frequent migraines checked out!
  
  Fortunately I have been going to a neurologist for a little while, so it's getting checked out. I also called them today and they set me up with a round of prednisone to help knock the current migraine, and that is helping a bit.
  Unfortunately, yeah...without medical intervention, my migraines and headaches are pretty needy. Before the medications I am on now, I was typically getting headaches and migraines almost daily, which was absolutely not fun. It's much less prevalent now, with the obvious exception.
- Well it probably isn't great that this is far from being the longest I've had then, with that being around 10 days. I have run this by my neurologist, and she said that unfortunately sometimes this can happen. Then again she also told me that the thunderclap headaches I sometimes get are likely also a way in which my migraines manifest, so maybe I should look into a second opinion?
  That being said, I've had MRIs, EEGs and stuff like that to rule out physiological and electrical issues, so presumably I'm not knocking on death's door just yet. I'm planning on having a sleep study done though, as I do struggle at sleeping, so that likely could be a contributing factor.
  As for the neck stretches, do you have any links on how to do those? Happy to give them a shot.
  
  Yeah, unfortunately, it definitely can’t happen that it takes longer than 72 hours, but it’s a good call to run it by your doctor.
  Also, there is a clear yet complex relationship between bed, sleep and headache, so seems like a good plan to explore this a little bit further.
  As for the stretch exercises, I couldn’t find the perfect video online, but there is an adequate one. I will share with some footnotes. https://youtu.be/MI9o8SOxldY
  I don’t really like the commercial tone of the video, and I have never performed stretch 2 (but number one in the slightly altered version of number three really work for me). The way I do number three differently, is that after tilting my neck sidewards, I then proceed to tilting it forward, whilst still tilted sidewards, if that makes any sense. So first tilt it all the way to the side, then proceed to rolling it forward without tilting it back to center. While doing this pay attention to the shoulder on the other side, making sure you are not lifting it. You should feel the stretch on the side you’re not tilting to. Feel free to send me a PM if you still have questions about it.

Sleep, water, better eye glasses. And maybe coffee, but only if you already regularly drink it.
- Fortunately and unfortunately I am working on all of those. I keep my eyeglass prescription up to date, I drink water (though I could probably drink more), and I am going to see about getting a sleep study done because I am bad at sleeping. Coffee I try not to drink too much of, but I can always ramp that up too.

My wife has a few things she tries - success varies from migraine to migraine....
She has flexible ice pack hats she keeps in the freezer.
She chugs water.
She chugs caffeine.
She smokes/eats weed.
She takes a caffeine pill, l-theanine (for caffeine jitters), acetaminophen, and ibuprofen and tries to nap before they kick in.
She does the usual dark room, no screens thing.
Good luck! I hope you find some relief soon :)
- This is pretty much my list as well, sans the weed because my sense of smell is too sensitive during a migraine. The ice packs are the thing that pushes me over into recovery territory.
  You don't need anything fancy, get 2 gallon baggies, fill one about halfway with ice, add a little water, and then seal it up inside the 2nd baggie. I rest my head on it like a pillow but i have a lot of hair that acts a buffer. If it's too cold, wrap it in a thin kitchen towel.
  Then I let time and rest do its thing. If the ice has melted and the migraine isn't gone, I make another bag.
- Someone else mentioned the ice packs, which besides the weed is the main thing from that list I haven't really tried already. I'll have to give that a try since I do have some ice packs in the freezer...not sure why I haven't thought to try it. I'll probably pass on the weed though. Between legal issues with it where I live and just overall poor experiences in the past with it, just doesn't sound appealing. Glad it helps your wife though!
  And fortunately I was able to get in touch with my neurologist, who set me up with a round of prednisone. That seems to be helping, which is a huge relief.
  
  So happy to hear that you're getting some relief :) and I hope the ice packs help! Good luck to you, friend.

I'm struggling with headache for decades now. I was also obese for the most part of my life, and doctors always blamed it on obesity since MRI scans didn't show anything (thankfully).
When I lost weight I went to a neurologist and he put me on migraine meds which didn't help.
A few months after contracting covid in February 2023, my headaches got worse, so I went to a neurologist, doing an MRI again, which, as hoped and expected, showed nothing. So the doc put me on Amitriptyline, 5mg the first week, then 10mg.
The 5mg already showed successful results for 6 days... I was in a better mood, and I haden't felt any headaches except for the last day. I'm now on 10mg and I hope to go through summer without any headaches.
In any case, go see a doctor.
- Right there with you on putting up with them for decades. It is no fun. And I'm a little overweight too which probably doesn't help.
  I've been on amitriptyline for a couple years, now at 30mg. In the very beginning it was helpful, but then it stopped helping so they added Aimovig which has been a godsend. Went from having headaches and migraines almost daily to only a couple times a month. Every now and then I get a nasty one that comes through though.
  Fortunately I called up my neurologist who put me on a round of prednisone and that seems to be helping a bit.
  
  Aimovig was a godsend for me too, taking me from a couple of migraines a week down to once a month if I was unlucky. I've since swapped to emgality, due to insurance coverage, and now they've stopped pretty much entirely. I don't know if it's a difference between the medications, or a change in my migraine pattern. Have you tried any of the other injectable meds?

Might sound kinda dumb, but try dumping a bucket of (ice) cold water on your head.
The trick is to dump all the water at once and not gradually to get your body into a "I'm being attacked by lions!" state.
This is for instant relief. For gradual improvement try increasing your daily water intake - set reminders to drink a glass or two during the day and drink right before going to sleep and right after waking up.
Source: inherited migraines from my grandma and started getting them regularly around my teens.
Doing the above has made me nearly migraine-free except for when there's drastic weather changes (when I get them with auras and everything 😵‍💫).
Good luck!
- I put my head under the tap with the coldest water. Inlet it run over my the base of my skull for minutes at a time. Within an hour, it was gone. I was shivering, but didn’t give s shit.
  It was a shit-kicker of a migraine too. Day and a half before I tried the cold water thing. Puking. Sight-loss. Bad!
- I'll have to give that a try. Seems like something that could be easily done. I'm currently on a round of prednisone per my doctor and it seems to be helping, but given it sometimes takes a bit for her to get back to me, this seems like something that can be done a bit faster. Appreciate it!

See a doctor. My migraines were cured by taking an anti seizure medication for 3 years. That was 45 years ago. Haven’t had one since
- I'm glad that worked for you! I tried a dozen different drugs before Aimovig, which is a CGRP inhibitor, biologic drug with only a handful of variants thats fairly recent. Everything else I tried (including beta blockers and an antiseizure medication) did nothing for my migraines and all had bad side effects. It's a monthly injection I give myself, but it reduced the frequency of my migraines by 62% and severity by almost 80%.
  I missed a dose last year (thanks VA), and I had the second worst migraine of my life, so definitely not cured. Fantastic preventative though.
  
  I hope you find a fix. They are brutal to deal with
- I've actually been going to a neurologist, so it's funny you mention that. I used to have seizures as a kid and was prescribed keppra for them. I don't recall them having an impact on my migraines then, but maybe others could help there. I'm on Aimovig now which has helped immensely, but every now and then a nasty one like this comes through, so they're looking at upping the dose.
  I ended up calling my neurologist and they put me on a round of prednisone which seems to be helping knock this one out.
  
  I was described Dilantin. Apparently my migraines were actual seizures.

I have migraines a lot like that too. My doctor won't help with them so I've never tried prescription stuff for it, but otherwise, all the stuff people have suggested has helped me. I also have one other thing that sounds like totalll woo-woo "The Secret" style nonsense, but helps for some reason. I imagine my migraine as a jumble of tangled knots, and imagine very gently untangling them. It's tricky because focusing too hard on it (or on anything really) just makes the migraine worse. I have to kind of do it in the lowest effort way possible. But when it works, it really really works! Almost immediately. My hypothesis is that what I'm actually doing is untensing a bunch of tense muscles in my face/neck/temples/etc that I don't seem to have much conscious control over.
- Hmm...this almost makes me think it is acting like a sort of meditation. Given migraines can be triggered by stress, and in particular (after doing a little googling on my own) these long, persistent headaches seem to be linked to stress, I could see that being useful. I'll have to give it a try. Thank you!

Everything everyone else said, but to really point out, if this headache is out of the norm for you GO TO A DOCTOR. I don't mean to freak you out but my mom instilled that in me from early on. Headaches and migraines happen, but it you get a new type, a weird spot, or they last longer, or anything weird or different get it checked out asap.
I've known 2 people personally who have had aneurysms, 1 was lucky, the other not. Get it checked out to be safe.
- Fortunately I have been going to a neurologist for a while for these migraines and headaches. I'm on a couple different medications to help keep them in check, and fortunately I've had MRIs, EEGs and other tests to rule out potential major problems. I called her up this morning to check with her about it, and she set me up with prednisone which seems to be helping to knock it.
  Unfortunately this isn't even the longest lasting one I've had. That would be about 10 days, and that was miserable, so there is more work to be done to get it better under control.
  
  Good, I'm sorry for the migraines, I know how bad they can be, but good on you for getting it checked out. First friend was in high school, got a sudden headache and just took a lot of aspirin, he didn't make it through the night. Second collapsed in the shower and his dog ran to get his wife as she was stepping out the door, made it to surgery within minutes of it being fatal. I always encourage people to get new and weird headaches checked out.

I’ve had migraines for 8+ years now. I’m fortunate enough to have free healthcare. So, I’ve been working with a neurologist for 2.5 years now.
Their advice for migraines that last longer than 24 hours is to go to the ER. The ER will give you a migraine concoction to stop the migraine in its tracks. They hook you up to a liquid drip for a couple hours and then you feel better. It’s worked some magic for me before. Each ER neuro’s concoction is a little different.
Reason for going in after 24 hours (as they’ve explained it to me), is that your body gets stuck almost reacting to itself.
(Think: Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself? Except, it’s your brain and it can’t stop.)
Even if you make it through this long-ass migraine (with the mentality of “mind over matter, I can handle anything”), you’ve just made yourself more susceptible to another long-ass migraine by allowing this one to last longer.
Basically, by helping your body to shorten your migraines, you’re helping to break your body’s cycle and acceptance of long migraines. You’re helping it to realize that “hitting itself” is dumb, and it stops.
Anyway - this is my understanding of it. But, I’m not a professional.
Working with my neurologist (plus loads of meds) has helped cut the length of my multi-day migraines down as well as their frequency and severity. Hope this helps you a little bit too!
So, if you can afford it, I recommend popping in to the ER for a bag or two of magic from the docs there.
If you can’t, then I recommend trying an over the counter pain medication (in addition to caffeine). If you take pain meds fairly often, then I like to switch it up, so my system has something different to try and hasn’t gotten used to it. Just remember to take the correct dosage and don’t mix with others to accidentally OD.
- Unfortunately I live in the US, where healthcare is considered a luxury. I could go on a full rant about that, and in college even wrote an essay on the subject. Fortunately, my health insurance is actually decent, so I could go to the ER if I wanted.
  The logic makes sense though - basically a positive feedback loop, and you need to break the loop. In this case, I called up my neurologist, who hooked me up with a round of prednisone, and that seems to be helping. I'll keep that in mind though for the future. Never thought a migraine was worth an ER visit, but hey if they can help too then why not.
  
  Yeah, I live in the US too. I’m in the military though, so we get free healthcare. I genuinely appreciate the luxury of it and am a fierce advocate of free healthcare for the rest of the US too. I’ve spent sometime overseas and just marveled at the lack of stress other countries’ citizens have with regard to their access to healthcare. We deserve that too.
  I’m so glad you have decent healthcare and access to the ER. It’s definitely worth the trip! The best metaphor I can think of is going to your aunt’s house to use her pool on a hot, summer day. You still have to do the travel (wait a little in the waiting room), and it takes a bit to get there (for the meds to work), but once you jump in the pool (once the meds actually work), it’s such a relief and well worth it.
  Here’s hoping you don’t experience a migraine like this for a while though, and it just remains a tool in your tool bag!

I've never had one last that long, so I second commenters saying to check in with a doctor. However, my go-tos are caffeine (usually chilled cola), paracetamol and ibuprofen, placing a cold wet cloth over my eyes and/or the back of my neck. In addition to darkness and quiet, of course. This regimen doesn't make my migraines go away, but it takes the edge off and makes them more bearable. I hope any of this helps you out, good luck!
- You'll be happy to know I did check in with my neurologist, and she prescribed me a round of prednisone that seems to be helping. I did try most of those outside of the cold wet cloth. Others have mentioned ice packs, so between those, that all sounds like something that could be easily tried in the future. Thank you for that!
  
  No problem, I'm glad you've found something that helps!

I've had good results from taking baths. My migraines are a bit weird but a bath often helps me quickly.
- Sounds simple but yeah same here
- I could at the very least see it being relaxing, which would help reduce stress which in theory could help. Do you just run a bath and get in, or do you put any special bath stuff in it? I'm more of a shower person, myself, so as silly as this sounds I don't know how to prepare the "optimal" bath lol.
- My chemistry teacher taught me a trick that knocks the pain back for a little bit - cold head and hot hands. Basically, cool my head down with ice wrapped in a small wet towel, while heating my hands up somehow. It's supposed to pull the blood away from your head which lessens the pain.

Oh no!
If you are not puking:
Water with electrolytes, dried cherries, and also sex with orgasm (or close to it) can help. A hot bath with ice cold cloths for your head.
But "status migraine" like that, for me at least, always involved so much vomiting that it got dangerous, has only happened maybe 6 times in the 40 years I have gotten occasional migraine, and has never stopped without emergency treatment. Heavy doses of opioids and promethazine, by injection, then sleep, is the only thing that really worked (the drugs don't really break it just put you far enough away that you can stop.) This treatment worked every time for me but is no longer available. Now the protocol is some cocktail of liquid, electrolytes, Reglan, ibuprofen, and Benadryl. Which is slow and doesn't really work but can stop the vomiting and make it less intense at least, and prevent the serious consequences of dehydration.
- Fortunately I haven't been puking, but got pretty close. I'm mostly recovered now but I'll have to keep that in mind. The doctor set me up on a round of prednisone and that seems to be knocking it.
  I've only had these kinds of migraines a handful of times and fortunately they've gone away on their own, though I had one that was like 10 days (which I know because it made me break down and download a migraine tracker). That was brutal. Figured after that one, and seeing that this one was taking its time I decided to call the doc, though I might just try the ER next time to see if they can do something even quicker.

Caffeine can help. What really helped me was I started using cannabis to treat anxiety years ago. It ended up curing my migraines at the same time, which was a pretty nice surprise. I went from having 2-3 a week to 1-2 a year (and with way lessened symptoms).
- I tried cannabis several years ago (not for headaches, but recreationally with a friend) and unfortunately I didn't have a good experience with it. Could have just been bad timing, but I ended up actually getting a nasty headache with it. Unfortunately it is also illegal here, but maybe if that changes I can give it another shot.
  
  Maybe give some full spectrum CBD tincture a try first (legal almost everywhere, including all states). CBD can lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels. Which can prevent migraines somehow (maybe similar to getting more oxygen into your brain, some migraine medications work that way too).
  Different strains can make a huge difference if you ever try it again. Most sativa's give me a headache, even in edible form, so I avoid them. A few indica strains work really well for me and I microdose every day with those.
  Hope you find something that works well for you. Migraines suck.

Hormones sometimes trigger migraines. I don't know your sex and age, but you happen to be going through menopause this could be related.
I know this isn't helpful but if ot keeps happening it's something I would ask my doctor- to check my hormones are okay. And yes you can have hormones out of whack if you are male too.
- Fortunately/unfortunately I can confirm that it would be bizarre if I had menopause as I am both too male and a tad too young for that. 😆 Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get hormone levels checked though, if for no other reason than to help identify a potential root cause.

Taking a hot or cold shower, depending upon which temperature helps.
A little Lavender essential oil on the temples or back of the neck can help slightly.
I find magnesium glycinate to be helpful as well and may help yours if tension is a trigger for you.
The only medication that I've really found helpful is sumatriptan. It's more helpful stopping a migraine just as symptoms start, but can still help once a migraine develops.
A massage gun can help knock out some tension around your shoulders, as well as breathing exercises. Here's one that I find helpful. Sit up straight and tall (if you're able) and take deep tummy breaths let your tummy relax and allow the breath to go down there instead of just to your chest. After a couple breaths, feel your diaphragm (located just below your rib cage) lower as your lungs expand and raise up as you exhale, then in the next few breaths notice your neck slowly expand and contract with each breath, then turn your attention to your sinuses slightly expand and contract, and finally for the last few breaths feel the top of your head raise slightly with each breath. This should help provide a sense of calm, I like to picture that calm as either a serene place in nature or you can think of it as light. Then notice a spot on your body holding tension and lightly press it with a finger. Then imagine that same serene natural location or light entering that tense spot and take a few deep breaths. With enough mental focus putting that peaceful place into the ball of tension, it will release.
That breathing exercise doesn't immediately knock out a migraine always for me, but makes them a lot more bearable and can shorten the length of the migraine.
A roommate of mine suggested taking a prebiotic called acidophilus for nauseau and seemed to help with that symptom.
If light or screens are a trigger for you, I have found that glasses lenses with FL-41 tint to be helpful. You can find some at theraspecs and they offer both prescription and non-prescription glasses and sunglasses.
- Oh, I forgot! One doctor also gave me a script to have IV magnesium and IV medication to help with migraines. It was very helpful if you can get a script and have somewhere nearby that you can go.
- I second all of this, also recommend talking to your neurologist about Aimovig or other CGRP inhibitors, literally life-changing for me. 62% reduction in frequency and close to 80% reduction in severity of my migraines.
  Before Aimovig, I ended up in the hospital with the worst migraine of my life. They gave me a cocktail of drugs that did absolutely fuckall for the pain and released me, just made it feel like every muscle in my body tightened up, which made the migraine pain even worse. The next day, I took sumatriptan and max dose of Tylenol, waited about 6 hours and did it again. Repeat a few more times and it got down to a manageable level, but I was out of commission for a week and a half before I felt anywhere close to normal.
  I tried ubrelvy too, but it wasn't particularly effective for me
  
  Funnily enough, I'm actually on Aimovig now. 70mg, likely looking at upping the dose. For the most part, it has been a game changer. I used to get migraines and headaches nearly daily. Now it's down to a couple times a month, typically pretty minor compared to how it's been. It's just that every now and then a particularly bad one comes in.
  This may be surprising, but this isn't even the worst one I've had on Aimovig. That would have been end of February into early March, when I ended up with a migraine that lasted almost 10 days. That was brutal! They told me then that they could have given me prednisone to help break it if I had mentioned it sooner. So this time I did, and it seems to be helping. Hopefully once we up the dose of the Aimovig, these particularly nasty migraines fall off.
  As for the sumatriptan...unfortunately that doesn't seem to work for me, hence the Ubrelvy which is what made us look into Aimovig as it's also a CGRP inhibitor. Typically the Ubrelvy works if I take it like you mentioned with the sumatriptan, but during these particularly nasty ones it only seems to take the edge off.
- Wow, a lot of things I can try here, I appreciate it! Normally I take hot showers, but trying a cold shower sounds easy enough.
  The lavender sounds lovely since I like the smell anyway, so I'd be happy to give it a try! Do you have any that you would recommend?
  Unfortunately sumatriptan is a no-go for me...I previously took that before I took the Ubrelvy, but it was mostly ineffective for me. The Ubrelvy typically helps, but in the most severe cases like this one it doesn't seem to. Fortunately the prednisone the doc prescribed seems to be helping, though that seems like a last resort type of thing from what I can tell due to the potential for some nasty problems.
  I'll have to save this tough...there's a ton here for me to try. Thank you very much!
  
  I hope that some of my suggestions help! Hang in there!
  
  I like the Lavender essential oil that I bought from Whole Foods the most, as far as smell. It's not going to knock out the migraine but it does help take the edge off.
  I've also used peppermint before and although it didn't help me quite as much, it has helped other people I know. The peppermint is much stronger than Lavender, so I only rub a drop of peppermint oil on the back of my neck. One time, I put peppermint on my temples and it was so overwhelming that it made my eyes water.

I don’t get migraines but just pretty bad headaches and what helps me is staying in a dark room, putting an ice pack on my forehead and using a peppermint essential oil roller on my forehead and temples and then a muscle balm on my neck because often my neck muscles stiffen and that tends to make the headaches worse.
I hope your migraine lessens soon!
- Yeah, I hear you. Typically for me my migraines manifest as just really bad headaches and a complete inability to focus, and last for a few hours. Like what the other person said, if it is reacting to light, it's probably a migraine.
  I've heard of those peppermint rollers being useful before. Do you happen to have any you recommend? I can see about looking into getting one.
  
  I make them myself! I buy the best peppermint essential oil I can find and I have some aromatherapy rollers on Amazon.
  Then I add 5 to 10 drops of the oil to the bottle, top it off with almond oil or something like that and then put on the roller top. Put on the lid, and shake it and then remove the top. Roll it on your hand and check the scent, opening it up if the roller needs more and then I roll it on my forehead and temples when needed.
  And I might have migraines then because I can’t stand light when the headaches strike.
- That sounds like migraines to me, based on what my doctor said. She said that headaches don't really react to light changes, don't normally react to ice packs, and don't usually come with neck or back pains. Migraines, on the other hand, almost always do.
  Did you know that some migraines are painless? I had no idea!
  
  Wow, I had no idea! I was diagnosed with headaches due to wrong posture and wrong lens prescription as a child and I never had it checked afterwards, even though the headaches remained. I just did the exercises my physical therapist prescribed and had my lenses checked every year.
  I just accepted the headaches as something I sometimes get and didn’t think it was anything worse, also because my younger brother has migraines and he has vision-like symptoms, I don’t. Figured that meant I didn’t have migraines.
  I have all those things you mention. And no, had no ideas they can be painless! How weird is that! I see a lot of reading in my future and a talk with my doctor.
  Thank you so much for your comment, it might help me get the right diagnosis for my life long headaches.

If you have access to LSD you can try a microdose of it. Just put one or 2 hits in a pint jar of water, shake it up really good, and take a sip to a shot. Don't overdo it, if it doesn't work you don't want to be tripping with a migraine. It's never failed me though.
- I've seen this mentioned in other places too. Unfortunately like with weed, there is the legal issue of that where I live, but beyond that honestly I am a little reluctant to try it as I'm a bit of a control freak lol. I think that is something I would prefer to try in a very controlled environment first before jumping into it with a migraine. Appreciate the recommendation though!
  
  Well I was talking more about a microdose. Taking a tiny fraction of the amount required to actually trip. You don't get high at all from it.
  Either way, I hope you've recovered from your migraine!

Cold head wrap in a dark and quiet room. The wrap ideally covers your eyes too.
- I've seen a couple others that have mentioned some other variation of this, and it seems simple enough. I'll have to give it a shot. Thank you!

I get migraines triggered from sinus pressure. Do you know what triggers yours?
Because mine are often from sinus issues, treating that will often help relieve or prevent the migraines. Tylenol Sinus and Allegra D have been the two things that really work for me, depending on the situation.
Post Covid had me congested for several months, accompanied by a constant baseline headache and migraines every other day. Allegra D was really a godsend that got me through that time.
In any case, best of luck, I hope you find some relief!
- I know of a couple triggers for mine, but there are definitely others out there. I've been using the N-1 Headache app to track them to try to find a more comprehensive list of triggers though.
  Fortunately my neurologist hooked me up with a round of prednisone and that is helping a bit, thank you!

I've had intractable migraine pain, and yes I've seen the docs, have meds (that usually knock it out) but sometimes a head massage is needed, especially if you've been stressed for a while.
The temple areas, as well as big muscles in your neck on either side of the spine. I'm lucky my wife seems to know the exact pressure points to hit.
That's more of a tension headache fix, but sometimes its part of it.
Being a long term patient of neurologists (migraines, seizures) and having a wife who works in neurology I tend to believe the doctor she worked with who stated that once you have migraines, all headaches are a migraine clinically. They're just more or lwwa debilitating based on severity.
- Being a long term patient of neurologists (migraines, seizures) and having a wife who works in neurology I tend to believe the doctor she worked with who stated that once you have migraines, all headaches are a migraine clinically. They’re just more or lwwa debilitating based on severity.
  Interesting, I've always categorized them by whether they go away from standard painkillers or if I need to use rizatriptan. Migraines are much more frequent for me than normal headaches but I still do have ones that go away when I take some tylenol or ibuprofen. I've been lucky so far that my migraines almost always go away after 1 rizatriptan, and I've never had one make it past a second one.
  
  If you think that's ingesting, look into silent migraines.
  Essentially, you get all the physiological issues with migraines except the pain.
  So being sensitive to light and sound, loud noises, nausea, the whole shebang, just no pain.
  Also, interesting bit of theory, in Alice in Wonderland, the growing/shrinking and dilation of space is thought to be a side effect of migraines and its thought the author suffered from them.
  Its actually called Alice in Wonderland syndrome.
  I've experiened it myself, if your heads been fucky and seems like that hallway got longer, or that road got shorter, it could be a side effect of a migraine.
  
  That's my diagnostic tool as well. My GO told me to use the rizatriptan as my first medicine, so if that doesn't kill it then I know it's not a migraine.
- Might have to ask my SO to try giving a head massage to see if that would help me. I'm not normally a massage person, but hey if it can help then I'm all for giving it a shot.
  And yeah...I've been putting up with migraines and headaches for...maybe 20 years now? Typically I can knock them with some combination of excedrin migraine and Ubrelvy, and have a couple different preventatives, but sometimes I get nasty, persistent ones that just wanna hang around for a while. My neurology basically said to treat them all as migraines, even the headaches that can be wildly different in their manifestation.

Microwaved damp towel. Hot as I can take it. Meds don't do jack all once it's started. (Edit: cluster headache.)
- Ouch. I've never had cluster headaches (that I'm aware of) but I know a guy that gets them. Sounds absolutely awful. You have my sympathies.
  
  Appreciate it;)

Tums. (If it is indigestion caused). Rose colored glasses
- I didn't take tums specifically for the nausea, but rather pepto bismol. Didn't really help though...might have to try tums next time though.
  As for rose colored glasses...do you mean positivity? Or do you mean literal rose colored glasses?
  
  Acid migraines are the worst if your family has a history of ulcers or acid reflux. Tums is 10x better that Pepto if that is the cause.
  https://www.theraspecs.com/
  Those are the rose colored glasses that my wife uses. They are a general light preventative. (She can "relax" in public). Also concert earplugs like "eargasm" are something that allow focusing through the pain.
  Sometimes nerve pain in the legs like sciatic can contribute as well. If you have weird "someone hit my funnybone" pain in your legs then you could look into neural flossing. Sometimes the pain in the legs cause tension all over which makes a migraine until everything resets.
  Good luck!

Ask your doctor or medical advisor if CBD could be a possible option worth trying
Works for me, light dose before sleeping in a dark cool room
- I've heard that suggested before, and that should be much easier to get here too. Might be worth at least asking.

Weed
- Unfortunately between a bad experience I've had with it in the past and the legal issues of it where I live, I'll hold off on that for now. Might revisit it if/when the legal part changes though. Appreciate the recommendation!
- I second this. I only started smoking again a while back to stop migraines. Oddly enough, daily smoking has mostly prevented migraines from occurring.
  
  Thc and cbd don't help me, but cbg does. The oil from Lazarus naturals is good.

Methylation vitamins like B2
- I do take a multivitamin that does have some B vitamins in it.
  Err...correction. I did take a multivitamin, but apparently I ran out and never picked up more. Checked after I started typing. So maybe I should see about picking up either B vitamins or multivitamins.
  
  My b2 says 100mg daily is used for migraines, maybe read into that

I get chronic migraines that are usually triggered by certain foods, stress, lack of sleep, excessive drinking, and I also seem to get them when it's most inconvenient. My go-to fix if i catch one comeing on is to pound an energy drink, take some tylenol and go take a nap. This works everytime as long as i catch it early. Like 30mins into feeling my headhurts but before it progresses into a knife in my brain.
How soon do you medicate after feeling a migraine start?
- Typically I medicate within an hour of symptoms coming up. I've dealt with headaches and migraines for a rather long time, so I've learned not to mess around when they start to pop up. And typically it helps, but every now and then I get one that is rather persistent.

I'm currently on a preventative medication called Vyepti and 5 mg nasal zolmitriptan for those pop-up cases.
Those two medications have literally changed my life, I went from 8 - 10 absolutely crippling migraines to 3 - 4 easily saved off with a dose of zolmitriptan.
- Good to hear those are helping you! I'm actually on a couple preventatives currently, Aimovig 70mg and Amitriptyline 30mg, and then Ubrelvy for those pop-up cases as needed. They haven't been perfect, but pretty awesome. I used to have headaches and/or migraines almost daily. Now I am down to maybe a couple times a month, and typically much less severe. Looking at upping the dose of the Aimovig as that has had the biggest impact. Hopefully doing so will help even further reduce it all.
  
  Yes, much like you I had crippling migraines nearly everyday. I dtried Amitriptyline but it really didn't help. Switched to topiramate which improved things dramatically but the long term side effects of that were unbearable. Then moved to Vyepti about two months ago.

Cold damp towel on my face gives instant relief. Best if you have someone who can rinse it for you every 10 minutes to keep it cold
- Yeah, I've seen this mentioned in a couple other comments, as well as ice packs. Seems simple enough that I'll have to give it a try. Thank you!
- My mum found an ice pack shaped like a ski mask that covers my eyes, it's magic for this. It's black so it blocks out the light and has that ice pack gel in it so if you get it cold it stays cold for quite a while.
  
  That sounds amazing!

I love one of those flexible blue gel ice packs sitting on the top of the head. I have a few, as soon as one starts to melt, I use another. I find the feeling invigorating and almost orgasmic. I don't think freezing the brain is harmful ...
- Hey, I imagine freezing the brain would be much more pleasant than the alternatives. I have a couple of those ice packs right now sitting in the freezer. I should give them a try!

Induce vomiting if possible. I find that provides some relief.
- I almost didn't even need to induce vomiting. I try to avoid it because I absolutely HATE it, but I can see where that would likely have made me feel a little better.

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