Chronic daily Migraines

I have suffered from migraines since I was a young child.. When I was around 16yrs old or so, the Doctor had a cat scan done.. I guess this was to make sure nothing was wrong in my head.. All they came to the conclusion was.. You have migraines! As the person w/ the title/subject "Chronic daily headaches" states, I have been through countless medications to "Prevent" the migraines or at least make them less constant.. The only migraine pain reliever that works for me is Firoicet(sp).. My new neurologist is putting me on yet another migraine prevenative due to the Topamax I was on did not work right for me..
If anyone can help me figure out what else I can possibly do that I haven't already done... Please let me know. I have some physical limitations which prevent me from being able to excersize as I would like to..

my BF was having chronic daily migraines for the past few years. i was convinced that he was over medicated- he's been on antidepressants for 15 yrs!
with high doses of niacin (300 - 500 mg a day), he got off the antidepressants and in the last 2 months, he's had only 2 headaches. his other symptoms (muscle aches, road rage, suicidal thoughts) have disappeared as well
we are both happy

I will have to try that... thank you! I would much rather take a vitamin than medication everyday.
I also suffer from depression, PTSD, anxiety and panic disorder.. so it would be really nice to not have a everyday headache/migraine..

it has to be the flushing kind of niacin. if you take too much, your ears and face with get red and hot and prickly. don't worry, it lasts about 1/2 hr to an hour. it's unpleasant, but it won't hurt you. it will let you know that you've reached your saturation.
if you have all those other conditions, they do all respond to niacin

good luck. it has really made a huge difference in my BF's life

That is good to know.. So is there any chance of taking to much niacin? I read on the bottle that if it does that then the body is not handling it well and to either take a lower dose or not take it at all. Now I can say that I am very confused...?????....

you can do some research on Fire Your Doctor.com or Doctor Yourself.com. niacin is in many foods. there is a toxic human dose but it's so large- you would throw up long before you got to it

my BF had panic attacks, also chronic (almost daily migraines) and constant muscle aches in his arms. on top of that, he was always depressed, often had suicidal thoughts, road rage and such fuzzy thinking that he thought about going on AADD medication.
and to top it all off, he took so much tylenol & excedrin for migraines that he was trashing his stomach lining and he was put on nexium.
using niacin, it took him 2 months to wean off of the antiDs (he was on parnate & lemictal for a total of 8 pills a day). i bought him 100 mg tablets of niacin at the health food store- it has to be the flushing kind.
we started him out on 100 mg a day and built up to 500 mg a day as he reduced his antiDs.
he has now been 2 1/2 months without antiDs. he did have one panic attack when he was weaning off the drugs which really scared me. he was talking crazy, totally out of control. i said "did you take your niacin this morning?"
he had forgotten. so he hung up the phone, took a niacin and called me back within an hour and he was fine.
he has had only 2 headaches in the past 2 1/2 months- one at the beginning and one recently (but he hit his head while at work so i'm not counting that one).
consequently, his intake of tylenol and excedrin has dropped to almost zero. because of that, his stomach is better so he's stopped the nexium
he's sleeping better, thinking clearer and feeling better than he has in 15 years. he tells me everyday how grateful he is to me and that he will never be without niacin.
you should go to a site called Fire Your Doctor.com or Doctor Yourself.com where you can find a lot of information about this and other natural remedies
there is a great DVD called FoodMatters that has a lot of information
did you know that two handfuls of cashews has the same therapeutic value as a dose of prozac? i eat raw cashews all the time
anyway, my BF takes between 300 - 500 mg of flushing niacin a day (it has to be the flushing kind)- the dose is not that important. what is important is to take enough to work. profoundly depressed people might take 12,000 mg a day before they start to feel fine.
if you've taken enough to reach your saturation (whatever that may be depending on your needs) you will flush- your face and ears will get red and hot and prickly for 1/2 hr to an hour. its unpleasant but it will go away and won't hurt you. and next time, you'll know to take a bit less.
my girlfriend told me a great story of her teenage hippy days in the 70's- she took an overdose of angel dust and was lying in a drug induced stupor. someone gave her some niacin and she got hot and flushed and it essentially burned the drug right out of her and then she was fine
pretty amazing!
i'm on a crusade about this. drug companies are ruling our lives and killing us with their poisons so they can make insane profits. seeing the changes in my BF, i want to help others. i was going to break up with him because i couldn't take it anymore. but now, he is the lovely man i knew before he got involved with all these drugs

good luck!

I HAVE HAD THESE BUGGER FROM THE AGE OF 6 YEAR OLD.. I FEEL FOR ANYONE THAT HAS THEM.
I HAVE BEEN FREE OF THEM SENSE THEY PUT ME ON TOPMAX. I HAVE NOT HAD ONE IN YEARS THANK GOD... IF I HAVE A HEAD ACHE NOW IT IS FOM SINUS..
I CAN'T TELL HOW HORRIBLE IT IS TO HAVE TO GO TO AN ER TO GET A SHOT TO KNOCK YOU OUT AND HAVE THEM TO THINK YOU ARE SOME DOPE ADDICT LOOKING FOR A FIX.
I ALSO FOUND OUT I COULD HAVE NOTHING IN IT THAT HAD MSG IT WOULD TRUGGER ONE.. I SO GLAD FOR TOPMAX AND THE MAKER OF IT AND MY LIFE IS FREE OF THOSE DAM HEADACHES...

When it comes to migraines as with so many other physical issues and reactions to drugs- it is all so individually based. Migraines are at least partially inherited and in my family about 50-75% of my sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews and both my daughter and son get them. It is important to know your body and what triggers them. In my family, menstrual cycles is #1 (excluding the boys of course although my husband sometimes claims sympathic headaches), pressure changes in the weather or sinuses, illness, changing or inadequate sleep, msg. I've used pain pills with codeine (fiorinol) for years and that helps but I recently discover that axert works best for me, most of the time ( I went through trying 4 other triptan drugs that did virtually nothing). Topomax unfortunately did nothing either. I am looking forward to menopause in respect to these migraines but my advise is keep learning about your body and keep trying. And also, for the person who thinks exercise helps- it has only made it worse for myself, my daughter and more times than not, my son too. Find something that works to stop the headache as soon as it starts and that's your best bet. Good luck.

Boy oh boy you hit the nail on the head... sometimes excersize wont bother me but the more I read online, there is such a thing a excersize induced migraines.. I know I can't drink milk period, peanut butter is for the most part out also, only once in a while. honey now for some reason has started to become an issue. I know I have pollen allergies and try to keep the house as clean as I can but well its not always as clean as I would like it to be.. that is why I like the spring and fall, its not to hot or cold and the windows can be opened for fresh air..
I was briefly put on zonagran and that according to when I spoke with my pharmacist was not agreeing with me so back on topamax. Topamax keeps me out of urgent care for a shot however I still take firoicet 3-4 times a day with it at being on the topamax at 75mg.
I am so tired of being on medicines, The worst times were during the menstrual cycle.. and with having a few issues for several years, the dr and I agree that a hysterectomy was the way to go.. I ended up with a complete hysterectomy so now I am also on hormone replacement and I know that is not helping the migraine issue.