Painkillers

Gagajo you can buy paracetamol & codeine from a chemist’s, if you think you’d benefit. I’ve never got hooked on them, it never crosses my mind to take a tablet unless I have a headache.

Monica I’ve had migraines since I was eleven. I am still waiting to grow out of them, as I was assured would happen when my mum took me to the doctor the first time. ?

I have sumatriptan on repeat prescription. I take one at the first sign of aura. Years ago I would have full blown migraines with an excruciating headache. The only way I could deal with it, before the advent of sumatriptan, was to take a couple of paracetamol when the aura started. The headache then wasn’t so awful.

I have sumatriptan for when I think I’m in for a humdinger. I can usually tell how it’s going to pan out so only take them when I am pretty sure it’ll be unbearable. That’s often when my nose or my ear hurt.

MOnica, and Humpty,
thank you for that information. i think you've convinced me, from your personal experience and knowledge.
i am quite surprised. i can remember once or twice ringing in sick at work, as migraine, and feeling rather remiss, but thinking well i cant say i've got one of my heads and feel a bit under the weather, so i'll just put it down as migraine, as being in the same neck of the woods roughly.
but i thought it's not really migraine, that's far worse.
so perhaps i wasn't remiss after all. or did i develop it as poetic justice for ramping up one of my heads...
anyway, i've noticed that the tablet works best if i take it at the first hint of one of my heads, rather than trying to brazen it out.
hope you have found a way to cope with yours.
i've always felt sympathy for people who suffer migraines, but never thought i was one of them.
it's strange how what we think of ourselves, our assumptions, influence many aspects of living, of our individual lives.
and those assumptions may be incorrect. has been with me.
you two have changed my view of myself in one regard; who'd have thunk it, at this late stage, and by people i've never met. food for thought.
thank you.

welbeck Thank you for that. yes, I too have had an eureka momen like that, from a chance remark and found it makes everything fall in place.

I too am another one, who has been told that that caffeine helps speed up the effects of painkillers, but to take Coca Cola or Pepsi , as I don't like coffee!

I’ve had migraines for years- about monthly. Have taken all sorts of prescribed drugs over the years.
Dr at vaccine centre told me to try 3 aspirins instead. Works for me with no side effects at all. Haven’t had to top up 4 hours later either. Simple and cheap solution if you can tolerate Asprin

Many years ago, I accompanied one of my adult children to a specialist migtraine clinic. She used to have three day long migraines during which she just stayed curled up in foetus position in a dark room. Any light or movement made her vomit. He then partner telephoned me on one occasion in a panic as he was certain she was dying and did not know what to do.

Think they were the only Migraine Clinic (this was in Central london). But th is was thirty years ago, so do not know if there are others now.

One of their advice was that most migraine sufferers do have some sort of very early warning system. For my daughter is was that she would start to yawn a lot. ( Different people have different signs - although this yawning is a fairely common one)., She was told that this was the ONLY real time to take medication, as once the migraine got going the stomach would close down so anything she took orally then would just make her sick.

With that early warning, and specialist medication she is now able to control these migraines and they rarely now last longer than twelve hours. She also discovered that such attacks were often when she was about to have/having a period.

Yes, a GP once told me about the stomach thing. He advised taking a HUGE dose of pain killers to try to overcome it, but I would never do that and annoyed him by querying it at the time.

Echo what others have said about Sumatriptan, Gagajo I still get nasty migraines after menopause and have tried many things that my doctor and the neurologist prescribed over the decades but triptans are the only things that work. Still feels like a miracle to me!

I also have a Rizatriptan prescription because they melt under my tongue and can be used if I need it to work faster to avoid getting physically ill. Nothing works if you can't keep it down, right? I also take one Tylenol 3 (acetaminophen w/codeine) tablet.

Then I lay down, head on a gelled ice pack covered w/cloth. 95% of the time this works quite well within ~ an hour! I've avoided any trips to the emergency room for a couple of years now and have only had a few that kept me in bed all day and night because I couldn't keep the meds down. Quick and early use of the triptans seems to be the key!

Capsules rather than tablets work quicker

It amazes me how the time taken before painkillers work does vary so much. I always eat something, usually cornflakes, after taking them, then wait a while before doing anything which might upset my back. I willl try the coffee suggestion, thanks.

I recommend this website for info on migraine. Migraine can take many forms, it’s not necessarily just a headache.

migrainetrust.org/

I've been laid out with a headache/migraine, whatever it is for most of today. I took pills about 3 hours ago and it is hugely improved. Bearable now, but still not totally gone.

Thankfully, I'm not working and also thankfully DGS had plans with his mum today, so I really am not missing anything. Not a big issue, to have a lazy day. I'm just grateful it isn't a killer migraine like those I used to have.

To get it to this level, I have taken 2 X paracetamol & codeine. 4 X ibuprofen. 1 X omeprazole (because the ibuprofen will damage my stomach otherwise). 1 X decongestant (because hay fever).

I don't like being a walking pharmacy, but if I hadn't knocked it on the head with drugs, I would have been ill for at least 2 days.

Sounds as if you've done the right thing GagaJo!
Enjoy the peace while you can.

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Bdiapers

Meet your consultant and take advise please

That isn't possible. I've been to the docs off and on for 35 years about it. No resolution or answers.

Sometimes in life we just have to live with health issues.