I am new to this website and am really thankful to have found it. I have been seeing a HA specialist for 2.5 years and switched to a new one yesterday. The only thing that they prescribe are preventatives and abortives. I have tried all of the triptans with no success. I currently use Migranal Nasal Spray with varied success. In the hospital the only thing that I have ever been given has been IV DHE, high dose steroids, iv depakote, and iv toradol. The DHE has helped at times and the steroids have helped at other times. By my first HA specialist, I was told that at the onset of a migraine I should take the Migranal, 800mg of ibuprofen, 8mgs of Zanflex, 50mgs of Benadryl, and 25mgs of Phenergan 2-3X a day. I was told that I couldn't use this "cocktail" more than 3 times a week. Yesterday, the new doc said no more ibuprofen, no benadryl, 1 pill of Zanflex 2x a week and I forget what she said about the Phenergan. The Migranal is ok. Of all the times that I have been to the ER in the past 2.5 years I have only had something stronger than Toradol 1 time and that was last weekend. They have always started with toradol (which is like spitting in the wind). Then I have always ended in being admitted and getting IV DHE which at times brings the HA down, but never completely got rid of it. I got Toradol and a dose of dilaudid on Sunday. It took it away for about 3 hours and then it came back with a vengence. Never once in the 2.5 years at the other doc did I ask for pain meds. I am afraid to ask now, because I don't want to look like a "drug seeker". I have been in this migraine cycle for 2.5 weeks now. I have tried 3 day taper dose of decadron with no success and a 3 day dose of metherigine with no success. Yesterday the new doc put me on a 6 day taper of high dose prednisone and magnesium and upped my dose of namenda and put me on verapamil. I am praying that being stripped off of the meds that were causing MOH (ones that I had no clue would - who thought ibuprofen 3X a week would?) and being on prednisone and upping and adding new preventatives will kick me out of this. The doc said the prednisone may not do the trick. Help?
Well, taking any kind of pain medication, such as ibuprofen and/or abortive meds like Migranal Nasal spray more than two or three days a week can make matters worse by causing medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this.
Medication overuse has been shown to be a factor in 80% of cases of transformed Migraine. Stopping the medication overuse is key to stopping the transformed Migraine. You can read more about this in Stopping Medication Overuse Can Halt Transformed Migraine.