Hello All,
I am not a Doctor; I am a patient. With my migraines I lose 90% sight in both eyes...meaning you could hold a number in front of me, and I could see your outline like in a shadow form, but I can't see the number of fingers. Sometimes loss of sight is in major block form, and sometimes it's like someone wiped mud over my windows (eyes), and I'm looking through. I get the major headache. I usually have to go home for the rest of the day...I don't know how, but I sleep for hours following. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to a migraine. I don't think I have controllable triggers. On a good note, I normally do not vomit.
I've tried a few things...here goes...
Preventative:
I have tried Topamax. It made me very dizzy and hot. I still got migraines.
I tried Depakote. It made me tired with less energy. It reduced my migraines by more than half for a long time. I steadily increased doses as my migraines peaked back up. This one worked the best compared to Topamax.
Birth control pills...didn't see a huge difference between with or without.
Putting the fire out:
I hate Imitrex, but my co-worker swears by it. For me, my head feels like it's on fire, not putting the fire out, and I get so exhausted I sleep for hours before I can function.
I like Maxalt, because it's the only chance I've got (50/50% chance) to function after a migraine.
Amerge is a step below Maxalt for me in terms of putting out the fire and was more expensive under my Rx plan.
I find that using a heating pad without the cover on full blast helps. My cousin swears by ice. To each our own.
I send the link below to people that surround me to help explain the situation. Remember, "Migraine is a disease." http://www.migraines.org/myth/mythreal.htm
Hope this helps. You are not alone in this battle. God bless.


Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!
Thank you for sharing that with us Mandy. Here is one of our quizes you may be interesed in taking on the very same topic; Dispelling Migraine Myths
Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.
We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.
Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com. Under the Find, Manage, and Connect tabs at the top of each page, you'll find a wealth of information - educational articles, tips, quizzes, workbooks, support and advocacy information, and more.
Do you have questions about Migraine? There are three ways to get answers - through our Ask the Clinician column, in our community Question and Answer Section, or through our forum. Just go to our Migraine Answers page HERE.
Our email newsletter will help you stay up-to-date on Migraine and headache news and new information published on MyMigraineConnection. To receive our newsletter, click the "Sign up now!" link in the navigation bar across the top of our site pages or simply click HERE.
Welcome again,
Nancy Bonk
MyMigraineConnection.com Community Manager
PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!