My wife has transformed migraine. Also allodynia, and dystonia of the neck (possibly aggravated by successive courses of occipital and trigeminal nerve block injections). Triptans once helped some, but no longer. Same with ergotamines. However, on two occasions during the past year while hospitalized in connection with other medical procedures she was administered propofol as anesthesia, and when she regained consciousness, her migraine was gone. And did not return for over a week -- for her, a long period of relief. Does anyone else have any experience with propofol as a migraine abortant?
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Propofol: anyone with experience?
11/16/07 9:19pm
It is interesting to hear that your wife has had relief from migraine after use of propofol. My wife has had intractable migraine for over 10 years, and the next course of treatment for her is propofol. Unfortunately, we are unable to get access to the facilities that can perform this treatment here in Canada, as it has not been approved. I am looking for alternative locations to do it at a price that we can afford.
11/19/07 1:29am
Hello, Bill,
A few observations:
Propofol is not a drug approved "on label" for migraine in the US either. However, we were able to convince our health plan that it would be cheaper for them and better medical practice to undertake administering propofol alone than as an adjunct to administering nerve block injections, which in our experience had become counter-productive. Note: propofol does not (in our experience) act as a prophylactic, but it can "break" a migraine, providing relief until the next occurs-- too soon. As of now propofol (120 - 160 mg) is the only relief available other than morphine, which brings its own problems. Also a study has just been concluded at the University of Alberta on propofol for daily headache. Results have not been published but the protocol can be found at clinicaltrials.gov; search for propofol AND headache.
9/19/09 9:03pm
I have had several bouts of this, a shot every 2 weeks during a 2 month time. It helped alot but, I became stupid and didn't follow doctors orders of not having other doctors treating me with narcotics. So, now that I am no longer doing the shots, I am back to the same old migraines. So, this is just a short term helper.
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Teri