Can you help me?

Hello, and welcome to MyMigraineConnection.com!

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.

One of the first steps is to get an accurate diagnosis.Headache and Migraine are different things. Confusing I know, but Migraine disease is a genetic neurological disease that has flare ups called Migraine attacks. These can be triggered by lots of different things from changing weather and fluroescent lighting to food tirggers like chocolate and red wine. Here are two links, one for patient recommended headache specialists you may want to investigate and another about Migraine triggers:

http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/headache-specialists.html

http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/triggers.html

Don't lose hope on the medication front. In addition to triptans, which abort a Migraine attack (the seven include - Frova, Imitrex, Amerge, Maxalt, Axert, Zomig and Replax), there are over 100 medications used for Migraine prevention that are taken daily without sedation. Sometimes when starting a new medication our bodies may become a bit drowsy (but not with ALL meds) but that can go away as we get used to the medication. It may take up to 8 weeks or so to adjust to the med. This link has lot of info on preventive meds:

http://www.helpforheadaches.com/articles/prev-meds.htm

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. We hope to see you there.

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, MyMigraineConnection.com.

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them to the forum or send me a message through my profile.

Welcome again,

Nancy Bonk

MyMigraineConnection.com Expert

PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!

I find it strange to hear you have that side effect from Imitrex. I have never felt sedated from a triptan... although I do get a little tired after the migraine is aborted... and a little mentally dull as well. Imitrex always hit me like a wall, with trmebling and heart palipatations (well the Imitrex shots anyway). Since triptans are an excellent first line attack on migraines I would suggest you try a different one, since when they work they are a real blessing. Maxalt and Amerge worked well for me and with less side effects than Imitrex.

If you get frequent migraines you might want to discuss your preventative choices with your neuro. Some can cause fatigue and mental fatigue, but others won't have that effect. It is really trial and error, with weighing the side effects with the benifits.

I hope you find something that helps you.