PFO Closure one year on and Propranolol

Laura

7/17/08 3:37pm

I have taken propranolol successfully for several years and have taken as low as 10 mg daily and up to 40 mg daily (split into morning and evening doses) and found that it helped cut back the number of migraines per month and it lessened the severity of the migraines. I am taking a break from the meds for the summer as the weather is a trigger for me and it is an easier season for me to deal with migraine wise. Part of the reason I am having a break is that the propranolol does tend to make me tired all the time - kind of draggy and lethargic. I wanted that energetic feeling again of waking up feeling well rested and ready to go. Once the fall storms start up again I need to get back on the propranolol so that I don't suffer more than necessary.

As for the acupuncture I was having that therapy too for a while and I also found that I had some relief in the beginning but found as time went by I would be fine going in for a session but almost like it was over stimulation or something, I would have a migraine by the time I was finished or shortly after I left the session one would start. I finally stopped going and felt better.

Good luck with everything.

Olivia

7/18/08 3:22am

Wow ,.. only 3 migraines... Its grreat... Probablt you feel tired from the Procedure combined with the Propanolol .. although the Propanolol is mostly a heart drog and should help you...

Maybe you should do something else... talk to your doctor... follow a detoxification diet...For me it help and I didnt need to talk pills any more...

Maybe you can do that too. And try to do a little sport...it sets the metabolism.

Good life.

Olivia

CJ

7/19/08 2:48pm

Hi Diane! Congratulations on the 1 year anniversary! You mentioned in your post that you'd had some irregular heartbeat that the propanolol had helped with... I'm no expert or anything, but my father who is a physician had atrial fibrillations (irregular heartbeat caused by the atria, not the ventricles), and needed to get a pacemaker because of the extreme fatigue he experienced.

I would recommend that you contact your cardiologist and explain what you are experiencing. They'll get to the bottom of it and get you feeling more energetic in no time.

Good luck!

CJ

Diane

7/19/08 3:14pm

Thank you all so much, this information has helped as you begin to think you are losing the plot! I have an appointment with my Cardiologist in 4 weeks time and i will explain how i'm feeling. Maybe it is the Meds that are making me feel this way. I did take a higher dose but i felt too out of it all the time.

I deffinately need to find out what is causing this tiredness as i just don't have any energy anymore. I go for two walks a day with my dogs but after each i waked! My Bmi is good 23 and my weight is within the healthly range so it has to be something.

Thank you all for you advice, i just can't wait to see my specialist now

Diane x

naykay

7/19/08 11:54pm

Greetings Di!

I, too, have had experience with Propranolol and acupuncture. First it was acupuncture, back in 1991. I had about four or five treatments of it. The result was that I went for exactly a year without a migraine. But when I got hit with a migraine (after the year went by), I got hit big-time. I was in agony because I hadn't gotten any medication for my migraine. Fortunately, I was able to get some ergotamine, in a suppository. That helped get rid of the migraine pain, but it made me very nauseous, and my stomach blew up like a balloon.

Some time later, my doctor put me on Propranolol (80 mg, long acting) and it seemed to worked pretty well, although it did make me lethargic and tired. I guess the tiredness was worse than the migraine pain, so I continued to take it.

Two years ago, I was put on Cymbalta for depression; the miraculous thing about that, was that my migraines decreased in frequency and in intensity. Even now, I take the Cymbalta, primarily for the pain relief I get from it. My depression is in remission, but I believe that is true because I am taking another medication for my depression.

If I do get a migraine, now, I can either take Imitrex 100 mg tablets, or if the migraine is particularly bad, I can take a migraine injection. I can almost always count on the injection to get rid of even the worst of migraines. You didn't mention whether or not you had tried Cymbalta or Imitrex. Perhaps they could work for you, too.

I do wish you very good health and a lack of migraines. Unless people have experienced the pain of a migraine, they can't possibly know how awful they are. My bad ones cause me to vomit and to be sensitive to light and sound. I remember going for four days, one time, with a migraine. I did not know about status migraine at that time. I finally went to the ER and got a shot that put me out for 36 hours. When I awoke, the migraine was gone.

Best of luck to you in your ongoing search for migraine relief,

Kay

naykay

7/19/08 11:54pm

Greetings Di!

I, too, have had experience with Propranolol and acupuncture. First it was acupuncture, back in 1991. I had about four or five treatments of it. The result was that I went for exactly a year without a migraine. But when I got hit with a migraine (after the year went by), I got hit big-time. I was in agony because I hadn't gotten any medication for my migraine. Fortunately, I was able to get some ergotamine, in a suppository. That helped get rid of the migraine pain, but it made me very nauseous, and my stomach blew up like a balloon.

Some time later, my doctor put me on Propranolol (80 mg, long acting) and it seemed to worked pretty well, although it did make me lethargic and tired. I guess the tiredness was worse than the migraine pain, so I continued to take it.

Two years ago, I was put on Cymbalta for depression; the miraculous thing about that, was that my migraines decreased in frequency and in intensity. Even now, I take the Cymbalta, primarily for the pain relief I get from it. My depression is in remission, but I believe that is true because I am taking another medication for my depression.

If I do get a migraine, now, I can either take Imitrex 100 mg tablets, or if the migraine is particularly bad, I can take a migraine injection. I can almost always count on the injection to get rid of even the worst of migraines. You didn't mention whether or not you had tried Cymbalta or Imitrex. Perhaps they could work for you, too.

I do wish you very good health and a lack of migraines. Unless people have experienced the pain of a migraine, they can't possibly know how awful they are. My bad ones cause me to vomit and to be sensitive to light and sound. I remember going for four days, one time, with a migraine. I did not know about status migraine at that time. I finally went to the ER and got a shot that put me out for 36 hours. When I awoke, the migraine was gone.

Best of luck to you in your ongoing search for migraine relief,

Kay

naykay

7/19/08 11:55pm

OOPS! I am sorry, but somehow I posted my reply twice! Please forgive me!

Kay

PFO Closure one year on and Propranolol

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