for chronic daily migraine, avoiding rebound.
Will that jinx disability claim? Am in bad pain, full symptoms.
I feel like so many people take the chemical cop-outs and so many doctors prescribe them that claims examiners are going to find my history suspicious. I have tried just about every other type of migraine treatment -- biofeedback, preventatives, surgery, etc. But I've refused to worsen my migraines with painkillers and triptans -- the pain and debilitation that I suffer now is bad enough, and I cannot stand the idea of making it much worse with such drugs. (I cannot even drink a can of cola without a bad rebound migraine.)
I was told by neurologist/headache specialist to avoid taking triptans as much as possible because they cause rebound in those who have chronic daily migraine. I've read material from other neurologists (e.g. Heal Your Headache) stating the same thing.
Surprised you are unfamiliar with that.
I started using triptans not long after they were introduced, using Imitrex injections, which worked great at the time. (Had used Cafergot before Imitrex hit the market.)
At the height of my triptan use (encouraged by primary care doctor), I was taking 2-4 doses every day and still had migraine despite that.
It was pretty obvious that I'd acquired considerable tolerance to the stuff. And rebounding seemed about right too. (I can rebound off the caffeine in a single can of Coke and if I drink one every day, the impact is bad.)
It was painful to accept that I couldn't use bail-outs (remember prolonged sobbing and a lot of self-pity), but after detoxing off triptan, I don't think I was worse off at all. They'd pretty much stopped working for me. Now I take one once in a while, but it doesn't help much. (Yes, I've tried them all.)