Is there a Sure Fire Drug out there that stops migraines?

I know how you feel. I have also had migraines since I was a kid, and chronic daily migraine for the past six years or so. I gather medication use depends on how frequent your migraines are. If they are "only" a couple of times per week there are several different triptans you can try. I know Imitrex worked for me for awhile then stopped. Relpax ended up doing the trick, but I am limited to twice a week so I don't get rebound headaches - or have Medication Overuse Headache (MOH). There are excellent posts on this website and others that explain it further. I suggest a search for them.

There are apparently a ton of preventatives too if you get migraines often enough. I have tried many without success, but I am told not to give up because there are still many more out there. It's just hard to be patient because it takes so long to get to a good dosage with each to discover it doesn't work for me. Aso, I had botox injections years ago which worked for me. I only stopped when my insurance company stopped covering them. But I understand they started covering them again, so that's another possible strategy.

I had intervenous DHE in the hospital last week, another possibility. The jury is still out on the success of that for me. I have had two migraines since, but only 1 was bad - a defininte inprovement. So the point is that there are just a ton of different ways to approach it. I do not believe there is one "sure fire" medication for all people. Every person has different biochemistry and you may have to search for what is right for YOU. Best of luck.

Hi Sue,

It would be really nice for every Migraineur if there was a drug to completely take the pain away, but I'm sorry to say there is no "Sure Fire Drug" to stop Migraines. Migraine is a genetic neurological disease thought to be caused by overactive neurons in our brains and genetics.

There are medications to abort a Migraine attack called triptans, rescue medications when abortives don't work (or we can't take them) and preventive medications that reduce the number of Migraine attacks. It is confusing sometimes, but this article may be helpful: Preventive, Abortive, and Rescue Medications - What's the Difference?

You've mentioned taking abortive medications like Imitrex and Treximet, along with Topamax a preventive. There are over 100 medications that can be used to treat Migraine diesease, please try not to lose hope. Continue reading this article for more information: Migraine Preventive Medications - Too Many Options To Give Up! 

Trigger identification and management is an important part of Migraine management and preventing Migraines. You may have some triggers that you can avoid, thus preventing Migraines brought on by those triggers. Do you know what any of your triggers are? When working to identify triggers one of the best tools is a good Migraine diary. You can read more about this and download a free diary workbook in our article Your Migraine and Headache Diary. Things that may trigger a Migraine for some people include certain foods, dehydration, changing in sleeping patterns and even weather changes. Continue reading more on our Migraine Triggers page.

I hope this helps,

Nancy

I feel your pain.  I am getting migraines so often now that I moved from MI to Florida.  I have two young children and get migraines 2-3 times a week now.  I end up with visual disturbance for about 15-20 mins and slurred speech.  I hate taking the imatrex or trexmex because of the side effects.  the migraine may be reduced but I still dont feel like myself for days after.  I had one yesterday in the middle of a halloween party.  Although the motrin and tylenol that I took helped reduce the headache today I still have leg weakness and pin and needles in my head.  (it is just a reminder that I have one still or another attack is going to happen.) I dont know if I should try an antidepressant or a beta blocker.  I don't want these migraines to run my life.  I want to be happy for my children....