Opioids Opiates For Migraines

I suffer from chronic migraines and I buy opiates to treat them when I can afford it otherwise I’m suffering all day, taking Excedrin every few hours, which helps after many hours and re-dosing, but isn't as well as opiates (not to mention that they make the rest of my body feel good).
I have an appointment coming up in a few days and am thinking about asking about dilaudid. I’m not asking about how to score drugs, nor what to say. I want to know if these will actually help relieve my migraines, and has anyone on here been prescribed these for migraines??
thank you..

((please move if this doesn't belong here.))

[MOD EDIT - WHEN YOU WRITE A POST IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS, the Bluelight forum software edits it so that The Beginning Of Each Word Is Capitalized Like This, which, ironically, causes migraines to anyone trying to read it. Please turn off Caps Lock before posting, or learn to ease up on the Shift key. Luckily for you, MS Word 2010 makes it very easy to automatically correct this, so I fixed the post for you this time, but I will not do it again. - sixpartseven]

Thank you and sorry for you having to do that.

that hurt my brain to read.. i thought every word was the beginning of a new sentence lol.. but opiates usually aren't good for headaches or migraines since they increase cranial pressure (i don't have a source for that at the moment, but im sure there's something on BL about it since i think i heard it on here) and they usually cause headaches because of that a lot of times.
I'd suggest trying to get some foiricet its butalbital/caffine/APAP.. or maybe Midrin/Epidrin. or even Imitrex or Maxalt or something of the sort.

EDIT: but if opiates do work well for you maybe you could explain that and get a script for them.. who knows.

I'll try to watch my little ocd with typing on here, because other people probably don't like it either.
Thank you, your edit was much more helpful. I'll request them all. Since the three you suggested are not scheduled (or are they), I should be able to get them too, right??

Fioricet is Schedule III (somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I know barbs are either C-III or IV, with some in II for some reason) and midrin is Schedule IV, IIRC, because it has a prodrug of chloral hydrate in it (Dichioraiphenazone HCl).

Imitrex and Maxalt are not scheduled, and they are a newer-generation of antimigraine drugs called Triptans.

I've been prescribed Fioricet, Midrin, Maxalt, Treximet (which is Imitrex and naproxen in one pill), Frova (another triptan) and a few others I can't remember right now for migraines. My doctor was willing to let me try whatever worked, and we've come to the conclusion that Treximet is the best, with Maxalt as a close second. These both are pretty expensive, and unless you have good insurance, cost could be an issue.

However, the older-generation ones (Fioricet/the APAP-barb combination ones and Midrin) work well enough, but theres an issue with tolerance to the barbs and the ingredients in Midrin, which is why I switched to the triptans.

Hope this helps, migraines suck a lot.

Also, at the risk of coming off topic, opiates work pretty well for migraines too, at least the powerful ones (oxycodone and hydromorphone have worked for me, as did stuffing vicodins down my throat)...but a lot of doctors won't script you opiates for headaches because of issues with addiction, tolerance, and the simple fact that there are many more effective drugs out there without those problems.

Hmm.. I'll have to c if he has samples of the newer ones.
I'm still going to request opiates. Are they safe to take together??

Obviously the most effective treatment for migraines would be the tryptans. However, they cost asinine amounts of money under any circumstance. Plus, it doesn't work for all people - including me.

Bupap (APAP with butalbital has worked best for me). Once I combined that with oral hydromorphone (of course, not safe or recommended at all) and that had been the most effective treatment for me not due to its CNS painkilling properties but due to the utter indifference toward the pain I felt. Otherwise all opiates I've tried (demerol, vicodin, oxycodone) does nil except perhaps make me not care as much... They don't work for vascular issues basically.

EDIT: However I may be incorrect, my mother has been prescribed demerol and hydrocodone for migraines. Demerol did not work, hydrocodone did (a little bit), strangely. I'm assuming you're a young adult, in which case you're much more unlikely to get rx'ed schedule II's for migraines than a 50 year old nurse.

Oxycodone has always been the one to help me. 5-10mg does good... Tho I never mind the euphoria of 20..

There are specific medications for migraines for a reason. Regular painkillers, including opiates, do not work for migraines.

I always think it's funny when people say, "OH MAN, I need a Vicodin. My migraines are killing me," because either A) they aren't aware that it's not actually a migraine if Vicodin is able to treat it, or B) they are just trying to justify taking Vicodin.

So yeah, opiates do not work for migraines. They may ease the pain slightly at best (opiates aren't actually pain killers, anyway, they just make you not notice the pain though it's still there), but migraines are very different from regular headaches and opiates are not able to treat them properly.

Haha, yeah I am, and I'd agree, but I can always try if it's going to help me.

The Oxy probably just aids in my falling asleep. I hate being awake if I have one.

Exactly. Pretty much all the major pharmy companies have their own triptan to choose from now too, it may take you a few tries to figure out which one works best for you.

As far as samples go, thats how my doctor and I did it, tried the samples and found out the best one. I still have a bunch of Frovatriptan samples hanging around just because I never even had to try them, with the Treximet working so well.

A doctor scripting an opiate for a migraine just shows you that he doesn't know what a migraine is, while they may work to assist the triptan (as far as I know, you can combine them, as long as the opiate in question isn't something with Tramadol, as triptans work via serotonin modulation, and mixing them with another serotonin modulating drug could be very dangerous) they are pretty worthless as a first-line treatment.

Of course they work well for regular run-of-the-mill headaches, but then again so does Advil.

Lolz at the mod note

I doubt they were migraines since I don't have a history with them, but maybe once a year, two tops, I get a splitting headache. I never get headaches, but when these crop up we're talking pain so bad it makes me cry.

The last two times I've gotten them I quickly plugged 8mg of dilaudid and within 15 mins they were gone.

So, migraine or not, opiates can work to fix a really bad headache (and I'd recommend plugging for being more effective (in some cases, depends on the opiate) and definitley faster acting).

No way i could wait the 45 mins it often takes for pills to have any effect on me when swallowed!

Butalbital w/ Codeine & Aspirin (or APAP) is commonly prescribed and has a good track record. I don't think a doctor who isn't a quack would prescribe Dilaudid for migraines.

Hey, I'm not saying a doctor could or should script dilaudid for migraines, but the op wanted to know if opiates worked on them so I told my experience!

Which is yes, they probably would.

I suffer with Cluster headaches, Opiates do nothing at all for them.

I suppose Cluster's are a little different though - as only o2 works.