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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Headache/Migraine Painkillers - Possible Substitutes

Pathos of Truth

Pathos of Truth

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
Messages
13
Location
New Zealand
Well hiyas there BL~
I'm quite obviously a new member here, though I've seen the site around quite a few times in my searches over the years. Truth is, I'm in a bit of a pinch. In my first "semester" of Intermediate School, as we call it in New Zealand, I was both attacked and accidentally hit in the head. I ended up in the hospital with a double concussion, and they kept me in for observation as such. This was six years ago. Now, and ever since about 4.5 years ago, I've been afflicted with headaches, migraines, any kind of "head pain" you can name, the doctors still can't diagnose it clearly. Now I've covered the causes, I'll get on to the current situation:
  • I've been put on several "head pain", "headache" and "migraine" prevention drugs in the past 4.5 years
  • None have had a lasting effect, if an effect at all.
  • I began on a small dosage of a small migraine drug that I can no longer remember the name of, though it had no effect at all.
  • Changed to 5mg of Nortriptylene, then it was increased to 25mg. Slight effect to begin with, but eventually no change.
  • Switched up to 10mg tabs of Nortrip at the doc's order, 50mg dosage to begin with, then 100mg dosage; No change.
  • Dropped Nortrip, switched to Amitriptylene, not sure of the dosage - but it was said to be on par with the Nortrip dosage. Had major impact on sleeping patterns and no impact on headache frequency or magnitude.
  • Went back to regular Nortrip for a while, then changed to Apo-Nadolol (40mg) Once per day. Noticeable change to begin with, but quickly faded,
  • Dropped all prevention drugs at my request for over two months, just trying to last out the headaches.
  • Finally picked something up due to massive pain in the head every day, random areas. Sandomigran 0.5MG (3 per/Night)
  • No luck, now currently on Topamax (25mg) Once per night, to be increased by one per week.

This is dis-including the painkillers and sleep-inducing drugs I've also been prescribed. I find it a little annoying that the doctors were/are so eager to prescribe a 15/16/17 year old teenager this many drugs, and these at that:
  • Zopiclone 7.5mg (Been prescribed for well over 8 months now)
  • Tramadol 50mg (Been prescribed this since the first prescription of Nortriptylene. I figured out the effective dosage myself)
  • Arcoxia 120mg (This is a new one, hasn't had much effect, very expensive as it's not subsidised)

Information about the head pain:
There is no set pattern to the location, frequency or magnitude of the pain itself. This has been determined over two years of notation. The doctors, GPs, Neurologists and specialists I have seen still can't diagnose it as anything in particular, but multiple times has it been called "Cluster Headaches". I've had multiple MRI's, nothing showed.

The input of the wider community here would be greatly appreciated, as I'm getting a little sick of having to take pills every night and day for pain that isn't my fault. I'm willing to answer any and all questions I can, Thanks. :)
 
www.clusterbusters.com

psylocin and lsd therapy. at approx 10th the rec dose.

it works, i have tried it. i used to get 3 month long headaches. it keeps them away up to a year usually....sometimes permanently for some users. ill get you some more info after some research.
 
The next drug in line after the tryclics is Gabapentin, tell your doctor to put you on that. (I'm currently on Nortryptiline for the same thing, neurologist suggested gabapentin if it didn't work).

Also, how many OTC painkillers are you using every day/week? Are you taking 50mg or tramadol a day?

Be aware that chronic headaches can be made worse by medication overuse headache - opiates and OTC painkillers are the worst for this.
 
gabapentin works well also and can make them stopp without any w/d and the headaches return worse.
 
@DeeJaySwayD Thank you for the swift reply, I'll definitely look into it. Would you support the idea of Gabapentin?
@madog11 Also thank you for the swift reply, I'll have to ask my GP about Gabapentin, see what he says. I currently only take the Tramadol when my headaches reach the stage that they interfere with my schoolwork; then I start with three 50mg tabs. If it's an extremely bad headache (Any one or a combination of these: Either Nearly blinding, totally disorienting, disabling in the sense of focus and such) then I tend to bump the dose up to 5 or at absolute worst 6 tabs (400mg)
 
i am a fan of gabapentin.

THOUGH.
it does cause extreme effects in hard opiate users like delusions, acute depression and suicide in a small percentage.
 
Oh, Over-The-Counter. Sorry, I'm a little out of it at the moment. I stopped using them regularly a long while ago, over 3 years ago now. My parents recently insisted that I try some of the stronger ones, such as Nuromol (Ibuprofen 200MG + Paracetamol 500mg). Even after reaching the max dosage in only three hours, no effect was reached. I've tried searching for strong painkillers, but tramadol is the only one that seemed to work. It may be losing its' effect due to tolerance buildup though, this is my main reason for asking...
 
How often are you taking the tramadol? Everyday?

Trust me here and STAY AWAY from OTC painkillers... they only make our conditions worse. I rarely touch any painkillers even when i have an unbareable migraine because they start to mask what are your real headaches and start to cause some of their own. My neurologist tried to blame mine on painkillers till i told her i don't touch them anymore.
 
i am extremely anti tram, it causes seizure in the doseage that it takes to effectively treat pain... just do heroin or like hydromorphone if you need pain relief. fuck the bs.

ibuprofen works wonders with gabapentin. fixes inflammation and any nerve issues.
 
Quite interesting that you say that. Last time I went to a neurologist (with my parents) partway through the discussion he asked about the shakes I had been having. (This is another symptom I forgot to mention. I tend to respond to tiny nerve responses within my body, giving the illusion of "twitching" often. This has happened since before the headaches, almost simultaneously with the impacts I recieved 6 years ago) I also said this to him; "Sure, everyone get some shakes, right?" He responded with "No, yours is something do with your pain receptors. Something's gone wrong with them over time." This was a respected Neurologist at the District Hospital where I was, then he went on to suggest alcohol to my parents to combat the shaking. This was when I was 16. The shaking remains, that said.

Also, I would prefer to stay away from OTC painkillers; "why take something that has none of the desired effect", right?

DeeJaySwayD said:
i am extremely anti tram, it causes seizure in the doseage that it takes to effectively treat pain... just do heroin or like hydromorphone if you need pain relief. fuck the bs.

ibuprofen works wonders with gabapentin. fixes inflammation and any nerve issues.
Click to expand...
I may have to give Gabapentin a go before I try combining it with anything, my best hope is that it'll actually do something.
 
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@madog That's a question I technically can't answer. I take it when the head pains manifest themselves to the degree that I define as (bad) which is apparently comparable to most people's "stay-in-bed-migraine" type pain level. I try not to take them every day, I definitely don't want to take them every day, I just want something that will stop the pain and that I won't have to take either A) So many of. B) Something so harmful. C) Something that will stop it all.

@DeeJaySwayD I've had the shakes for well over 6 years now, since before the intermediate incident.
 
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Roughly every other day, anywhere from two-five times a week depending on magnitude and frequency. I do try to do without, but there are sometimes where it's needed just to focus on simple things. Also, the features of the shakes resemble Tardive diskinesia, as DeeJay said.
 
My neurologist told me that anything over 1 use a week can cause medication overuse headaches. You really should come off them just to see how many of the headaches they themselves are causing. Also get put on gabapentin! (Bare in mind all migraine prevention treatments take 3 months to really know if they are working, were you kept on the others for that long?)
 
You have a good attitude and I am surprised by the amount I agree with the comments in this thread compared to the status quo which makes me rage sign out.

That being said there is no cure for what you are suffering from besides time and even that may not be a given. You can try to speed up healing by lifting weights and exercising but no medicine comes without side effects and all narcotics are going to have tolerance and dependance listed first and foremost. You are young which is good, but you should still approach this as it'll take time, it'll hurt but heal naturally, and I should save drugs (whether opioid or gabageric) for the worst breakthrough events.

You seem however to want something beyond that (completely reasonable of course). I'll direct you to nootropics to keep your hopes up. Time, exercise, and building a tolerance to pain may be a more feasible course of action though.
 
In all honesty, I just want something that will allow me to continue my work as a student. Something that will suppress the pain to the point of allowing me to focus on that which I deem important. I will take into account all that all of you have said, thank you very much for so many opinions. I'll have to write this down for the next time I pay my GP a visit, see what he has to say, a the very least. This Topamax is useless at 1tab/day, and my zopiclone is finally kicking in. I guess this is good night, BL. Have a nice night, and I shall see you later, hopefully with results to report!
~Pathos
 
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