Did you find your migraine trigger? Do you have some prophylaxis which works for you?
Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
1–10 of 57 posts
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#2Triggers for me are dehydration, tiredness, stress and oo much bad food. I found that eating meat and dairy also had a massive effect on me and led to me giving them up. I have been more or less Vegan since figuring that out 20 odd years ago.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#3Triggers for me are poor/insufficient sleep, stress, and large upwards or downwards changes in my caffeine intake.
Regular exercise seems to have dramatically reduced the severity of my migraines. Frequency seems to be decreasing too, as I am getting better at controlling my triggers.
I don't like taking triptans, they seem to give me a nasty hangover that almost as bad as just waiting the the migraine out, but it's hard to disentangle the migraine and drug after-effects.
Mostly, I follow my doctors advice and take the maximum safe dose of Ibuprofen as early as possible when I notice onset symptoms. Sometimes I use diclofenac instead. Check with a pharmacist, but if you can safely take paracetamol, you can combine paracetamol with ibuprofen or diclofenac.
I don't bother with over-the-counter medications that include some codeine - the codeine is not sufficient to do anything useful, and the dosage of whatever they are mixed with is often weird.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#4I don't know what triggers my monthly migraine but I have found that Citrulline malate (an extract of watermelon) a vascular dilator prevents it for me 100%. Originally I had started taking it for sport reasons but subsequently found it fixes the migraine! Must be that my migraine is due to vascular constriction.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#5OTC codine which has just been made prescription only here in Australia. Worked perfectly for 30 years. I am not sure what I am going to do when my stash runs out.
Edit. I should add my trigger is UV light which is all too common here in Australia.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#6Triggers for me are dehydration, tiredness, stress and oo much bad food. I found that eating meat and dairy also had a massive effect on me and led to me giving them up. I have been more or less Vegan since figuring that out 20 odd years ago.
Same--I generalized it as basically my body is vindictive about treating it badly. Except I'm better off with meat and dairy. And especially cheese. I have experimented with vegetarianism, but only for my fussiness about my feelings for helpless animals.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#7In terms of prophylaxis meds, I've tried a few. Currently on a combination of Botox injections, and Sodium Valproate and Topiramate (brand names Epilim and Topamax). I've found they make a huge difference, but they do have some quite unpleasant side effects
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#8Exercising 45 minutes a day, 7 days a week, reduced my migraines to near zero after close to 20 years of suffering. I would recommend carefully tracking them with a diary. (I used a separate calendar in my phone.)
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#9+1 for exercising. I'm commuting by bike 2*30min a day, almost no migraine now (except during the holidays, when i'm not). Paracetamol/acetaminophen 1g work pretty well when taken at the beginning of the migraine.
Re: Ask HN: Migraine prophylaxis?
#10Cold air hitting my head (A/C air is worst. Fresh cold air doesn't seem to trigger the migraine).
Dehydration.
Direct hot sun hitting my head for 30 minutes plus.
Not eating for 20 hours.
For most of these, the solution for me is rest, sleep, being in a temperate zone and having an electrolyte drink. In extreme cases I might take a paracetamol or ibprophen or a muscle relaxant.