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[Mary G]

Carinda, what dose of venlafaxine were you taking?   My specialist said the dose for migraine prevention is between 75mg and 150mg and like amitriptyline it can take a couple of months to work.

Silent migraines are a horrible affliction but I am assured they are not dangerous.  That said, I wish I had started preventative medication much sooner and not relied so heavily on hormone manipulation and toughing it out.

Good luck with the meds everyone!

[Carinda]

Thanks for that information MaryG, it is very informative. My original dose 25 years ago was 225mg for 3 or 4 years, but I then reduced and it remained at for a decade, if not longer, 75mg daily (37.5mg tablet x2, morn and eve). It suits me very well, with no side effects at all. As I say at the start of this year I started very slow and gradually tapering off down to the current 37.5mg daily (split between morning and evening). It is entirely possible, looking at it now, this has coincided with meno and kicked off these pain in the arse silent migraines. I have started raising it marginally this am, and will do that for a few weeks/months and get myself back up to the 75 mg I was on for years. Of course I'll let my GP know, they have allowed me some freedom to change it around over the years as long as I inform them. It would be amazing if this solved it !!! I will update in due course, but I will be very grateful for this thread if it works

[Carinda]

Hi Carinda..how many is loads? Between 2 and 6 a month which might not be considered chronic but with the lost days to postdrome and anticipation of the next attack it feels all consuming at the moment. My auras last at least 30mins and start with a strange feeling that im not seeing properly followed very quickly by the bright spreading zigzags and loss of areas of vision..numb face hands can’t think sometimes can’t find words.. once it starts that’s it nothing I can do to stop it. When it happens at work I sit it out then carry on working as best I can and to be honest I think I recover quicker than when I’m at home and lay in bed..so you might be right in staying active. Over 35 years of this on and off and I still panic I’m having a stroke 🙄 x

Between 2 and 6 a month is more than enough to mess up your entire month - I know that the lost days to the postdrome are the biggy, and you can never tell how bad that will be, could be 2 days could be no days. Its also, I find, the loss of confidence that is affecting me - I am becoming worried about driving places alone, which has never been a problem for me, incase I get 'stuck'. Interesting about your possible work/home difference, I'll report back if I have genuine success with keeping active.

[Carinda]

Carinda, what dose of venlafaxine were you taking?   My specialist said the dose for migraine prevention is between 75mg and 150mg and like amitriptyline it can take a couple of months to work.

To update this thread, the last 3 weeks I've increased to 56.25mg and will be continuing up to 75mg shortly (just awaiting a new prescription). I am interested to hear that your consultant said that it would take a couple of months, so I won't put too much hope into an immediate and total change, as much as that is what I would love to happen of course. It has 'felt' as if they have moved marginally futher apart and had less effect, but to be honest there hasn't been enough time to judge that. Will update later on.

[Mary G]

Carinder, thanks so much for the update.   It's annoying that the preventative medication takes a couple of months to work but it's encouraging when you start to feel better and you notice the migraines are starting to space out. 

Having previously taken a different medication that actually increased my migraine auras, I knew pretty earlier on that amitriptyline was going to fly.   

Please keep us updated on your progress and good luck!

[Carinda]

Hi Mary - no it definitely hasn't increased them, for sure. I have just looked at my log of silent migraine events over the last few months. May, June and July were 2 or 3 only but that was when I weaned off the ven and I am presuming if it takes a couple of months to start working then there could be a couple of months of partially working as its reduced. August was the worst with 10, September 7, October 5 and so far 3 in November (but aware that November has a while to go yet). I have now been on 75 mg daily for about 5 weeks...still feeling hopeful that at least I can get to the point of many less. Its far more manageable, as for those few bad months I was losing weight rapidly as having no time in between them to stop feeling nauseous.

[Mary G]

Carinda, thanks for the update, it sounds like your medication is starting to work.

Unfortunately it takes time but once your migraines start to space out, you know you are on the right track.

I had the added problem of having to make sure I kept my oestrogen and progesterone up to a reasonable level but at the same time very stable which is quite challenging.  Dips, spikes and cycles are completely out for me.

I suppose we can't expect to never have migraines but far fewer is manageable at least.

Long may your success continue!

[Carinda]

Oooo, I kind of wanted to hear you say that Mary......as I'm still in my head worrying nothing is happening lol. I was thinking the signs looked good, but you know its nice to hear someone else say that.

I am aware I'm having oestrogen and progesterone highs and lows, I get assorted symptoms for each of them which I've worked out over the last peri years and meno year and a half, however, as I'm sure I've bored people with before I am unable to be prescribed HRT. Its therefore all the more pleasing to me to find that my ven could indeed be bearing results without hormone manipulation. I have you to thank for taking the step to begin it again, it was your posts on my thread alone that gave me suggestion that it could be the cause and the impetus to try it. I certainly have worked out that my insomnia is a big triggering factor also, but that can be borne along with the sweating, flushes, strange bowel habits blah blah blah etc as long as I'm not having so many prodrome and postdrome days.

Big thanks again, you are making so much difference to people by talking about your situation with the silent migraines. They just don't seem to be a very well understood or heard of condition. I'll make one more update post when I have more data LOL - as new people searching for this condition (as I did) might find it interesting. I know ven has a bad press on migraine forums I've visited, but I've never had one side effect fortunately.