Migraines...

[baaaby11]

It seems, from reading posts on this board, that a lot of us suffer from migraines. What migraine medications do you take that don't give you problems with your IC?

[amandac]

I have migraines and have been on topamax for them for over 3 years now. For my rescue med I take Relpax and it doesn't seem to bother me...either that or the pain in my head is so bad that it masks any pain I get in my bladder from taking the relpax!

My urogyn is using the topamax as part of his treatment for me as well. He is using it as a neurogenic pain medication for my vulvodynia and bladder instead of neurontin because that can be really sedating. So that makes it a kind of two for one for me!

[kadi]

When I get migraines, it's usually the second or third day of my period. So, my gynecologist prescribed me an estrogen patch to put on when I stop my birth control pill for period week. So far, it's reduced the headache down to hours instead of days. I saw the doctor this morning & she gave me a stronger dose & told me to put it on the last day of the pill pack instead of the following day. Hopefully this will prevent the estrogen drop that triggers the migraine. I've tried staying on the birth control pill continuously to not have a period at all, but that sets of IC flares from staying in PMS mode too long. So, I'm hopeful this will help:)

Good luck! Migraines are awful & just as quality-of-life-damaging as IC.

[jenrobhen]

I get 2 types of migraines, so I have several forms of therapy that don't hurt my IC.

For the migraines I get with auras, I take Imitrex. I haven't had any IC flares from this medication.

I also get cervicogenic migraines, which is a fancy way of saying that my chronic neck pain migrates to my head and then becomes a migraine. I took Gabapentin for a while (nerve pain med) and it didn't affect my IC. More recently, I've been getting occipital nerve block injections (steroid and lidocaine). Those help a lot (I went from 6 migraines per week to 1-2).

Wishing you pain relief soon. :pray: