Nightly migraine

test of return

I am so sorry no one has gotten back with you. I wonder if you've ever had a sleep study or seen a sleep specialist. Many times nighttime migraine or waking up with migraine is a symptom of a sleep disorder. Since sleep disruptions are a common migraine trigger, these two problems often overlap and make each other worse.

Here is a great series written by one of our patient advocates that may help you with ideas to discuss with your doctor.

https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-sleep-1/
https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-sleep-2/
https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-more-sleep-rules-tips-and-tricks-part-3/

Also, if you are not getting good results with your current doctor, then maybe it's time for a second opinion from a headache specialist. You can find out more about these doctors at https://migraine.com/blog/how-are-migraine-specialists-different/

Please let me know what happens.

I was also getting them around 3-4am. They would wake me up to seek my imitrex dose. I would be having dreams that incorporated the HA pain. They were very bizarre dreams at that point. My neurologist asked if I had a sleep study done, I didn't but he never ordered one either? I have been to 4 neurologists over the past 14 years for HA's. One of them mentioned that I should take a hit of pure oxygen & see if that helped. ( I worked as an RN so I had access to O2 if needed) I never tried it. I don't have regular patterns of when the HA will occur. the Night ha's would run in a pattern of 1-2 weeks & than stop,so I guessed it wasn't sleep disorder( I hate the idea of sleeping with a CPAP). I would have HA pain during the day instead. It became so bad that I was having a HA 2 times per day. I learned to split my 100 mg dose of imitrex in 1/2 due to my daily usage. I HAD TO FIGHT WITH THE INSURANCE CO TO BUMP UP MY ALLOTMENT FROM 9 A MTH TO 16. I have taken just about every med that can be used & even off label use of some that almost killed me (Timilol my heart rate dropped to 30 & I was passing out on the job & ended up in my own emergency room next to the trauma bay). I had given up at that point, I am retired now & dedicated my life to using imitrex only to treat the pain. It works for me but I am like an addict. I carried one with me at all times & felt panic when I forgot to carry one or my supply ran low & the Insurance comp got bitchy about the supply. They periodically wanted MD letters. I had my neurologist send them a note always did the trick. I was diagnosed with Daily Headache with migraine, Chronic migraine, Cluster Headache, it all depended on which neurologist I had been seeing at the time. I had many Ct's, & Mri's. Migraine stigmata was always mentioned on the reports along with mild to moderate small vessel Ischemic disease. I had also stopped short of getting Botox injections. I was approved as I met the criteria but the insurance company (Aetna) was being a PIA & it took months to get the approval only to find out that they would cover a small amount of $ for the treatment & I would need to pay up front $1000.00 for the first shot but about 1/2 for the subsequent doses. (4 x year). The % of success was 50/50 according to the neurologist, so it was a crap shoot, but expensive. I gave up again & could only think of how much imitrex I could obtain. I always worried that my insurance comp would cut my quantity back to 9 pills per month again. I had contemplated going across the boarder into Mexico to buy more imitrex, its available but at $8.00/pill. Recently I was talking to my Nephew who is a Pharmacist about this & he asked if I tried B12. IO had heard about this before but never considered it as I always tried to eat a well balanced meal & felt vitamins were a waste of $. Well I looked into the studies & followed the one from 2009!! ( no neurologist ever mentioned these studies to me) & decided to give it a shot. I did find out recently from a gen Physical lab report that I was vit D deficient. I started using vit d3 supplements & now have a low normal count. I didn't notice anychange in my HA's though, as a matter of fact they are getting worse, I think they are cluster as they never seem to go away just wane from almost gone to full blown in a wave patteren throughout the day & lasting for a week or 2. ( thank God I'm retired , I don't know how I could function under those bright hospital lights for 12-14 hrs a day as I was used to.
Now this is what I would say is short of a miracle but I am cautious to say it will work just yet. I started the Vit B12/400 iu,Vit B6/25mg, Folic acid/2mg, & also Vit B50 complex/1 tab daily regimen. The 2 nd day I noticed some changes in my HA pattern, & by the 3rd day the pain was tolerable,( a dull pain that was relieved with 800 mg of Ibuprofen, day 4 no Ha. Day 5 a slight ha, day 6 no HA. I woke up feeling like new, & this continued for 7 days afterward. I only used 150 mg of imitrex since. Today I I have a HA & took 400 mg of Ibu but had to resort to 50 mg of imitrex. I am hoping that my migraines will be reduced & even the intensity isn't as bad as they were up to this point. It is early with this new Vit B regimen to pass a verdict but it seems to be doing more than all the meds I was prescribed over the years & for a whole lot less $$ (The Vit's are about $10/mth averaged). I would try this if I were you. I just had my vit B & homocysteine levels done & all are falling into the normal range. The homocysteine level was 11.3, Norm. <5.5-11.4>
Good luck.