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Strain/Counterstrain

Has anyone had any experience with strain/counterstrain physical therapy for migraine? None of the preventive meds help me and my migraines seem to be getting more frequent. This month it's been 14 sumatriptans, and I know that's too many. I'm thinking of trying this s/c method.

  1. Hi Katherine,

    Thank you for your question. I'm sorry to hear your migraine attacks are becoming more frequent - that's frustrating.

    I've not tried the PT you mentioned above. Hopefully others will be along shortly to share their experiences with you.

    I did want to mention there are over 100 medications that can be used to treat migraine, not including supplements, so don't lose hope! You can read more about these medication in this article; https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-management-essential-4-preventive-treatment/.

    Medication overuse headache or moh, formerly called rebound, can be a real problem if we take migraine medications (sumatriptan) and/or pain relievers, whether they are over-the-counter and/or prescription, more than two to three days a week. If we are in an moh cycle our migraine attacks will be more difficult to treat and we can end up in a daily cycle of pain that too is hard to break. This article has more information on how to treat migraine and not overuse medications; https://migraine.com/blog/help-how-can-i-not-overuse-migraine-medications/.

    I hope that helps,
    Nancy

    1. Thanks for your reply. I've tried pretty much everything I'm willing to try as a preventative. So far, nothing has worked. The only thing that has worked for me is sumatriptan, which demolishes the migraine -- and leaves me wiped out. But it does work.

      1. Hi Katherine,

        I wanted to mention a word about medications - specifically drugs that help prevent migraine and those that stop attacks. Sumatriptan is not a migraine prevention medication - it's a triptan - a medication that stops the migraine process. There are seven to choose from; Amerge (Naratriptan); Axert (Almotriptan); Imitrex (Sumatriptan); Frova(Frovatriptan); Maxalt (Rizatriptan); Relpax (Eletriptan); Sumavel DosePro (sumatriptan); Treximet (Sumatriptan and Naproxen Sodium Tablets).

        Good luck!
        Nancy

        1. I haven't had any luck with prevention drugs and I've tried many of them. So far the only thing that rescues me is sumatriptan. I have found a new headache specialist as mine is leaving his practice. My appointment is at the end of February. It seems they are in great demand.

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