My doctor diagnosed my headaches as migraines after a negative CT scan. At the time, I was getting them maybe once a month and tylenol took care of the pain, so when he offered a prescription I declined. Now, I have been having headaches just about every day. I have been taking tylenol, which takes the edge off of the pain, but doesn't really get rid of it completely or for a long time.

I am thinking of asking the doctor for a prescription, but I am worried about taking a daily preventative medication because I will be losing my prescription coverage soon and don't think I'll be able to afford it.

My question is, what types of medications are there, and how do they compare in terms of price, side effects, and such?

I have had migraines for years. Some would last days and I would be unable to get up and function. At times I felt like banging my head against the wall in hopes that it would equalize the pain. I was on various pain medications including Codeine and Midrin and a daily dose of Amitriptyline, (which I still take but in a reduced dosage). I finally was seen by another MD who perscribed Maxalt MLT 10 MG. It is a disintegrating tablet that dissolves in your mouth when placed on your tongue. You can repeat the dose after 2 hours if you need to. According to my perscription, you should not exceed 4 tablets per week. Only once it didn't knock out my migraine within the first hour and I had to take a second tablet. I don't know how long this drug has been available but I wish I had been able to use it years ago instead of just the last year or so. The literature lists the usual precautions and drug interactions, but I have not had any problems. Unfortunately, it is an expensive drug. At Rite Aid Pharmacy, the usual and customary cost was $261.98 for 12 tablets back in February. If this drug works for you, your Dr. might know if there are any drug companies that provide drugs for the uninsured.

Good luck and take care.
MarciaD

I take topamax as a daily migraine preventative and Relpax to stop a migraine when I get one. Both drugs work well for me. Unfortunatley, they are both very expensive. I haven't found any migraine medications yet that aren't. Usually if your doctor knows that you don't have prescription coverage, they are pretty good about giving you samples.

Have you tried taking Excedrin? It is really cheap, over the counter, and works very well sometimes. I also take Relpax and/or Vicodin if the migraines are severe. The Vicodin is cheap if you have to pay cash, about $18 for 30 (be careful though, it can be habit forming...never take more than is prescribed). The Relpax is about $94 for 6 pills. Other migraine meds like Imitrex, Frova, Maxalt, etc. (Triptan drugs) are also expensive. Maybe your doctor could give you samples? Topax is a preventative drug you have to take every day, so if it is expensive, I wouldn't go that route if I were you (my opinion).

Side effects of the Triptan drugs, for me, are usually a slight increase in my heartrate or blood pressure, but it's worth it to get rid of those migraines. Vicodin will make you sleepy, and Excedrin has caffeine, so you might get a little energy boost.

Many drug manufacturers give away their drugs for FREE through your physicians. All you need is a prescription from your doctor.

Topamax is one of them. :D

For more info check out: http://www.needymeds.com

Good luck

Kehorner,

The way you speak about your h/a and the tylenol you are taking sounds so much like rebound (MIH) headaches.

If you are not familiar with the term -- with migraineurs, a percentage of us, when we take analgesics more than a couple times each week will develop rebound headaches. (they are called medication induced headaches now days).

Your body, when the amount of analgesic dips below a certain level in your body (and the med. could be anything from simple aspirin, to Vicodan, to morphine and/or triptans) your brain sends out a signal that is identical to what happens when you get a migraine headache. Your body wants more tylenol or whatever you are taking.

The only way to stop that is to stop taking any and all analgesics for a period of 8-16 weeks (depending on which Dr. you listen to). If you are getting rebounds your h/a will get worse the first couple of weeks and then slowly to away, or back to the level they used to be at in a few weeks.

Does that make sense??

Chas

I take topamax as a daily migraine preventative and Relpax to stop a migraine when I get one. Both drugs work well for me. Unfortunatley, they are both very expensive. I haven't found any migraine medications yet that aren't. Usually if your doctor knows that you don't have prescription coverage, they are pretty good about giving you samples.


I currently take Relpax and have done so for the last couple of years and just added Topamax to the mix a week ago and hope that it will bring me some success. I had a baby 6 months ago and took Midrin which is safe for pregnancy and now I refuse to throw away my Relpax which expired Jan 05' because of its expense. Now that I am not longer pregnant, I will continue to use the expired Relpex until they are gone because they are so expensive.

Thanks for the responses. I actually don't take anything that much. I have tried the excedrin migraine, but it didn't work as well as the tylenol. I usually don't take tylenol more often than maybe once every 1-3 weeks, so I don't think it's rebound headaches. I've been getting a lot of headaches lately, probably from stress. They seem to have dropped off a bit now that I have gotten settled in my new home. I still get them, but a lot of times I'll just wait it out, rather than taking something, because I don't have it with me or I forget to take it. Quite often, I'll feel like I'm starting to get one, but if I ignore it it will sometimes go away. Also, the tylenol doesn't really get rid of it either, so I don't see the point in taking it.

The good news is that I found out that I can keep my coverage for a while longer, so I guess I'm off to the doctor. :-) So looking at my insurance, generic would be the best, although it sounds like migraine meds don't come in generics yet...

So it looks like I'm allowed to take imitrex, relpax, zomig, or topamax without paying through the nose. I haven't heard anything about zomig around here... is there a reason for that?

Thanks.

Just a thought, but sometimes certain triggers or combination of triggers can cause a migraine. They are so varied there is no way I can give them all right here but you could make a google search and find them. Maybe if you have been over dosing on one of these things lately... it might let you know that you need to stay away from that thing and see if that helps. It can't hurt (no pun intended)! :)

Hmm... Not getting enough sleep, check. Birth control pills, check. Fluorescent lighting, check. Stress, check. Computer screen, check. Caffeine, check (by the way, if caffeine triggers migraines, why is it included in excedrin migraine....?). Beans, nuts, chocolate, cheese, bananas... check.

Maybe you're onto something there. However, according to some of the lists I'm seeing, the only way to eliminate these things would be to drop out of school, live in a cave, and eat nothing but.... well, I guess water is okay....

Given that I'm a grad student, I don't see the sleep or stress issues (or the fluorescent lights or computer time) changing anytime soon. Or the caffeine, for that matter... I've got to find some way to make up for the lack of sleep and stay up for that 8:00 class! Then there's the beans, soy, nuts, and cheese... Those are pretty much staples of a vegetarian diet... I guess I'll start with giving up bananas. :-)

OK! Sorry.