I've just had - shock horror gasp - a productive appointment with a GP!! She's referred me to a cardiologist to check out my heart murmur and see if it's a septal defect, because of the recent research linking them to migraine, and she's also given me 10mg nortriptyline nightly to try as a migraine preventative. She says we can put them up to 25mg if I tolerate them but they don't stop the migraines at this dose, but I've got to try 10mg for a month first and then sneak them up on myself slowly if necessary. I'm actually feeling quite positive about it all - I've tolerated a tricyclic before at higher doses than this, so touch wood I'll be OK on them and they'll help.

Ann

10mg is actually enough for many people.

Often migrainous vertigo responds better to drugs at lower doses than traditional migraine headaches.

Best of luck.. sounds like your GP knows what she's doing.

Adam

HI Anne,

That's great news. For me, anyway, the key was to stick with the drug for at least a month if it's tolerable. I was terribly tired on the propanonol for 3 weeks. I still get tired on it but it's much, much better than it was initially and the mad dreams have also eased up. At first I thought how the hell am I going to tolerate this tiredness etc..... It can also take a few weeks to really see results.

Really hope it goes well for you. If it wasn't for my stomach issues I'd have stuck with the amitriptyline myself as I didn't find it too bad. So hopefully it will be tolerable and work for you.

Good luck with the cardio consult as well - be great if they sorted something out that helps,

best,

Cheers! I've made Louis promise to make me stick with it for a month and I don't anticipate too many problems because I was on 75mg of dothiepin for ages without side-effects. I'm actually looking forward to taking it tonight, and it's such a tiny little tablet that it can't possibly hurt, can it?!

Apparently the cardio waiting list is aeons long, so I may not get anywhere with that for a good few months. Hopefully the nor (Louis is calling it my norty pill!) will have made a difference by then and it won't be as scary. I was a nervous wreck in the waiting room this morning - the lights and the background noise made me very, very agitated until I found a dark corner to park myself in. It'll all be worth it if it gets to the root of things, though. Has anyone else here looked into the septal defect-migraine link, or am I going to be the guinea-pig?

Ann

i was prescribed nortrypalyne or however you spell it as well for migraine vertigo but instead took paxil. had very good results so far with this. wondering if a regular migraine medicine like immitrex or something is the same as taking nortrypalyne. has anyone had success with their vertigo from nortyptylene? dam that word. :eek: