Question: Abilify for Migraine prevention?
Answer:
Full Question:
I have been battling daily chronic migraines
for 30 years now. My question is: Has there been any medical knowledge whether
Abilify has been useful for daily chronic migraines? A girl I met at MHNI
(Michigan Head*Pain and Neurological Institute) when I was there for the month
of August 2004 under Dr. Saper/Rozen's care has finally found relief from her
daily migraines with Abilify, 1/4 pill, so she has leeway in titrating the
dosage if need be. I have been using Suboxone 2mg. which was helpful in reducing
my head pain at first to a level '3', but now I've acclimated to the Suboxone,
and of course, it's not helping the daily pain. I use Relpax OR DHE injections,
my doctors and I have decided to treat the pain, and not go with preventives any
longer, as ALL the preventives we've used in 30 years have not penetrated the
head pain. I was told by Saper/Rozen that I 'had a sentence of a lifetime of
pain', and that I was a failure (I appropriately disagreed). Any thoughts on
Abilify would be appreciated. Please know after 30 years, I HAVE tried the
preventives, and also used medications that were not specifically FOR treating
migraines (Namenda). Thank you for your time, I see you have been a great help
for others, and also Teri has too. Julie.
Answer:
Dear Julie;
Obviously you have consulted with some very well-known names in the headache field. I have some positive data on Abilify (and the other 4 members of that family) on reducing chronic and even daily headaches and Migraines. So, it might be a reasonable choice. Don't give up; it only gets better and easier to treat tough headaches as newer meds hit the market. You need to be careful, especially with DHE as it's pretty well know to cause rebound headaches when used more than a couple of days a week.
We've accumulated a list of over 100 medications and supplements for prevention. I'm sure you've tried more than your share of preventives, but it's possible that there's something there that you haven't heard of yet. If you'd like to take a look at the list for things you haven't tried, you can find it at:
Medications for Headache and Migraine Prevention
For those of us with frequent headaches or Migraine attacks, preventive
medications, dietary supplements, and even medical devices are often a good
option. There are over 100 medications that can be used and nearly endless
combinations of them. The list is ever-evolving, and will this one will be
updated regularly.
Thanks for your kind comment. It's nice to know that the column is helpful to you.
Good luck,
Teri Robert and John Claude Krusz
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