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Looking Safe And Effective Medicine For Migraine Headaches
Question: Migraine headaches & medications for my teenage daughter, 16yrs.
my daughter, 16yrs, has been referred out from primary dr. to a neurologist for headaches, as he feels she is having migraines. She has had blood work done (nothing noted in that report, all good with blood), I have had her eye dr examine and re-examine, but nothing has changed, MSG was eliminated for short time, nothing came from that? Neuro dr has tried 2 meds, the last being Elavil and now the dr has prescribed neurotin (Gabaputenan) 300mg for my daughter to take 2x a day. I am not too sure about this medication for my daughter, as I know of it and have taken it with other meds I take for my bipolar & I am confused as to why this dr would prescribe this med for her. I do understand that some medications treat other symptoms for other conditions other than what that medication was originally designed for, ie., Cymbalta for fibromyalsgia. excuse my spelling plz! My question is what type of medications are more commonly used and effective for migraines (along with diets) and how do you feel about GabaGaba (I call it that), the neurotrin for migraines. My daughter needs to function during her waking hours, especially in school to which we do not want her to drop in her GPA or grades go down. And, those are the very things my daughter is worried about, SCHOOLing! Very smart cookie she is, but if I could get some straight talk and guidelines or something which will help me and better prepare me and her when she is to return to her neuro dr. I really do not want to see her go down in the dumps to depression because she believes that she can never be fixed or manage her headaches. Thank you for your time, I truly appreciate it. Oh, and the neuro dr. would like my daughter to have an MRI of her brain?
XXXXXXX
my daughter, 16yrs, has been referred out from primary dr. to a neurologist for headaches, as he feels she is having migraines. She has had blood work done (nothing noted in that report, all good with blood), I have had her eye dr examine and re-examine, but nothing has changed, MSG was eliminated for short time, nothing came from that? Neuro dr has tried 2 meds, the last being Elavil and now the dr has prescribed neurotin (Gabaputenan) 300mg for my daughter to take 2x a day. I am not too sure about this medication for my daughter, as I know of it and have taken it with other meds I take for my bipolar & I am confused as to why this dr would prescribe this med for her. I do understand that some medications treat other symptoms for other conditions other than what that medication was originally designed for, ie., Cymbalta for fibromyalsgia. excuse my spelling plz! My question is what type of medications are more commonly used and effective for migraines (along with diets) and how do you feel about GabaGaba (I call it that), the neurotrin for migraines. My daughter needs to function during her waking hours, especially in school to which we do not want her to drop in her GPA or grades go down. And, those are the very things my daughter is worried about, SCHOOLing! Very smart cookie she is, but if I could get some straight talk and guidelines or something which will help me and better prepare me and her when she is to return to her neuro dr. I really do not want to see her go down in the dumps to depression because she believes that she can never be fixed or manage her headaches. Thank you for your time, I truly appreciate it. Oh, and the neuro dr. would like my daughter to have an MRI of her brain?
XXXXXXX
Hello,
Thanks for the query.
If the diagnosis of migraine is not certain then a variety of medications are available for prophylaxis. Alternatively if the frequency of headaches in low, say once in 2-3 weeks, then analgesics as and when required can be given. Gabapentin is certainly not a popular medication among neurologists for the treatment of migraine. The common choices are flunarizine, valproate, amitryptilline, topiramate. She has already been given Eliwel (amitryptilline) which still leaves us with other good choices. None the less I must say that Gabapentin has also been found effective for migraine and there is no harm in trying it for a while.
Among dietary advices, chocolates are the one's which need to be avoided. Also some people have worsening with smoked food.
I XXXXXXX not think it is a cause of big worry and she should be able to carry on with her schooling as before.
Hope that answers your query. If there are more queries, I will be happy to answer.
Good luck.
Thanks for the query.
If the diagnosis of migraine is not certain then a variety of medications are available for prophylaxis. Alternatively if the frequency of headaches in low, say once in 2-3 weeks, then analgesics as and when required can be given. Gabapentin is certainly not a popular medication among neurologists for the treatment of migraine. The common choices are flunarizine, valproate, amitryptilline, topiramate. She has already been given Eliwel (amitryptilline) which still leaves us with other good choices. None the less I must say that Gabapentin has also been found effective for migraine and there is no harm in trying it for a while.
Among dietary advices, chocolates are the one's which need to be avoided. Also some people have worsening with smoked food.
I XXXXXXX not think it is a cause of big worry and she should be able to carry on with her schooling as before.
Hope that answers your query. If there are more queries, I will be happy to answer.
Good luck.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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