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Do Migraine Medicines Cause Depression?
Hello Sir, My dad having severe headache from last 5 6 months and taking treatments of migrane as prescribed by certain doctors. But he has now lost the confidence of getting well, and all time keeps saying that it will take time to get well and keeps sleeping whole day. Not ready to go to any doctor now. Should we stop the medicines, Is this side effect of them. Is this symptom of depression?
Tue, 31 Mar 2020
Hi,
First of all, there are several causes of headache such as hypertension, so we cannot diagnose migraine, unless we do several investigations to exclude organic causes. Second, propranolol is used to treat migraine and it causes depression. So, your father should stop the drug and measure his blood pressure, and it was high he would take medical treatment, decrease salt and fat intake, measure the lipid profile in the blood and do an ECG and an ECHO on his heart.
If he did not have hypertension, he would take another drug such as amitriptyline 50 mg. The dose should be half a tablet before bedtime for three days, then one tablet before bedtime. The drug can make him feel thirsty, so if he cannot tolerate the drug in the first three days, he should stop it immediately.
Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Mustafa, Neurologist
First of all, there are several causes of headache such as hypertension, so we cannot diagnose migraine, unless we do several investigations to exclude organic causes. Second, propranolol is used to treat migraine and it causes depression. So, your father should stop the drug and measure his blood pressure, and it was high he would take medical treatment, decrease salt and fat intake, measure the lipid profile in the blood and do an ECG and an ECHO on his heart.
If he did not have hypertension, he would take another drug such as amitriptyline 50 mg. The dose should be half a tablet before bedtime for three days, then one tablet before bedtime. The drug can make him feel thirsty, so if he cannot tolerate the drug in the first three days, he should stop it immediately.
Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Mustafa, Neurologist
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