Last time I got a migraine I took a big dose of magnesium and some soda, because I'm out of hardcore pain killers, and it really cut down my aura time, but your results may vary.
10 mg. of Amlodapine per day as preventive. It is a harmless calcium channel blocker and works 100% to prevent visual auras. Also prevents profound numbness--all I get is mild tingling occasionally. Works for my son and everyone I know who has tried it, too.
Calcium channel blockers are not necessarily harmless. They can cause dangerous drops in blood pressure or changes in heart rate, swelling in feet and legs, dizziness. And, nothing works 100%...there's always someone who it doesn't work for.
This particular CCB has no direct affect on the heart. It is an old drug with an excellent safety profile. It can cause edema in the ankles--annoying, not harmful. Compared to every other preventive I've tried, it is a dream come true. I have Basilar migraine with multiple, PERSISTENT auras (meaning I suffer blindness for months, as well as many other symptoms). So long as I take this med, I don't have them ever, at all. It has been 100% effective, with no breakthrough for 10 years. Same for my son. Same for 2 other people I know. Doesn't prove it works for everyone, but I've yet to meet anyone for whom it didn't get rid of the auras.
I understand that it was meant to be a helpful suggestion, but giving absolutes like that can be dangerous.
Saying something like "it's been 100% effective for me and others I know who have taken it, and we haven't experienced any side effects" is a totally acceptable thing to say, and I wouldn't have taken any issue with it...however, when it comes to prescription drugs, nothing is completely harmless, nor does anything work 100% for everyone.
Also, Amlodipine does have a direct effect on the heart. Calcium channel blockers (because they block calcium channels) relax the smooth muscle of the heart wall. Yes it is an old drug and does have a great safety profile, but it is by no means completely "harmless."
Look here, the only "absolute" I gave was the complete truth. I did not ever say it worked 100% of the time for others; You are putting words in my mouth. I was speaking of my own experience with it and my son's (and friends'). It is at UNC Hospitals and elsewhere here the first-line preventinve for persistent aura and complicated migraine. There's a reason for that. The 3 nationally famous migraine specialists who have worked on me all assured me Amlodipine has "no direct effect on the heart"; it works by affecting the smooth muscle of the peripheral arterial system instead. It is the one CCB safe to use in heart failure patients. It is extremely, extremely rare for it to cause a blood pressure drop below the normal range. I repeat: it is a relatively benign medication when we are talking about what is available as an effective migraine aura preventive.
I don't think people here need to preface every single message with the warning that all medications can cause side effects. I thik we all know that my now. Moreover, auras, especially multiple, frequent, or persistent ones are "dangerous" in themselves. It is prudent to prevent them, says my neurologist and peer-reviewed research, even if the patient has to put up with some side effects. Migraine with aura has recently been reclassified as a degenerative disease, NOT a benign annoyance like swollen ankles, because of the brain damage it can and frequently does cause.
As for your remark that my free expression of my results with Amlodipine is somehow "dangerous"--doesn't that, on reflection, strike you as just a bit . . . well, dramatic? No one reading here can attain it or any other such medication without medical supervison and prescription. We are all here because doctors have limited time, limited CARE, and limited efficacy to study all the manifestations of migraine and all the various treatments that may, for whatever reason, help some of their patients, but not others--who may need something else. That's why we are here--because we are the sufferers and experiencers, the ones most invested in finding a way to manage this condition. The true "danger" in having this disease is relying on the Western medical community to save you rather than educating yourself about all possibilities and bringing that self-education to the table in a truly egalitarian collaboration with the prescripting physician, who typically give 15 minutes of his time to your "case."
Now, I've said all I care to on this message, which was orinially and still is a generous gesture. I stand nothing to gain here, since Norvasc/Amlopidine works for me. I stand by my orignial statement to the other suffers here--at least the ones who want to get well. Folks who continue to suffer with migraine and who are asking for suggestions can take this testimonial or leave it without your running interference for them.
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kurai_tenshi21) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
migraines,
cold 
February 16 2008, 00:29:23 UTC 4 years ago
February 16 2008, 00:54:53 UTC 4 years ago
February 16 2008, 03:47:13 UTC 4 years ago
Rid of Auras
10 mg. of Amlodapine per day as preventive. It is a harmless calcium channel blocker and works 100% to prevent visual auras. Also prevents profound numbness--all I get is mild tingling occasionally. Works for my son and everyone I know who has tried it, too.February 16 2008, 04:06:25 UTC 4 years ago
Re: Rid of Auras
Calcium channel blockers are not necessarily harmless. They can cause dangerous drops in blood pressure or changes in heart rate, swelling in feet and legs, dizziness. And, nothing works 100%...there's always someone who it doesn't work for.February 16 2008, 05:59:54 UTC 4 years ago
Re: Rid of Auras
This particular CCB has no direct affect on the heart. It is an old drug with an excellent safety profile. It can cause edema in the ankles--annoying, not harmful. Compared to every other preventive I've tried, it is a dream come true. I have Basilar migraine with multiple, PERSISTENT auras (meaning I suffer blindness for months, as well as many other symptoms). So long as I take this med, I don't have them ever, at all. It has been 100% effective, with no breakthrough for 10 years. Same for my son. Same for 2 other people I know. Doesn't prove it works for everyone, but I've yet to meet anyone for whom it didn't get rid of the auras.It was meant to be a helpful suggestion.
February 16 2008, 07:35:43 UTC 4 years ago
Re: Rid of Auras
I understand that it was meant to be a helpful suggestion, but giving absolutes like that can be dangerous.Saying something like "it's been 100% effective for me and others I know who have taken it, and we haven't experienced any side effects" is a totally acceptable thing to say, and I wouldn't have taken any issue with it...however, when it comes to prescription drugs, nothing is completely harmless, nor does anything work 100% for everyone.
Also, Amlodipine does have a direct effect on the heart. Calcium channel blockers (because they block calcium channels) relax the smooth muscle of the heart wall. Yes it is an old drug and does have a great safety profile, but it is by no means completely "harmless."
February 17 2008, 00:44:30 UTC 4 years ago
Re: Rid of Auras
Look here, the only "absolute" I gave was the complete truth. I did not ever say it worked 100% of the time for others; You are putting words in my mouth. I was speaking of my own experience with it and my son's (and friends'). It is at UNC Hospitals and elsewhere here the first-line preventinve for persistent aura and complicated migraine. There's a reason for that. The 3 nationally famous migraine specialists who have worked on me all assured me Amlodipine has "no direct effect on the heart"; it works by affecting the smooth muscle of the peripheral arterial system instead. It is the one CCB safe to use in heart failure patients. It is extremely, extremely rare for it to cause a blood pressure drop below the normal range. I repeat: it is a relatively benign medication when we are talking about what is available as an effective migraine aura preventive.I don't think people here need to preface every single message with the warning that all medications can cause side effects. I thik we all know that my now. Moreover, auras, especially multiple, frequent, or persistent ones are "dangerous" in themselves. It is prudent to prevent them, says my neurologist and peer-reviewed research, even if the patient has to put up with some side effects. Migraine with aura has recently been reclassified as a degenerative disease, NOT a benign annoyance like swollen ankles, because of the brain damage it can and frequently does cause.
As for your remark that my free expression of my results with Amlodipine is somehow "dangerous"--doesn't that, on reflection, strike you as just a bit . . . well, dramatic? No one reading here can attain it or any other such medication without medical supervison and prescription. We are all here because doctors have limited time, limited CARE, and limited efficacy to study all the manifestations of migraine and all the various treatments that may, for whatever reason, help some of their patients, but not others--who may need something else. That's why we are here--because we are the sufferers and experiencers, the ones most invested in finding a way to manage this condition. The true "danger" in having this disease is relying on the Western medical community to save you rather than educating yourself about all possibilities and bringing that self-education to the table in a truly egalitarian collaboration with the prescripting physician, who typically give 15 minutes of his time to your "case."
Now, I've said all I care to on this message, which was orinially and still is a generous gesture. I stand nothing to gain here, since Norvasc/Amlopidine works for me. I stand by my orignial statement to the other suffers here--at least the ones who want to get well. Folks who continue to suffer with migraine and who are asking for suggestions can take this testimonial or leave it without your running interference for them.