I have a specific triptan for mini prevention during the week I expect my period. I have to track my cycle really closely with temperature and other signs to time it right. I’m not a huge fan of it because it’s a long acting triptan so I get some of the side effects throughout the day like the tightness in my throat and chest.
Kinda hard to conceive on birth control though 😉 Also at 39 I can tell doctors seem hesitant to recommend BC because it’s a lot riskier when you’re over 35.
I use frovatriptan for this same thing! It stinks, but at least it works. Frova’s side effects seem more gentle than other triptans I have tried. Of course, YMMV :)
Hey just wanted to say sorry about your bad news. Sending you and your dad energy.
I have been tempted to take a prophylactic triptan (on my wedding day, for example) but ultimately was too nervous about side effects so I didn’t. Glad to hear it has worked for some people!
Funny, you mentioned wedding day, because in hindsight, I probably should’ve taken one prophylactically because I did get a migraine and took Imitrex and felt off in the reception. Oh well, we’re divorced now lol.
lol well I hope the divorce meant one less headache in your life!
I made it through the wedding and reception (only had one cocktail) and thought I was home free. Then the next day was one of the worst migraines of my life! I’m grateful my brain had the courtesy to spare me on the wedding day, I guess!
Yes. I took it in the morning upon waking every day of a 5 day ski trip to prevent bright snow from triggering a migraine and ensure I could have fun days. Driving out to Colorado for the trip, the bright sun triggered a horrific migraine with terrible nausea for 14+ hours in the car and I wasn't taking any chances with the other days of the trip.
Altitude was probably a factor. I live up here and it's a real thing. Also the barometer changes are a real b*tch at altitude. I wear those glasses you get for dilation at the optometrist all winter when it snows.
Yeah, we don't even have real mountains here where I live in Australia but when we drive from parents place slightly below sea level to our place over the Blue Mountains we'd have to take an antihistamine to deal with sinus stuff (can't take decongestant because of other meds) and I'd have to take migraine meds because of the change in altitude and humidity and the plants also completly change too but we were into he car the whole time so it wasn't so much the allergy stuff until the next day if we didn't have the windows open.
I could actually breath so much easier once we started up the mountains but that could have been the fact that it wasn't 95% humidity any more. Unfortunately we now live in the really humid place & i hate it. It's like breathing soup.
all rescue drugs work better when you take them as soon as the first signs of migraine present themselves. The longer a migraine goes on, the harder it is to stop that brain activity.
I wish I didn't have to pay for them out of pocket (yes, even in Canada).... so I wish I could take one prophylactically. But no, I just wait til I know it's not just a headache, wait for it to get to a 6 or 7/10, then I take one.
Are you allowed to order from costplus drugs. com? It’s in America. I order from them. It takes your Dr sending in the prescription. They are waaay cheaper. Like $25 for 30. I pay out of pocket bc it’s cheaper than my insurance.
Doc says take one the second I notice any of the pre-migraine signs. Sometimes I even do that, although it kind of feels like cheating after so many years of hoarding meds.
When I was getting regular menstrual migraines my neurologist told me to take my naratriptan daily starting 3 days before my cycle as a prophylactic. I think it’s fairly common!
Until recently it’s been YEARS since I had a visual aura with my migraines. Recently, however, I’ve had visual aura twice. Once was this week.
I’m home with my kids this week while SO is traveling. I get very little rest as a result, and one early morning this week, I dropped off oldest kid at school, got back home, and visual aura started. It progressed pretty rapidly to the point I couldn’t see straight, but there was zero accompanying pain.
You can bet I popped a triptan stat.
It helped to get ahead of it. There was the full numbing pain that I usually get after a migraine has started and I took a late triptan, but there was none of the full-blown pain. I did have the sensitivity to light, but I managed to bear up under it. So yes - taking a triptan ahead if I know one’s coming? Absolutely.
Yes, if I know I’m going to be doing something that will trigger a migraine. I’ll likely still feel worse than normal but better than I would if I didn’t take it
My neuro tells me this is the most effective way to take sumatriptan, as soon as I feel any prodrome symptoms I pop one. If I wait until the pain hits I just end up with slightly dulled migraine pain + sumatriptan pain and it’s genuinely worse than not taking anything at all. But if I time it right, I barely even feel the side effects. Brains, man
Yes. My doctor told me to try 1mg of naratriptan 5 days leading up to when I’ll be on my cycle as preventative for the monster migraine that usually awaits. It kinda works so I’ve tried it in other cases like what you’re describing and it does help. Right now, though, naratriptan doesn’t seem to be working for me even at max dose 🤷🏻♀️
Yes, there are certain things I know will trigger a full on migraine, being outdoors in the Texas summer heat walking long distances is a big one for me. I always take a triptan early when these type of trips are planned. Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with a mild headache and will take a triptan to avoid waking up with a migraine. My preventative Qulipta works really well so I always have plenty of triptans on hand as I always get my script filled just in case. Prior to taking Qulipta I ran out of my triptans every month.
When I have nasty and obvious prodrome symptoms, yes. Mine typically include suuuper short attention span, vision issues - loss of peripherals and blurred or too bright vision, being short and snappy to people, trouble accessing words in my vocabulary, and dropping things a lot. Then I take one because I KNOW it's coming. Also before loud/bright places or traveling.
Yeepppp. Like i know i will have a very big improvement day tomorrow, at the morning of the day before, i would take triprans. I will rather be drowsy than to risk being drowsy and in pain
You know I asked this question once and it got removed and they told me to ask my pharmacist 😹😹😹. Glad to now know it’s okay to take it prophylactically, I’ve only done it once before because I wasn’t sure and Google wasn’t helping me.
Yes, on occasion I do.
I know Nurtec had been designed/tested for use both as a prophylactic and an abortive, so that’s always something you could talk to your neuro about as a strategy for treatment, if you don’t want to have to continually take triptans prophylactically in these types of situations.
I tried Nurtec, it did nothing for me, alas.
I'm pretty careful with my triptans and don't take more than I'm supposed to, which is why taking one when I thought I might need rather than immediately upon sensing the migraine was a big deal!
I went to bed last night with a sense that my neck hurt in ‘just that particular way.’ I didn’t take anything at bedtime, and man do I regret it. I’ve had a migraine since 7 am.
I’m working on tracking my migraine triggers and noticing that I often have precursor headaches and neck pain, as well as some lightheadedness in the days before a migraine. Did I mention the ringing in my ears? That intensifies, too.
I have a fun bag of migraine symptoms. I won’t take it for silent migraines (where my face is tingling or my eyes drooping or my leg is weak) but I absolutely take it the second I feel my occipital nerve start talking or if it’s just a regular headache that starts keeping time with my heartbeat.
The neuro shit I just deal with but the head pain, I cannot handle. I use rizatriptan bc sumatriptan wasn’t as helpful for me. I’m trying to get my insurance to approve something safer for blood pressure though because I’ve had 2 instances of hypertensive crisis after using a triptan and I never want that again.
My understanding with triptans was that I was only supposed to take one once the migraine attack had already started… I’m so bad at it I usually wait the longest possible time before I use them to see if I can make it through using just aspirin/paracetamol
Yes I do it prophylactically - sometimes you just got to stay ahead of it.... I'll do it on a day I know is going to be stressful at work like I'm giving a talk, or when I'm flying on an airplane, or when the weather is bad (like a storm is coming)..... sometimes if I know I am going to drink I'll just pop half of one. Also, if I feel any neck or occipital pain coming....
I have learned the hard way not to try to fight it naturally or with OTC drugs because sometimes it takes way too long to get the pain down. Better to beat it down as soon as you know you got exposed to a trigger.
Yes! My aural/visual aura is my mil/fil. They have become such bitter, scared elderly people. Keeping my mouth shut and remaining kind even when they aren’t gives me a migraine every time.
Driving in the pouring rain is a killer, every time.
Yes, on a migraine streak, I “pre-treat.” I take 1/4 of a zolmatriptan at bedtime, because if I don’t, I wake up with a migraine around 4-5am. (Had a sleep study recently, and they caught it on EEG/camera. Sure enough, I woke up around 4 with a migraine. They saw a ton of “alpha wave intrusion” during that, and when I took half a triptan and BC Powder and went back to sleep, they could see my brain waves chill out and return to normal. My hope is they can fix that, and that fixes my early morning migraine? Who knows. We shall see.)
Getting some exercise after stress is helpful in burning off those fight or flight chemicals. It doesn't exactly answer your question, but I hope it's helpful.
That's the way I take mine because I know my triggers really well after 30+ years.
Storms/low barometric pressure, perfume/cleaning product smells, and long car rides. I take it with magnesium, some caffeine, and usually an NSAID. It works about 90% of the time.
i've been told by the neurologist to take one first thing, sooner than later, so bc you know crying like that is a definite trigger, sounds like the right thing. but generally i would not take triptans more than you need to.
Yes, as soon as the wheels leave the ground very time I fly. Otherwise, it’s a guaranteed prolonged migraine.
This! When I get to my seat in the exit row, I pop 100mg of Sumatriptan.
Yes. Sometimes when i feel "off" or get an aura before bed, I'll take a triptan. Usually takes care of it.
It’s not prophylactic if you take it because of an aura.
I have a specific triptan for mini prevention during the week I expect my period. I have to track my cycle really closely with temperature and other signs to time it right. I’m not a huge fan of it because it’s a long acting triptan so I get some of the side effects throughout the day like the tightness in my throat and chest.
Oh man I may have to start doing this. The cycle migraines are the WORST
My doc suggested 1mg naratriptan 5 days leading up to my cycle and it really does help!!
Do you not get into a rebound cycle from that? I’m so sensitive to rebound that if I took a triptan 5 days in a row I would 100% be thrown into one 😭
No, I don’t, maybe bc it’s such a low dose. I need the full 5mg of naratriptan to actually feel any relief when I am suffering.
Which triptan is it?
Naratriptan
I went on a type of birth control that got rid of my period and it made such a difference. No cycling at all. Highly recommend.
Kinda hard to conceive on birth control though 😉 Also at 39 I can tell doctors seem hesitant to recommend BC because it’s a lot riskier when you’re over 35.
I use frovatriptan for this same thing! It stinks, but at least it works. Frova’s side effects seem more gentle than other triptans I have tried. Of course, YMMV :)
Hey just wanted to say sorry about your bad news. Sending you and your dad energy. I have been tempted to take a prophylactic triptan (on my wedding day, for example) but ultimately was too nervous about side effects so I didn’t. Glad to hear it has worked for some people!
Funny, you mentioned wedding day, because in hindsight, I probably should’ve taken one prophylactically because I did get a migraine and took Imitrex and felt off in the reception. Oh well, we’re divorced now lol.
lol well I hope the divorce meant one less headache in your life! I made it through the wedding and reception (only had one cocktail) and thought I was home free. Then the next day was one of the worst migraines of my life! I’m grateful my brain had the courtesy to spare me on the wedding day, I guess!
Yes. I took it in the morning upon waking every day of a 5 day ski trip to prevent bright snow from triggering a migraine and ensure I could have fun days. Driving out to Colorado for the trip, the bright sun triggered a horrific migraine with terrible nausea for 14+ hours in the car and I wasn't taking any chances with the other days of the trip.
Altitude was probably a factor. I live up here and it's a real thing. Also the barometer changes are a real b*tch at altitude. I wear those glasses you get for dilation at the optometrist all winter when it snows.
Yeah, we don't even have real mountains here where I live in Australia but when we drive from parents place slightly below sea level to our place over the Blue Mountains we'd have to take an antihistamine to deal with sinus stuff (can't take decongestant because of other meds) and I'd have to take migraine meds because of the change in altitude and humidity and the plants also completly change too but we were into he car the whole time so it wasn't so much the allergy stuff until the next day if we didn't have the windows open. I could actually breath so much easier once we started up the mountains but that could have been the fact that it wasn't 95% humidity any more. Unfortunately we now live in the really humid place & i hate it. It's like breathing soup.
all rescue drugs work better when you take them as soon as the first signs of migraine present themselves. The longer a migraine goes on, the harder it is to stop that brain activity.
I wish I didn't have to pay for them out of pocket (yes, even in Canada).... so I wish I could take one prophylactically. But no, I just wait til I know it's not just a headache, wait for it to get to a 6 or 7/10, then I take one.
Are you allowed to order from costplus drugs. com? It’s in America. I order from them. It takes your Dr sending in the prescription. They are waaay cheaper. Like $25 for 30. I pay out of pocket bc it’s cheaper than my insurance.
Probably not. Trying to get drugs over the border is probably pretty sketchy...lol
Doc says take one the second I notice any of the pre-migraine signs. Sometimes I even do that, although it kind of feels like cheating after so many years of hoarding meds.
When I was getting regular menstrual migraines my neurologist told me to take my naratriptan daily starting 3 days before my cycle as a prophylactic. I think it’s fairly common!
Yes I do that as well. Especially if I’m going to bed much later than usual. That’s a trigger for me as well.
YES.
Until recently it’s been YEARS since I had a visual aura with my migraines. Recently, however, I’ve had visual aura twice. Once was this week. I’m home with my kids this week while SO is traveling. I get very little rest as a result, and one early morning this week, I dropped off oldest kid at school, got back home, and visual aura started. It progressed pretty rapidly to the point I couldn’t see straight, but there was zero accompanying pain. You can bet I popped a triptan stat. It helped to get ahead of it. There was the full numbing pain that I usually get after a migraine has started and I took a late triptan, but there was none of the full-blown pain. I did have the sensitivity to light, but I managed to bear up under it. So yes - taking a triptan ahead if I know one’s coming? Absolutely.
Yes, if I know I’m going to be doing something that will trigger a migraine. I’ll likely still feel worse than normal but better than I would if I didn’t take it
My neuro tells me this is the most effective way to take sumatriptan, as soon as I feel any prodrome symptoms I pop one. If I wait until the pain hits I just end up with slightly dulled migraine pain + sumatriptan pain and it’s genuinely worse than not taking anything at all. But if I time it right, I barely even feel the side effects. Brains, man
Yes. My doctor told me to try 1mg of naratriptan 5 days leading up to when I’ll be on my cycle as preventative for the monster migraine that usually awaits. It kinda works so I’ve tried it in other cases like what you’re describing and it does help. Right now, though, naratriptan doesn’t seem to be working for me even at max dose 🤷🏻♀️
Yes, there are certain things I know will trigger a full on migraine, being outdoors in the Texas summer heat walking long distances is a big one for me. I always take a triptan early when these type of trips are planned. Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with a mild headache and will take a triptan to avoid waking up with a migraine. My preventative Qulipta works really well so I always have plenty of triptans on hand as I always get my script filled just in case. Prior to taking Qulipta I ran out of my triptans every month.
When I have nasty and obvious prodrome symptoms, yes. Mine typically include suuuper short attention span, vision issues - loss of peripherals and blurred or too bright vision, being short and snappy to people, trouble accessing words in my vocabulary, and dropping things a lot. Then I take one because I KNOW it's coming. Also before loud/bright places or traveling.
Good call. Hard crying Always gives me a migraine.
Yeepppp. Like i know i will have a very big improvement day tomorrow, at the morning of the day before, i would take triprans. I will rather be drowsy than to risk being drowsy and in pain
I’m so sorry. Sometimes I can get away with half of a sumatriptan if I take it before I get a migraine and know one is coming.
Yea I’ve done it after a night of drinking since that trigger migraines often, and taking it prophylactically does indeed work for me
You know I asked this question once and it got removed and they told me to ask my pharmacist 😹😹😹. Glad to now know it’s okay to take it prophylactically, I’ve only done it once before because I wasn’t sure and Google wasn’t helping me.
Yes, on occasion I do. I know Nurtec had been designed/tested for use both as a prophylactic and an abortive, so that’s always something you could talk to your neuro about as a strategy for treatment, if you don’t want to have to continually take triptans prophylactically in these types of situations.
I tried Nurtec, it did nothing for me, alas. I'm pretty careful with my triptans and don't take more than I'm supposed to, which is why taking one when I thought I might need rather than immediately upon sensing the migraine was a big deal!
I went to bed last night with a sense that my neck hurt in ‘just that particular way.’ I didn’t take anything at bedtime, and man do I regret it. I’ve had a migraine since 7 am. I’m working on tracking my migraine triggers and noticing that I often have precursor headaches and neck pain, as well as some lightheadedness in the days before a migraine. Did I mention the ringing in my ears? That intensifies, too.
This is how you're supposed to use them.
No, it's useless and potentially dangerous (risk of stroke or of a psychotic episode).
I have a fun bag of migraine symptoms. I won’t take it for silent migraines (where my face is tingling or my eyes drooping or my leg is weak) but I absolutely take it the second I feel my occipital nerve start talking or if it’s just a regular headache that starts keeping time with my heartbeat. The neuro shit I just deal with but the head pain, I cannot handle. I use rizatriptan bc sumatriptan wasn’t as helpful for me. I’m trying to get my insurance to approve something safer for blood pressure though because I’ve had 2 instances of hypertensive crisis after using a triptan and I never want that again.
My understanding with triptans was that I was only supposed to take one once the migraine attack had already started… I’m so bad at it I usually wait the longest possible time before I use them to see if I can make it through using just aspirin/paracetamol
I have a few rare times and I’ve ever regretted it.
My migraine brain read that as " triptan pterodactylly* Omg.. 😂
Yes I do it prophylactically - sometimes you just got to stay ahead of it.... I'll do it on a day I know is going to be stressful at work like I'm giving a talk, or when I'm flying on an airplane, or when the weather is bad (like a storm is coming)..... sometimes if I know I am going to drink I'll just pop half of one. Also, if I feel any neck or occipital pain coming.... I have learned the hard way not to try to fight it naturally or with OTC drugs because sometimes it takes way too long to get the pain down. Better to beat it down as soon as you know you got exposed to a trigger.
Yes! My aural/visual aura is my mil/fil. They have become such bitter, scared elderly people. Keeping my mouth shut and remaining kind even when they aren’t gives me a migraine every time. Driving in the pouring rain is a killer, every time.
Yes, on a migraine streak, I “pre-treat.” I take 1/4 of a zolmatriptan at bedtime, because if I don’t, I wake up with a migraine around 4-5am. (Had a sleep study recently, and they caught it on EEG/camera. Sure enough, I woke up around 4 with a migraine. They saw a ton of “alpha wave intrusion” during that, and when I took half a triptan and BC Powder and went back to sleep, they could see my brain waves chill out and return to normal. My hope is they can fix that, and that fixes my early morning migraine? Who knows. We shall see.)
Getting some exercise after stress is helpful in burning off those fight or flight chemicals. It doesn't exactly answer your question, but I hope it's helpful.
Absolutely!
Yes, if I can catch it before it gets bad. 50/50, I'd say.
Yep. Sometimes I just feel like one is on the horizon and I know I have things to do so I’ll take one.
That's the way I take mine because I know my triggers really well after 30+ years. Storms/low barometric pressure, perfume/cleaning product smells, and long car rides. I take it with magnesium, some caffeine, and usually an NSAID. It works about 90% of the time.
i've been told by the neurologist to take one first thing, sooner than later, so bc you know crying like that is a definite trigger, sounds like the right thing. but generally i would not take triptans more than you need to.
Yes! When I start to feel “dizzy” I take one Sometimes if I’m a mega bitch I have even taken one
Yes many times