Has anyone tried an infusion of LIDOCAINE for migraines? I continue to experience daily headaches with migraines several times/week. I am now 15 months following ruptured a/SAH. I think, I must have tried just about everything without success. Pain meds, anti hypertensives (verapamil and propranolol) antiepileptics (topomax, zonisamide and depakote), Imitrex and Relpax, Lyrica for neurogenic pain, a tricyclic (nortriptylline), Botox: twice (the series of 30+ scalp injections every 12 weeks) and recently a 72 hour hospital admission for intravenous DHE infusion. I have also had my eyes checked and have purchased new glasses twice in the past year; when my prescription had changed.
Before the aneurysm, my health was great and I rarely took ANY meds.
Thanks, everyone!
Teresa,
I am so sorry. I have not, didn't know that they offered that. I just had my first Botox treatment a little over 2 weeks ago and am very hopeful that it works. Please let me know if you do the LIDOCAINE treatment and how it works. I have certainly had a lot of issues with migraines and was not happy with the side effects of Topomax and I still had migraines especially with aura.
Take Care,
~ Carol
Hi Teresa,
Sorry to hear you are having so many headache issues still. I still had pretty frequent headaches and occasional migraine probs at 15 months out, but I was mostly able to control the pain with over-the-counter meds and a prescription for dihydrocodeine which I took on bad days. I did have a particularly bad spell of migraines about a year out, and had some success with maxalt/rizatriptan wafers in combating the nausea and a little of the pain with the migraines. So sorry to hear about all the lengths you are having to go to to get some relief from the pain - constant headaches just make life so grating and everything so damn irritable.
I wasn't previously aware of lidocaine treatment for migraine - but having just done a quick bit of research (insert usual "I'm not a doctor" caveats!) - it definitely looks interesting as a treatment for stubborn migraines which are not responding to more regular treatments.
There seems to be two uses of lidocaine which would serve rather different purposes... either as a nasally applied solution, which looks like it has good results and is very fast acting but does not have a long duration of pain control, and has toxicity issues if repeated too often. Some sources seem to say this is mainly practical just to treat the initial pain until slower-acting drugs can effectively take over, which might not be too useful for you if other drugs aren't giving relief. The other treatment seems to be using lidocaine diluted via an intravenous line, which looks like it has great results for combating pain at the time, but has the disadvantage of needing to be administered in a clinical environment, so may not help enough in day to day life...
Sounds at least promising because lidocaine relies on a quite different mechanism to the other things that aren't working for you, so logically it can't hurt to try. I can only imagine how frustrating the whole thing is for you, I know firsthand what it is like going from someone who rarely takes meds to someone who needs them, and it's irksome in the extreme!
Anyway... I realise I just rambled a lot for someone who has not, in fact, tried the treatment you asked about. But I felt it was an interesting topic and I enjoyed reading about it and figured it could not hurt to reply if only to wish you the best and hope that you find some relief from your symptoms soon. The only other good thing I can tell you, is that the neurological pain after a SAH should continue to improve over time - so technically you should always be moving towards feeling better, even if it feels like slow progress just now.
B.
Hi Teresa. I have no personal experience, but when I was a very young doctor in the 1980's it was used in the neurology dept where I worked for a few months. I never fully understood the rationale for using it, but it certainly seemed to work for pain, lasting weeks or months. It is so long ago I can't remember whether it was being used for migraine or for nerve pain. It is a drug that must only be given under medical supervision and monitoring because of its heart effects.
I've done a quick search of the more up to date medical literature and it seems it is still in use, mainly for neuropathic pain. Please let me know if you have it and if it works.
Judith
Hi Teresa...I have never used Lidocaine for migraines...hope it helps and you get some relief...let us know how it works...wishing you relief from headaches...~ Colleen
Hi, Carol. Thanks for your reply. I just hate headaches! I didn't do well on the Topamax. I caused terrible fatigue. Hope you feel better. =)
Thanks, Bruce. I appreciate your input. It is interesting and like you mentioned, "relies on a quite different mechanism than the other things." Seems like it would be worth a try. Just so terribly frustrated. Never in my life would have imagined how much headaches impact life. The daily part is most frustrating!
Thanks for reminding me, things should continue to improve over time. Even though it is quite logical, sometimes I need to look at how far I have come and not how much farther I have to go. =)
Yay, Jo! Sounds like it may be worth a try. So nice to hear, there may be some relief! I am still on propranolol, too. The nortriptyline didn't work for me, although it did make me sleep better. I think I am a "cheap date" with meds, as a general rule. =/
I hope to get off these meds someday, too.
Thanks for the hug, hugs are always good. =)
Thanks, Judith! I have a "cardiac clearance" appointment with a cardiologist before my next visit with my neurologist; just to be on the safe side with Lidocaine. I have an irregular heart rate. I am hopeful that I can get some relief from the daily headaches. I appreciate your comments. =)
Thanks, Colleen! If my doc proceeds with the plan next month, I will follow up. =)
No worries, Teresa - sorry I couldn't be more useful, but I see some others here have more lidocaine experience firsthand and have probably been more helpful!
Good luck with the treatment, hopefully it helps you out - and certainly be secure in the knowledge that things will keep improving, slow and unrelenting as it may feel!