Hi, it's been suggested that I try Flunarizine to try to reduce the frequency of migraines (in getting them more and more often, which correlates with my vss worsening over 5yrs). I'm aware that there is no realistic chance of it positively impacting the vss, but I'm curious if anybody here has tried it and if it made vss worse. I'm pretty cautious about taking medications these days after some unpleasant experiences on other prescribed medications.
Due to the lack of research in this area, I figure y'all are the best source of information available.
I'd be very grateful for any insights!
TLDR: Flunarizine did not worsen visuals, but it was discontinued because of depression.
> DISCLAIMER: Please, do not draw any conclusions solely from what you read here. I try to be methodical, but this is not science: this is just an anecdotal report from some random person on the internet. Please do consult with your doctor and make sure they understand your condition.
MOTIVATION
Flunarizine (Sibelium), at a dose of 10mg/day, has been used to prevent migraines for a long time [1]. Depression and extrapyramidal symptoms may appear as side effects; it is thus counterindicated in patients with depression. It has been shown to somehow improve tinnitus with associated vertigo [3], but the evidence seems weak and many times flunarizine is not distinguishable from placebo [8].
- Berkowitz et al [4] report that flunarizine did not help their VSS patients. Van Dongen et al [5] also report it was ineffective in one patient.
- u/PieTio89 [7] reports that flunarizine worsened their symptoms and caused extrapyramidal symptoms.
I was prescribed Flunarizine for the treatment of migraine, my doctor decided to retire it as depression become more evident.
PROTOCOL.
I took Flunarizine (5mg/day) during a month. During the first week of that month, I took Magnesium and CoQ10 supplementation (see also [2]). I also took Melatonin (1mg/day) and Diazepam (1mg/day) during the last week of that month.
After this first month, the dose was raised to 10mg/day during a week and then the medication was discontinued.
RESULTS.
My tinnitus and remained the same; perhaps migraine intensity improved slightly. My visual symptoms remained the same; they followed the same slow worsening progression of the first months of VSS, but they did not change in any very significant way. I did not experience any extrapyramidal symptoms. I did experience a slight worsening of my depression that could or could not be related to this medication.
MY CONCLUSION.
Flunarizine may be a good migraine prophylactic and it does not necessarily worsen VS symptoms. It could even be that it improves tinnitus, but evidence is very weak; and if it does, it is in a very small way. Its main problem is that it is counterindicated in depression and that it may cause extrapyramidal symptoms (which should be rare).
REFERENCES.
- [1] Flunarizine, a Calcium Channel Blocker: a New Prophylactic Drug in Migraine (1983). https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1526-4610
Has anyone tride Sibelium , can they say if it was effective? If yes, in how much days had they started noticing effects of it?
I am chronic daily migraine sufferers and am on it since 2 weeks but haven't noticed any significant improvement.
I saw my new neurologist for the first time last week to talk about prophylaxis and he discussed with me and then recommended to my GP various options I'd not tried before including flunarizine. So, as I get to choose, I said I'd try that first.
I already knew that flunarizine is unlicensed in the UK but that it can be prescribed 'off-label'. The complication is getting hold of it. It has to be ordered in specially.
Given all this I wasn't really surprised when my GP failed to get their computer to let them prescribe it to me so they were going to talk to the surgery pharmacist about options and get back to me today, which they've not done.
So I'm wondering if anyone else in the sub who's also in Scotland has been successful in getting onto flunarizine?
It presumably must be possible as otherwise why would my Scottish neurologist recommend it ...
Am currently doing transcranial magnetic stimulation but haven’t had any improvement as of yet (been doing for a month now). Just wondering if anyone has tried flunarizine and had any benefit from it?
Lately I've noticed taking them making me feel very weak and woozy for some hours.Is this common effect among migraine medications or do I have to switch to something else?
Has anyone been on Sibelium? How long does it take to actually start showing effects? I read it takes some time to actually start working.
I have mentioned this to the point that many might think I am going crazy with this .. I am from India (in US now) and got my father to go to a doc with my MRI and CT scan .. along with a description of my symptoms.. he has prescribed flunarizine.. see this link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3074615 I am on keto as well (3-4 days now) and will try this medication in about three weeks...
Hopefully it helps..
The migraine clinic prescribed this for my long drawn out migraine with aura with negative features. I have never heard of it. Has anyone tried this? What was your experience?
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Do your worst!
I'm a 22yo male who's been suffering from chronic headaches and migraines for years. I have tried several preventives medications over the last years. The last one which I tried are Amitryptiline (made me really sleepy and hungry and didn't help), Flunarizine (didn't nothing), and Topamax.
Topamax is the only medication that helped a LOT, but it had so many side effects (really slow thinking, which is actually hard to deal to study, extreme caughing that caused me to have a bilateral inguinal hernia, can't eat anything...).But for mysterious reasons, Topamax has stopped working completely since the last month, even tho I increased the dosage, it does nothing anymore. I can now eat, think normally again, I don't caugh anymore, but the pain is also back.
I can try Botox with my neurologist this evening, but the reviews I see on drugs.com are scaring me to death, honestly. The ones I see on reddit are pretty positives, but some of them, especially on drugs.com, say that it literrally destroyed their life, and that they should have never done it or it made the pain a lot worse, which leave me a bit skeptical.
My back is now against the wall, yesterday I had a lot of blood in my stool, which means that I'm probably bleeding from my stomach from NSAID overuse. I'm really afraid of trying a medication that is going to make things worse, because we're now talking talking about something whose effects will last for a long time, and I don't think I'll be able to handle "more pain" than what I have right now
Hopefully someone can advice me
Thank you !
EDIT :
I did the injections and I'll update here so this might benefit other people.
Day 0 after the injection : nothing to complain about, still having my chronic tension headache which seems to have improved a little bit, but that's probably placebo or unrelated, too early to judge.
Day 1 : Waking up with a very strong migraine, kicking in my right temple, which is one of the spot in which he injected. That was not expected at all, as I was okay before going to sleep and I never woke up with a migraine before, (they always start at the end of the day for me). Doctor didn't warn be about "rebound migraines" after Botox but I read on this subreddit that's pretty common for the next days after the injections, so it's fine
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
They’re on standbi
Pilot on me!!
Nothing, he was gladiator.
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
When I got home, they were still there.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
I won't be doing that today!
[Removed]
Where ever you left it 🤷♀️🤭
This morning, my 4 year old daughter.
Daughter: I'm hungry
Me: nerves building, smile widening
Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.
She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.
Thank you all for listening.
There hasn't been a post all year!
You take away their little brooms
It was about a weak back.
Hello /r/migraine!
These symptoms started for me around 5 years ago. While at work (I'm on a computer 8 hours a day), every day I started feeling really dazed/confused with a creeping sense of nausea. Sitting there in the office it felt like I was in a dream and couldn't focus at all on my work. As this was persistent, I saw a neurologist who said it was a form of migraine. I had a head MRI done and found no issues. I tried a few different tablets but none worked.
Then I discovered Sibelium (Flunarazine) which appears to solve my issue - dazed feeling gone most days. So I've been taking it daily ever since and all seems well.
But as a long-term medication, I have become a bit wary of side effects, especially since no doctors I've talked to know about this drug and the pharmacy has to special order it in for me every time. So in the last few months I stopped taking it to see if I could manage without it, and surprisingly I have been mostly fine apart from a dull head occasionally which I was able to ignore.
I have always had a susceptibility to get eye strain if I'm watching TV or using a computer for too long (my eyes have been checked out multiple times over the years, my vision is fine), and I feel like over Christmas and the break while at home I have been less careful, and the dazed feeling is back in full force. On Christmas day, I was playing Mario Kart for an hour or two and had to stop due to fairly bad nausea and dizziness that only calmed down after an hour or so.
So you might say I'm answering my own questions here, but I'm curious if anyone else has this type of migraine (eye strain/screen induced) and what medication might help it. Any experience with Flunarizine or alternatives? Anything that I could take only when I feel I need it, rather than a long-term medication - something like Stemetil? And of course, the obvious answer is to limit screen time and take more frequent breaks.
Thanks!
