nh_user_29221 19 March 2013 14:18 1

Just to say how well this drug has worked for me, I have been on it for about 6 months now. I spent years resisting taking a preventative migraine drug, maintaining that I only needed to take my Sumatriptan when I had a migraine. But the frequency of the migraines increased, even though I had given up work. Finally I went to the doctor who prescribed propranolol, 1x40mg tablet twice a day. Even though the Dr said it would take time to build up in my system and start working; I noticed an effect from the morning after the first pill. Previously I nearly always woke up feeling stuffy, having to move around gently until the 'potential' headache disappeared, likewise during the day I would have to be careful of things that would trigger a migraine. Now I wake up feeling absolutely fine and am able to get on with life. The only side effect is that I do wake up more during the night, however I seem to need less sleep and have gained at least an hour of useful time each day. I do still get the odd migraine, but they are less severe than before and I recover faster. I also still avoid my triggers like lactose, alcohol and too many late nights.

nh_user_34074 15 June 2013 16:02 2

Hi just to say thats great for you being mostly mig free, my doc has just prescribed propranolol and I have taken it for a week and it's my menstrual week when i would usually be rollling around in agony complaining to everyone about 'MY HEAD' and so far nothing!!!!!!!!!!!! It is a total miracle. However like you i'm wakeful in the night and quite tired in the day but my main concern is the weight gain. I'm already 2 stone overweight after having a child 13 mnths ago and cannot risk putting on anymore. Have you found weight gain an issue? Hope you continue to be mig free(ish)!

El

nh_user_29221 15 June 2013 19:41 3

Sounds good so far, as to the side effects, stick with it, it can sometimes take a few weeks for your body to adjust to new drugs. Since I wrote the last post I am sleeping better and am not tired in the day. I have also halved my morning dosage by cutting the pill in half and this seems to have the effect of reducing the slightly whoozie feeling I had - but I suggest you don't do this until you have been on the medication for a while and you should really ask your Dr about it. As to weight gain, it has never been a problem for me, I'm a naturally skinny person and I haven't noticed any real change, however all the extra time I've gained means I can exercise more and get back the level of fitness I used to have! Isn't it great when something works as you hope it will?

nh_user_33461 17 June 2013 10:06 4

I would just like to echo your thoughts about propanalol. I am exactly the same with migraines. I have had them since I was 13 years old and am now 40. Since taking the propanalol I have now been migraine free for 2 years! Which to me is a miracle. I would agree with the weight gain. I now find it very difficult to lose weight which I never did before. I was putting this down to my age! However I would not say I had much of a weight gain, maybe half a stone which I can't say is 100% down to the propanalol

anon53727290 6 December 2013 10:46 5

I started taking propranolol approx 3 yrs ago after suffering from migraines since the age of 14 (I am now 35). I found them really effective in reducing the attacks considerably and any that I did get where not as severe. When I first started taking them I found I was incredible tired but this wore off after about a month. I didn't suffer any weight gain or any other major side effects initially but after about 18mnths I started to experience palpitations and dizzy spells. I couldn't be sure that this was down to the drug but stopped taking it anyway. My migraines have come back full force since then unfortunately. I recently spent the day in my local a&e department and received intravenous medication for what I can only describe as the worst pain of my life (including child birth). So I have been back to my Gp today and started back on Propanolol. I did consider alternative drugs but felt it was a case of "better the devil you know than the devil you don't". I'm going to give it another try and if the dizzy spells come back I'll know what's causing them and will have to try something else. It's definitely a brilliant drug for migraines and the modified release is better than the fast acting tablets as they make you less sleepy.

nh_user_47638 23 December 2013 15:14 6

Hi

I have just started taking propranolol after suffering horrific headaches since the age of 13. My attacks were unpredictable and left me bed bound for days. This is a miracle drug as far as I am concerned. Yes, I do seem to have put about ½ stone on in weight and my sleep pattern has altered dramatically…..but this all pales into insignificance when I think about the last 2 ½ months of being pain free!

Why did my old GP not tell me about this?

My concern and question is this:-

I have read a great deal about this drug, being used mainly for anxiety attacks etc. There is a strong message that patients must NOT simply stop taking them. As a Migraine sufferer will I be on this drug for the rest of my life, if so will I need to continue taking 40mg X day?

anon53727290 9 January 2014 01:48 7

Just so happens I suffer migraines as well as anxiety. I found these lying around, for some reason I had stopped taking them (probably when I had pancreatitis and thought they were triggering an allergic reaction.) I's started to take them again to see how well they work, and if they do the job I'll ask my doc for more.

anon53727290 14 January 2014 00:22 8

I have been on propranolol for anxiety and migraine for quite a few years now....at the 80mg dose i felt itchy and faintish so i reduced them to 75mg which is 3/4 of a pill in the morning and 1 whole one at night. i have palpitations anyway due to anxiety state, so i cant tell if its the propran. but apparently they slow your heart beat and pulse so this creates "funky" feelings ito me. That is why i find im better off on 75mg a day. But i do find that if i go out into the really cold weather i feel faint when i get in the warm for a little while, or vice versa. they keep me off tranqs and do help a lot with migraines which all my life id had every couple of weeks and would last a week at a time. i can actually eat my triggers now such as cheese, bacon, chocolate, as long as i dont eat massive amounts. so for me id say yes they help a lot.

anon53727290 17 February 2014 14:52 9

Hi everyone. I was just searching propranolol and migraines and found this discussion. I've had migraines since I was 7 (almost 27 years now) but my symptoms have become more severe and frequent in the past 6 months or so. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and was thinking about asking her if propranolol would be the way to go since I know someone else who uses that med. From this discussion, it sounds like it's working well for people? I'm a scientist and having my focus and not missing work are so important and it makes it difficult when I think a migraine is always around the corner. Any advice or information anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated! Best of luck, everyone!

nh_user_47638 18 February 2014 11:58 10

HI

I have been on Propranolol for the last 6 months now 40mg X 2 daily. Apart from restless night’s sleep occasionally I can’t say I have noticed any other side effects. I have gone from severe cluster headaches to the occasional migraine! Success! Having had migraine since I was 13 (now 51) this is a breakthrough and was only offered this drug treatment after getting a new GP!

My question is…..will I be on this treatment for the rest of my life?

nh_user_70674 20 February 2014 23:15 11

Hi,

I agree completely. I was put on propranolol 80mg slow release a few years ago, the brought my chronic migraine back to a manageable level. I came off them a year ago to start a family, which was unsuccessful however the 12 months were hell, my migraines were every 12 days of 4 day duration, violent sickness and screaming. Then the days in between were headaches and background migraines, I gave up my job to live off savings and the pain just got worse. Then they never stopped from dec 2013 the pain was 24 7 with a massive migraine every 12 days. I was starting a new job and terrified my life was never going to get better. My new doctor said he won't do any referrals to my neuro until I get back on treatment. I didn't want a daily tablet again but just bit the bullet and did it. Two days later that headache lifted!!!!!! It was amazing, I'm on week 2.5 and I'm doing so good. I e had headaches but nothing horrendous, and I'm working again and living again. That constant pain just evaporated, and my sumatriptan controls the bad migraines.

I have to recommend buccastem antisick to all the fellow migrainers, especially us menstrual migraine ladies. Since I started to take buccal them at the start of an attack I can usually stop the vomitting, also this stops the stomach shutting down so trip tan gets absorbed, so the migraine never gets unbearable.....it was getting migraines where no one could help and I thought I was dying, but I never used to take antisick. Now every time I feel bad attack starting I put a buccastem under my lip, then 2 x 400mg ibuprofen on advice of Neurologist who suffered migraine herself....thus can stop an attack and keep it handle able to work, if it breaks through again then another antisick and sumatriptan should keep ypu going. Obviously it doesn't stop the attack but I haven't had a day in bed for a while!!

nh_user_70674 20 February 2014 23:21 12

Apologies my ipad is auto correcting all my words above lol so I sound a bit odd! Hopefully you get the jist! Other two tips are hypnotherapy, I've had 5 sessions and it's based around changing your thoughts subconsciously so your mind stops thinking about the headache....idea being it's constantly in pain just now, so, you naturally wake up in pain because that's what your brains been used to so it's habit....I found taking propranolol etc with this therapy all seemed to help. Also...last bit of advice....tiger balm. I buy hard and jars from boots and smother all over head and neck...it works.

nh_user_17541 26 February 2014 08:49 13

Hi, at last people who are the same as me. I have suffered headaches/migraines as long as I can remember, now 46, and the maternal line of my family are the same aswell. Mine are mainly cluster headaches, with the odd bad attack maybe once/twice a month. Eventually I succumbed in Sept 2013 and my GP put me on 80mg propranolol once a day, but it made me so tired and washed out he reduced it to 40mg. So far so good, attacks are about 25% what they were, not so tired, but only down side is slight, but constant weight gain, which I'm not happy about, just have to control the diet and increase the exercise.

Not sure if I need these tablets forever, or maybe my body just needed a kick start and I will be able to come off them. Don't really want to stay on them, especially because of the weight issue, but you have to weight these things up.

anon53727290 26 February 2014 23:35 14

hi i take propranolol for Migraine and anxiety, and i found that if i jiggled the dose til it felt right for me, it stopped most migraines from occuring and i was able to eat chocolate, cheese etc again but if i overindulged id get a migraine. I also still get occasional migraines but although they are nasty they arent half as bad as they can be without the propranolol. i was getting them every 2 weeks for about 5 days at a time and this has also reduced greatly. i was given one 80mg slow release per day which made me feel faint and weak and sleepy. so doc gave me 40mg x 2 daily and i found this was better...but i still felt a bit funky so i decided to take 1 x 40mg at night and 3/4 of a tab in the morning and this has worked out fine for me. ..every one is different so require different amounts to help. I am staying on them as id say they have helped a lot. If you stop them it will probably return. They dont have long term effects, but act more like a painkiller, they work while you are still taking them. ..as for weight gain im not sure but am not bothered, id rather be weighty than suffer evil migraines!

nh_user_134384 11 March 2014 03:09 15

Hi, I've suffered from migraines for years to the point I would often have to leave work and go home to bed. After trying Imigran I found that this really helped however the past 12 months I was having to take more of the tablets to get rid of the migraine. After visiting the doctor he prescribed Propanalol, I take one tablet per day usually of a morning with breakfast and I have seen a massive reduction in the amount of migraines to the point where I hardly get them. When I do get one I take two aspirin, two paracetamol and a buccastem anti sickness tablet and they go within an hour. I also found taking the tablets with a can of full fat coke rather then water sped up my recovery time. After researching on the internet a lot of people also said taking the tablets with coke was really affective as when a migraine kicks in your stomach closes in a way to concentrate on fighting the migraine which often causes the nausea but the sugars in the coke open your stomach again. For anyone thinking about taking Propanalol I think it's definitely worth a try. Also trying to avoid triggers such as alcohol, chocolate, cheese and bacon has helped.

anon53727290 13 March 2014 10:34 16

I'm a 74 year old lady and new to the world of migraine as I've never had one before. But have had 34 incidents of Ocular Migraine since Sept 2013. Not all with following headaches. I'm keeping a migraine diary but cannot spot any particular triggers. Nothing nasty showed up on the CT Scan so my doctor put me on Propanolol . 40mg to start then 80mg but as they haven't stopped he's now increased them to 160mg. I was very worried about this but now I've read all your positive comments I'll accept them more readily. BUT has anyone heard of this situation before ? ie so many ocular migraines in a short time - out of the blue. I'm wondering wether I should ask to see a specialist of some sort. Has anyone done that?

anon53727290 20 May 2014 13:57 17

Hi everyone       

I have suffered with with cluster headaches for almost ten years.   With the help of Sumatriptan, I have been able to cope with most to a fashion but others have put me in bed for a day.   The following day I feel as though I am recovering from a nasty illness, weak and shaky.    I have read in research that cluster headaches tend to "die off" once you reach 70 but here I am at 71 and if anything they seem to have got slightly worse.     This prompted me to visit my doctor today to see if there was perhaps something else I could take.    He has prescribed Propranolol 40mg twice daily which will be an ongoing medication if it works.    I have to say I was very concerned about having to take what could potentially be a lifelong tablet but you guys have put my mind at rest with your remarks, with the exception perhaps of the likelihood of possible weight gain!!!!      I will let you all know how I get on.    In the meantime fellow sufferers, I wish you well

Tiny

nh_user_281781 27 May 2014 10:37 18

Hi all, i have had headaches for as long as i can remember, I'm 20 now. before, my headaches were once or twice a week, however up until 18 months or so ago,they've  happened every day, not helped by me taking 6 paracetamol every day to take the pain away. I was prescribed half-beta prograne propranolol last week, one a day, and have had mixed success with them at first i had the worst migraine imaginable however the next day i never had a headache all day, it felt fantastic! However since then ive still been getting them, they are normally taken away with aspirin but i don't want to keep taking painkillers everyday. Is there a better time to take the propranolol? As i take it first thing in the morning, however ive already got a light headache by then and it wont affect my headache unless i take painkillers, is it perhaps better to take them at night before i go to bed? Cheers. 

anon53727290 5 August 2014 19:19 19

Hi

Ive been taking propranolo 40gm x twice a day for two weeks now, they have helped a lot but i,am still getting a dull headache on a daily bases! i also feel really tierd ,heavy headed, unsteady and generally unwell, this can last 4 to 5 hours then its suddenly goes, this is worrying me a lot. I notice your still getting the headaches even though your taking the same tablets. is their other people that are the same? does this get better? I hope you dont mind me repling to you.

Regards Pamela

nh_user_47638 6 August 2014 08:37 20

Hi Pamela

Yes, i do still get the occasional headache, but nowhere near as bad as they used to be!

As for the tiredness and generally unwellness i am unsure. All i can say is that i felt strange for the first month of taking them, but these symptoms dissapered after a while. Like all medication, it takes some time for your body to adjust and the issues to resolve ie the headaches.

If you are still worried i would go back and speak to the GP about these side effects.