General discussion - Beta Blockers

Beta Blockers like Atenolol, Propanolol, Nadolo or Timololwere were originally developed to treat patients with high blood pressure. But, like a lot of preventative medication, they have been found to help with the prevention of migraine.

They block or prevent the widening of arterial blood vessels in the body and reduce activity of the brain cells involved in migraine.

Have you tried any of these? How did you find them?

I am currently on 160mg of Inderal la daily, so far I am finding it has decreased the amount of symptoms I get. The only side effects I can report on is numb toes, and fingers (Raynauds) and the odd dizzy spell when i exercise.

Propranolol was the one I tried and this did have some impact on my hemiplegic migraines, it prevented an attack for 6 months, which for me was a record but the attack that followed was the worst one I had ever experienced at the age of 19 and so decided that I would prefer more regular attacks of a lesser nature. However, it also had side-effects, for example light-headedness due to a reduced blood pressure, especially on standing.

In the end I was diagnosed with asthma and so it was stopped due to the possibility of complications, I was told that if I suffered an asthma attack then I may not be able to resuscitated if the need ever arose.

Hi Kala, they seem to help but this weekend has been a test as I have been feeling very off. So many meds to try and to find which ones are the best. I began on pizotifan first but they were horrendous.

Hi Alba-Neuk,

I hope you have been able to survive the long weekend without suffering an attack. The list of preventative meds is rather long and although I have tried all them, some more than once and in combination with others Dr S is always striving to find something else to try. He has been very good and even if a particular drug has a very small research basis he will give it a try, Memantine is my most recent addition to my med regime.

Michala
x

does anyone know if it is ok to drink alcohol whilst taking propanolol ? going away for the weekend and wondering if a glass or two of bubbly will hurt? x

Hi

I am not 100% sure - I have just had a look on a few sites for you and a few people have said they are ok with a 'little bit', however on drug.com its says not too.

http://www.drugs.com/propranolol.htm

I tried propranalol for a while but had a lot of dizzy spells with it and still severe left side migraine headache so ,they moved me onto wonderful topamax (not) lol x

I have been on propranalol for the last 7 years they do help with the migraines and my dose has been put to high dose from 80mg to 160 mg I do get worst attacks when I miss a dose but still suffering those yuk x

Hi Shelybobs and welcome to the forum

I am pleased to read this drug is helping you - always nice to read that something works

Hi all, had my appointment with the specialist yesterday which was such a relief, she talked to me for an hour and proudly announced me as one of her worse cases of hemiplegic migraine. I have been put on atenolol as a trial to see if this helps. Im nervous of taking it in case it makes me feel ill, but will start after the weekend. x

Very interesting. I have taken Atenolol for over a year now for my high blood pressure. It really was not lowing my B/P but come to think of it, I was not having HMs during that time either. They took me off Atneolol and put me on another B/P med which has lowered my B/P but now look where I am with HMs again. Hummmm! Yes, very interesting. Jerri

Onandoffagain - how are you getting on?

Hi, only started them on Friday as I have a few days off work and was expecting side effects. Have not had any so far, but its only been 2 days so we will have to wait a while! I'll keep you posted xx

Brilliant

My GP was so impressed with the information I could share with him yesterday that he started me on Verapamil ER to give it a try. I think I read somewhere that these blood pressure medications work well for "preventative" measures of HMs. Wish I remembered where I had read it ...sorry.

well, its been 6 days on atenalol and no side effects yet, to early to tell if they will halt my migraines yet. I had an ice pick in hte back of the head yesterday but no aura which was fab. I have a most annoying lopsided eye problem (its not actually lop sided) Just feels like 1 is further forward or strained than the other one. Impossible to explain. any hoo.... onwards and upwards with the dose next week.

Great news whatsgoes- do let us know how you get on...

onandoffagain - 6 days not bad hun..... long may it last-

Hi. My 12 year old daughter (who is the sufferer of HMs) has been on Pizotifen for a couple of weeks, but had a very bad migraine and I then read loads of really bad reviews about it so she has now changed to Propranolol. She has been on this for 1 week and has just had a mild to moderate attack yesterday morning but a much worse one today. Does anyone know how long it should take for this drug to work properly? She was taken off Amitriptyline as she had been on it for 1 year and had put on lots of weight but I must say, it was highly effective so am tempted to get her put back on it.

Beta blocker seem to be the first thing they try in this country....

The 2 drugs you mention work if different ways.

Propranol blocks (beta blocker family) works on the action of epinephrine and norepinephrine on both β1- and β2-adrenergic receptors.

Amitriptyline (anti D family) works on the serotonin-norepinephrine.

It normally takes a few months to get to a level where you see the best results - but her consultant should have advised on that - plus told you the side effects.

If this one does not work there are few more in anti d family ie Dosulepin or Nortriptyline which you could try again the consultants needs to guide you. But since she has had a good result on amtriptan it makes sense to try another one in that family.

There are a lot more possibles - have a look at https://migrainetalk.forumotion.co.uk/f36-preventative-medications

A few questions : Are you certain that her only trigger is hormones - there are a lot of possible triggers - and working these out is a very good idea - if you can avoid them

https://migrainetalk.forumotion.co.uk/t330-types-of-triggers

I also note in another post you mention a lot of aura types- you may find this helpful:

https://migrainetalk.forumotion.co.uk/t250-types-of-aura

And you can have more than one aura at any one time. (I have 3 right now lol)

I hope these help -but please shout if you have any questions.



PS This might help too
https://migrainetalk.forumotion.co.uk/t190-the-general-do-s-and-dont-s-of-managing-a-headache

Thanks Tee so much for your very valuable advice. I am actually in England so our availability of drugs and support is bound to be different to the US. It is so wonderful to find such an amazing resource such as this, with people who really empathize - just a shame you all have to go through this terrible thing.

Your welcome

I am in the UK too - all the stuff I have mentioned and the bulk of this forum is for people in the UK