Upvoted to encourage more people to ask LW for help in this way, which I think is good trend. But I would suggest a title that describes more specifically what the post is about (i.e. "LW, help me with my migraines" or something).

I have no advice on the migraines themselves but I wish you luck.

If you want conventional advice, I guess the best thing is just to follow what your doctor says.

If you want experimental advice, I went to a talk on rational drug policy, at which it was mentioned that 5-HT2A agonists, aka psychedelic drugs, stop migraines. The theoretical neuroscience behind it checks out too (modulating vasoconstriction).

See this:

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060911/full/news060911-05.html https://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_article8.pdf

Where cluster headaches are discussed, but cluster headaches and migranes are very sim... (read more)

A few years ago I suffered from an extremely severe case of repetitive strain injury/tendinitis. (As far as I can tell, attempts by medical professionals to come up with careful definitions for those terms have mostly failed, so I use them interchangeably.) My case was more severe than almost any I have ever heard about—I was stuck controlling my computer using a voice recognition system for over a year and spent all of my time being unemployed, depressed, and living with my parents. What finally solved my problem was information about trigger points fo... (read more)

If you searching general things to try, curetogether is good website. It provides a list of 237 Migraine interventions and self reported effects of those interventions.

The strongest recommendation seems to be for "Dark Room and No Noise" and "Sleep".

I would seek a 100% dark room when you sleep. Seek to get a regular schedule with 8 hours of sleep where you go to bed every day at the same time.

Floating tanks are worth trying.

I would use good noise cancellation headphones plus guided relaxation/hypnosis recordings to fight cases of h... (read more)

I suffered from severe migraines for most of my life, but they were much more frequent when I was younger -- about two or three times a week. During high school they decreased in frequency a lot, to maybe once a month or once every two months, and now that I am in my late '20s, I only get migraines once or twice a year. Unfortunately I can't give you much rationalist advice; although I discussed migraines with my doctor and we worked together to find a solution, to my understanding it's still not a scientifically well-understood problem. So all I can tell ... (read more)

Here's what's helped for me. I had strong headaches that would persist for weeks, with some auras, which my doctor called migraines. (They don't seem to be as bad as what people usually mean by the word.) A flaxseed oil supplement keeps them away. When I don't take enough, they come back; it needs to be at least 15g/day or so (many times more than the 2-3 gelcaps/day that supplement bottles direct you to take). I've taken fish oil occasionally instead.

I found this by (non-blinded) experimenting with different allegedly anti-inflammatory supplements. I'm not a doctor, etc.

I spent about a month a couple years ago having migraines, which I had never had before and inexplicably stopped having afterwards. I was prescribed a generic version of Fiorecet; you don't mention it or its unusual ingredient (butalbital; it also contains caffeine and acetaminophen). This worked almost completely if I managed to take the pill during my prodomal symptoms (weird visual aura, in my case; I don't know if you get this warning). However, even unmedicated my headaches did not last as long as it sounds like yours do. Apparently Fiorecet isn't... (read more)

It seems to me that you've exhausted the traditional approaches to diagnosing and treating your issue, and that you're unlikely to stumble upon a solution yourself. My guess is that your best bet is to figure out who the real specialists are and see one.

I also suspect that there are a lot of tests that could be done that your doctors haven't ordered due to costs, and that would be useful. Depending on your financial situation and how much this means to you, perhaps you could make it clear to them that you would like more extensive testing and are willing t... (read more)

things you could try altering: Sleep Sleep position/environment Light (exposure of your eyes to light) Food vitamins exercise Posture allergies (non-food, may include fibres, washing powder, local plants , anything that touches your skin i.e. Jewellery, skin-cream, toothpaste, dust, fungi, mould and bacteria)

Other misc: metal toxicity, check for lead in your environment/blood (kits can be purchased online) radiation inner-ear problems (causing potential dizzyness and leading to migranes)

Other other: Someone I knew had a 6 week long reccuring migrane, a do... (read more)

Are you female? Then you could try going off the pill and use another form of contraception, or switch to another pill. Migraines can be hormone-related; I used to get them at ovulation and at the onset of menstruation, back when I still had those.

There is a particular weather pattern called the Chinook Wind that is sometimes a cause of migraines. nih.gov / Wikipedia. Strangest thing but peer reviewed and tentatively confirmed. Moving to a location without Chinook Winds might help. Or knowing they are coming might help one prepare.

Have you checked for allergies and food sensitivities? I used to know someone who would get migraines a few days after eating seafood.

Does alcohol have any effect? My girlfriend suffers from TMJ which causes her headaches and alcohol helps her jaw muscles relax.

MetaMed used to offer custom medical research and advice, but they appear defunct.