Allergy medication

First off, Iā€™ve been recently diagnosed with chronic migraines with MAV by Dr. Cherchi after wondering what was going on with me for the past few months and this forum has been a lifesaver, so thank you all so much!

Iā€™m currently on Hain and Cherchiā€™s migraine diet (though Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s helping or not), 100mg generic topamax, and generic zofran for the nausea as needed, though Iā€™m still very symptomatic so Iā€™m hoping to go up in dosage soon or something. Iā€™m very pleased Iā€™m able to tolerate the topamax quite well except when I titrate up, as I know it can be a hard medication to tolerate. Still, on ā€œgoodā€ days my baseline is still not very good and my bad days are still very bad (though a lot better than they were without medication) and occur 35-50% of the time.

Iā€™ve been trying to do a lot of research on this question online but itā€™s been very confusing, so I thought I would asking the mvertigo community. Iā€™ve been on generic flonase for years due to a dust/dust mite allergy but have been off and on it the past month or so since Iā€™ve been worried that it may contribute as a migraine trigger. When Iā€™m off it, it makes me even more miserable as then Iā€™m sneezing and blowing my nose all the time so it would be nice to be on an allergy medication that I know I can tolerate. The reason I initially became concerned is because I heard Scott mention on here that it can cause a chronic migrainous state (although Iā€™m not sure which paper this was based off) but I was able to find this paper myself which associated it with worsening and triggering migraines too so maybe this is the same one or just further support:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ā€¦ 724.x/full

That being said, itā€™s hard for me to tell right now what is a trigger since Iā€™m so symptomatic and Iā€™m migrainous all the time and I feel so crappy. Iā€™d like to stay on the allergy medication if itā€™s not a problem, but if there is an allergy medication I can be on instead that will work just as well or pretty close and definitely does not worsen/trigger migraines, I would definitely be willing to switch! Any comments from the community? Iā€™m aware that general decongestants are out, and likely anything OTC might not be strong enough since Iā€™m already on something prescription but Iā€™m open to any and all suggestions.

Thank you so much!

Same question from me actually ā€¦ I take fexofenadine and Dymista (fluticasone/azelastine) for chronic rhinosinusitis. It helps with that problem, but I donā€™t know if itā€™s exacerbating my migraines.

Exactly! Flonase is fluticasone as well, and itā€™s in that article, but those are just based on case studies. Hopefully people here have more info.

All I know is I went on and off it a few times and I thought I might have gotten better and worse based on whether I was on or off, but it could just be coincidence since my symptoms fluctuate so much anyway regardless. I asked Dr. Cherchi about it and he thought it was unlikely even though I mentioned there was a publication that showed it could worsen migraines, so Iā€™m not sureā€¦

I get migraine symptoms from allergy medication - iā€™ve never been able to take the pills. I can however tolerate the eye drops and nasal spray, so maybe thatā€™s a way round it for you. If i get a bad allergic reaction, i take on tablet before bed - on very rare occasions.

Hi there. I too take fexofenadine, have been in them for about 9 months. Due to having extreme dizziness for 3 months. Iā€™m now suffering from terrible migraines. I have one now and itā€™s day 3! Itā€™s awful.

Hi

Itā€™s most unlikely you will get a reply to such an old post. Most people on here are about for a year or two, recover and move on. I checked out Allegra and apparently migraine is a common side effect. See www.allergies.emedtv.com for further information. I expect your medical provider will suggest you change to another drug. So annoying if you find it otherwise effective and to your liking but I guess thatā€™s the way it goes. All the best.