FDA Clears Vagus Nerve Stimulator for Migraine Pain
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/891930
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I found this old post on Vegas Nerve Stimulators. What happened to this treatment? It seems to have been abandoned in 2018.
I found one research test on 14 migraine sufferers. It helped 13 of them. That was three years ago and nothing since.
Was it snake oil?
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I found one as an accessory to the TENS machine thatās still available here in the U.K. so guess they are still about in some form or another. As weāre not much into snake oil here 
I suspect they may even be considered mainstream not that Iāve ever seen one though my brother has and uses a TENS machine for chronic back pain. Theyāve been around some years.
I guess they must not be as promising as once thought, or they would be in common use among VM & MAV patients. Funny you should mention the TENS machine. I have one for my sciatica and hardly use it since the nortryptaline and pregabalin keeps it in check. But two years ago on my first go round with VRT, they showed me how to use my TENS unit to stop a migraine in its tracks. I was amazed that it worked so well. Then my migraines disappeared for a time and when they returned I totally forgot that the TENS unit worked. Iāll have to attempt to find where the pads need to be positioned for it to work and share with the group. They went on your wrist and forearm, but I canāt remember where.
Sounds interesting for those who suffer the full works migraines. Iām what they euphemistically call a āsilentā migraineur so probably no need to borrow my brothers TENS. Technique certain worth posting if you had success with it. Also search āCefalyā thatās a later device I think with which quite a few have some success. This link looks promising for clues.
Where this is showing the electrode placement is definitely not where the therapist showed me. I should have an appointment with them in a couple of weeks and Iāll ask them about it.
The main issue is itās more expensive than most treatments. If I was still in the dumps and could afford it Iād probably give it a go. If I remember right Emily ( @flutters ) was using it.
Generally if approved by FDA you are not getting āsnake oilā. Not to say FDA is perfect or anything, but they are generally very conservative with approving treatments (for safety AND efficacy).
Iād be very skeptical a general purpose TENS could compete with GammaCore or Cefaly in migraine prevention. Having said that though I have a TENS unit and would be interested to see what position worked for youā¦
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I donāt think itās snake oil. I tried it. I suspect it would have been more effective as an implantable device. They wanted $300/month for the subscription. It didnāt work appreciably better than my paid for Cefaly device. I discontinued use after the first month. You can see whatās valuable to them - they didnāt want the VNS device back but contacted me for months trying to get me to re-up the subscription. I still have the device because throwing something brand new away irks me.
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What was the subscription for? Did they control the device remotely?
It was a 30 day code.
Iām sorry, I donāt know what that means.
Itās a card theyād send in the mail that you uploaded into the device. Youād pay for a new card every 30 days.
I wonder how they slept at night.
Idk. I still think the VNS surgical implant might be a viable idea. After a month of multiple uses daily I canāt say the VNS device made much of a difference for me with respect to the Vagus nerve issues (nausea and dizziness). Certainly not enough to cough up $3600/year, especially given the all in cost of a Cefaly. I recognize Cefaly is working a different nerve - trigeminal. But Botox numbs the trigeminal and that greatly improves all my MAV features.
None of them stop MAV, they just desensitize you to the effects. Case in point, yesterday I know I had a nasty migraine because my pupils were dilated quite differently all day and my usual low level hallucinations were more prominent. Despite this I barely noticed it outside of some unpleasant digestive symptoms that could also have been hydroxychloroquine side effects (for RA). Had I been closer to the end of the Botox cycle, it would have been much worse and I would have been using my Cefaly. I canāt say if in the same circumstance the GammaCore would have helped.
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