Im on Venlafaxine 75mg and Botox treatment every 12 weeks…i am certainly seeing improvement with these 2 preventatives and i had severe MAV for 4 years
Jo
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i agree with @turnitaround that these are not candies and yes, effexor is difficult to come off, but has less side effects and since you have tried ami before, might be a good thing to consider. You could start with a tiny dose.
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Thanks for sharing, Jo! That is extremely encouraging. I’m starting to lose hope a little after 3 years of suffering with severe MAV myself, so it is great to hear you’re getting significant improvement after 4 
D
I don’t think it is. The Exeter Headache Clinic PILs suggest 50-100mg for migraine prevention, i wonder whether in people who only take 10/20mg or so, it is ‘only’ providing a vestibular suppressant rather than trying to control migraine attacks. Helen
Don’t lose hope. Jo and I are ‘twins’ when it comes to MAV. I’ve actually had it for fifteen years, last four chronic/24/7, and although on different drugs, I can say same as Jo. Dramatic improvements. Sure it would have been easier if it had been picked up much sooner. This way it takes longer but we cannot rewrite history and it’s not impossible, although at one time it seemed so. You’ll get there too. Helen
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Actually I ceased to have any ‘basilar migraines’ at 10mg. It also immediately rid me of visual vertigo. Dizziness took 20mg though.
The vestibular suppressant aspect of the drug is very helpful I’m sure and I’m convinced that helps prevent migraines in part too.
Trouble is the very low doses don’t necessarily work for everyone most probably I’d imagine related somewhere along the line to root cause? Oh, I’m sure the vestibular suppressant stuff Ami can do helps immensely and it certainly is a powerful drug. Probably one of the most useful ones for MAV still. Helen
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We’re getting a bit off topic for someone’s diary here, but just to say low-ish dose Ami did not rid me of vestibular attacks which I personally don’t consider as ‘migraines’ because they are nothing like em.
Oh really? My neuro said that if I found a low dose not to be sufficient we can go up to 50mg on Ami. Perhaps its undividual neurologists preference?
I don’t know for sure, I am still only at 20mg - asked about increasing but she talked me out of it for the time being 
I think she wants me to be on it for a number of months before increasing again
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Were you diagnosed with Basilar migraines James? My neuro said thats what she thought I had too! I am not scrutinizing it too much but I would say (looking at people on here with VM) that I certainly have VM. I’ve spoken to her before about this and she said they are very similar. 
No, I think they are part of the MAV experience for some though.
I am on effexor and Amitriptyline combo. I find effexor to be more effective than Amitriptyline against dizziness . I was able to reduce Amitriptyline after starting Effexor.
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Thank you so much for this comment . I’ll keep my chin up.
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That’s great to hear, mate! I was also thinking that the sedative effects of Ami may help counteract the insomnia that Effexor causes for some people, and therefore may help me stick to Effexor.
Best, D
Thats exactly what happened to me
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I’m responding quite well to the Cefaly device. You can try it for 60 days and still get your money back. Haven’t seen any mention of it in the things you’ve tried, I like it because it’s a totally different way to attack the migraines (doesn’t interfere with other treatments). Hope you get to feeling better soon.
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Great suggestion! I’ll look into it and will report back if I have any success with it
You may have already seen this one but I thought it seems to answer alot of FAQ. Helen
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I realise this is an old post and you may not reply but was wondering how you are getting on? How did you cope with Aimovig after all this time?
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