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Migraine Cocktails and IV Infusions Offer Fast Relief

Migraine Cocktails for Emergency Pain

I hate to keep coming back to headaches as I am aware that chronic post-viral migraines affect only about a quarter of long-COVID patients (typically those with a history of migraines).  However, given how debilitating they can be, if even one reader learns something here that helps, it is time well spent.

From time to time, even with all of my treatments, my migraine gets increasingly intense until I cannot handle it.  It can reach pain levels above what I experienced passing a large kidney stone, having a hand covered in 400 degree oil (commercial kitchen accident) and broken bones.  But the good news is that migraine cocktails can quickly beat it back in an emergency.

What is in a Migraine Cocktail?

My neurology and pain relief specialist has standing orders with a local hospital for me to be able to order an emergency intravenous (IV) migraine cocktail infusion.  This is a custom-tailored mix of drugs she developed for me and has been tweaking over time.  I make an appointment, show up at the IV infusion center, and they put me in a warm reclining chair, lower the lights, and spend the next few hours pumping me full of a mix of migraine remedies such as:

  • Toradol, a powerful NSAID that fights pain and inflammation
  • Zofran, a medicine that suppresses nausea
  • Magnesium, a mineral migraine suffers and neurology patients often tend to be low in, and which is believed to help relax blood vessels to fight vascular headaches and asthma
  • Dexamethasone, a steroid that can fight inflammation and give you an energy boost
  • Benadryl, an allergy drug used to amplify the effectiveness of the other meds
  • Acetaminophen (essentially extra strength Tylenol)
  • Valproic Acid, an epilepsy drug that helps stop the migraine “electrical storm” in the brain
  • Saline, a carrier for all of the liquid medicines and a hydration booster for when migraine nausea has made it impossible to keep anything down

While the above mixture is in my migraine cocktails, your provider is likely to come up with a similar but different mix specific to your personal needs.

Migraine Cocktails Really Help

This treatment never fails to help, and if I am lucky and can afford to take it easy with work for a few days, the relief can last me 3-4 days.  Just about any hospital emergency room will offer some form migraine cocktail, even for walk-ins, though in most cases they will be milder than the above mix unless you have a standing prescription on file for your specific situation.

I previously mentioned the importance of trying to be scientific about treatments and measure their results.  Every time I get such a treatment, they comment about how terribly high my blood pressure is.  Afterwards, when they check my vitals before letting me go, I nearly always am closer to normal.  Before they start the process, I typically rate my pain as an 8 or a 9 on a scale of 1-10 (I only get cocktails when things become unbearable).  When I finish, I am usually at a 3-4.  An 8 is where people cannot function at all and sometimes think of suicide if it goes on for too long.  That much of a drop in pain in only a few hours is an incredible improvement and a wonderful relief.

I share this, because anyone suffering from horrific pain needs to know that there are ways to get fast relief.  If you are lucky, a one-time treatment could help for up to 2 weeks (my 3-4 days of relief is below most people’s results).

Mobile IV Services Can Come to You

It may also be helpful to know that mobile IV services exist in many metropolitan areas.  While they typically cannot administer truly strong drugs, $150-$300 can potentially summon a nurse to your home to provide at least some relief.  Such providers often market themselves for hangover relief, flu recovery or athletic recovery, but they usually also offer something for migraines.  “Myer's cocktail” is a common formulation.  Without the stronger drugs, I do not personally find such in-home treatments as effective, but they are better than nothing on days when I cannot get to a hospital, especially if the mobile provider is allowed to administer Toradol.

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© 2023 All rights reserved. This blog reflects the personal experience and opinions of a long COVID and CFS survivor and is not qualified medical advice. Consult a doctor for your situation.

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I invite on-topic, helpful comments from readers with free Google accounts. I am especially interested in comments that share useful tips for fighting long-COVID, Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Pain and Migraines. Off-topic comments, comments that name other sites or products without including much relevant textual explanation, and comments disparaging any person or group will be deleted. As I am trying to keep this a positive place, I may also delete comments in a despairing tone that focus only on symptom misery rather than helpful ways to combat it. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and helpful tips!

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