I would like to share one unusual discovery that may help someone: Diazepam better known as valium has helped me.

My neurologist prescribed 5 mg at bedtime to quell my parasomnia (sleep walking and talking) as he thought the sleep disorder could be a significant contributing factor to my pain. I took it for about 9 months and it did work on the parasomnia but no change in pain. After this time, its effectiveness began to decrease, so I went on a Valium "holiday" for 30 days.

At the end of this time, I had been in bad, constant pain for several weeks, working a great deal, under a lot of stress, and my boss chose this time to confront me about something at work the day before a very important series of events were about to happen at work.

I was profoundly upset, couldn't sleep, and so I took a valium for its old-fashioned purpose, to calm myself down. Then I took another. Then I woke up the next morning with a huge break in my pain. Who would have ever imagined?

So with my neurologist's blessing, I have continued to experiment with Diazepam between 5-15 mg/day as both a preventative and acute med. It is the only thing that has helped me.

I have no history of anxiety or related issues and although I have a lot of muscle tension this seems unrelated.

We recognize this as an unusual reaction to a med not in the usual arsenal. It is not a long term solution but we hope at least a short term bridge to allow some of the classic triptans to have a chance. Or perhaps it's a clue to another way to approach this condition.

Perhaps a experience useful to others on the same path.