Topamax Reduces Number Of Monthly Migraine Days In Chronic Migr...

anonymous wrote:

naomi i think you rock!

Watching you !!!

I've been on Topamax a little over 6 months. Prior to this I was having 4-6 migraines a week, during certain times of the month they would put me in bed for two days sometimes.. no light, no sound, no smells, no food. I was also having some seizure like symptoms. I take 75mgs at night.. altho I have found that if I know I have an important meeting the next day and it's not too close to pms time, I can sometimes take 50mgs and feel a little more energetic in the morning. Topamax hasn't blocked all of my migraine activity, but I get far fewer, and the ones I do get don't leave me comatose like before. I have not lost any weight... I've had only minor food weirdness... altho I can't seem to "feel" carbonation anymore. The worst side effect for me that is still bothering me is the tingling in my hands and feet... sometimes even in my face. I sew for a living and some days it's so bad I can't get anything small done. Even so, it costs me way less time than the headaches did. I do wonder about the grouchiness... but again... it's not worse than the headaches.

[Holly, try a full body massage. Let them know about your head, neck, and back. The relief lasts for a couple of days, but along with Topamax you have a great chance. I am just beginning topamax.

I've been on Topamax for 6 months now. I started out with 50 mg and progressed to 400 mg a day to control my migraines. I lost 45 pounds in the first 3 months. As a woman, that was great. Two side effects my neurologist did not tell me about though, and which are going to make me stop taking the Topamax are: I've had severe depression where I can't stop crying all day long and feel like I just want to run away from home. This is completely out of character for me because I am a self-employed seamstress that is very upbeat and happy all the time. I didn't even realize this side effect until my friends started to mention that I wasn't myself anymore and I was finding that I couldn't motivate myself to generate more business or complete my projects.

I've been slowly decreasing my dosage and am now at 200 mg and the neurologist told me that I can take 100 mg at night for the next 4 nights and then stop taking Topamax. He did say that my migraines will probably come back within a week or so. I suffer from 20 to 25 migraines a month because I'm 45 and in that pre-menopause stage where my hormones are changing he said.

The other side effect that I was not aware of is that it changes your body's Ph balance every month and I've been getting a vaginal infection every month. I didn't put two and two together until the third month in a row.

It is really scary to me that no one mentions the depression part of Topamax. Once I mentioned to my doctor, he seemed to know immediately that it was a side effect and had me lower the dosage.

Just thought I would share with others my experience. I didn't start having the depression problems until my dosage was over 200 mg, but even when I came back down to 200 mg I couldn't shake the depression. So I don't quite know how it works in our bodies.

Anne wrote:

Hi all. I wanted to tell you about my experience taking topamax for migraines. I had wonderful results with the migraine part. I was totally pain free in about a months time. I also lost about 30 pounds over the course of a year (which I needed to lose so that was good) the bad part was it slowly made me depressed. I really didnt realize this was was what was happening and kind of blamed it on monthly PMS stuff (which Ive never had much of before!) and just kept getting more and more upset. My ability to reason and trust people kind of disappeared and I slowly became very paranoid. Long story short it really, really messed me up. Buried in side effects small print it does mention depression and mental changes. If you dont have a history of depression and you are taking topamax and are experiencing anything like that please get help. Please dont wait like I did. It took a while to wean off the medication but once off I was totally fine and back to myself within 1 week. Sometimes its just not worth the good benefits of a medication if the side effects are so bad. And I took it for almost 6 months (slowly increasing dose) before I really started noticing being so upset all of the time. Take care everyone. Please be very careful with this med. Anne ( oh and 30 pounds came back after a few months being off med. But i am happy now so oh well!)

Anne, Thanks for your comments about the mood swings. It is a very scary side effect and I had no idea what was happening until I'd been on it for about 4 months. Tawnie

I’ve tried topomax for my headaches, which generally could be classified as Tension Type Headache. Quiet frankly I didn’t see any improvement. Side effects thou are very bad.(Weight loss) http://www.tensionheadache.medgrip.com

gina wrote:

<quoted text>how much topamax were you taking a day?

I have been taking 200mg per day

Make friends with you Migraine…

It begins with a dull ache in the morning…when I get up all tired and soggy..Eyes are heavy, heart missing a beat…legs don’t have energy, and I try and find my way to the restroom. I wash my face and look into the mirror. Feeling hollow and helpless. As if, the next minute I will die of this pain, and I pray to god, give me life. I want to breathe.

Times when I am lying on the floor, dying in pain, hoping and praying hard it goes or kills me in one shot..but be on one side…and it never listens. Somehow, I gather the strength after few hours of fight with it, and…I find my way through the hectic life of corporate world. Somehow at the back of my mind…still praying. This has been the story so far, until I realized, if I want to live, I need to make friends with the pain- a pain called migraine-which is beyond comprehension of human mind, I believe. An invisible tiny element in your brain, which changes your days, leaving you with a question- why me? You never know when it will strike and you live under constant threat of being a victim, normally, at times when you just don’t want to be one.

I call myself, the conqueror; I feel no remedy for it until I learn to make friends with it. And the start of this friendship is acceptance. The great divide of being normal and being in pain- we need to fill this up by accepting that we will live with this, till the time it doesn’t want to go.

There is no topomax in the world that can help this disease. It is pure will power, confidence, and the will to fight it -eye-to-eye. I often stand infront of the mirror and look into my eyes and say to the pain- i challenge you. You cannot win me.

This advice comes from a person who had lost all hopes of getting cured and had submitted in to this disease years back. But trust me dear bloggers, "taking charge" attitude works. We just need to accept it.

Make friends with you Migraine…

It begins with a dull ache in the morning…when I get up all tired and soggy..Eyes are heavy, heart missing a beat…legs don’t have energy, and I try and find my way to the restroom. I wash my face and look into the mirror. Feeling hollow and helpless. As if, the next minute I will die of this pain, and I pray to god, give me life. I want to breathe.

Times when I am lying on the floor, dying in pain, hoping and praying hard it goes or kills me in one shot..but be on one side…and it never listens. Somehow, I gather the strength after few hours of fight with it, and…I find my way through the hectic life of corporate world. Somehow at the back of my mind…still praying. This has been the story so far, until I realized, if I want to live, I need to make friends with the pain- a pain called migraine-which is beyond comprehension of human mind, I believe. An invisible tiny element in your brain, which changes your days, leaving you with a question- why me? You never know when it will strike and you live under constant threat of being a victim, normally, at times when you just don’t want to be one.

I call myself, the conqueror; I feel no remedy for it until I learn to make friends with it. And the start of this friendship is acceptance. The great divide of being normal and being in pain- we need to fill this up by accepting that we will live with this, till the time it doesn’t want to go.

The only remedy i have found is staying happy. Face the pain with confidence, and you will go far. I often stand infront of the mirror, looking at myself and telling the pain- you cannot win over me. i will win over. This pain needs a will power to fight it and not give into it. This comes from a person who had sumbitted into it long back with no hope of getting cured. But all I learned in the process was to fight it back. No topomax will affect if you dont accept that it will happen and it will eventually go away as well.

I am not against medication, but making medicines life will not help us.

I have had migraines for about ten years but they have been manageable until the last few months. My neurologist perscribed Topamax yesterday. After reading these comments I am scared. He started me out on 25mg and I only took 1/3 of one last night and I have had an upset stomach and
tingling in my hand and arm. I need advice.

Melissa