Topamax for Migraine Prevention? Any other chronic migraine sufferers?

[mommyluvsmickey]

I took Topomax is wonderful ..my insurance wont pay for it now! does make drinks taste funny though. but I lost 20lbs. (I took it for mood stablizer)

 

[mommyluvsmickey]

Atentanol ( how ever you spell )it is a blood pressure med. My mom takes it has for years

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

Hey PoohGirl, yes I'm pretty sure that Topamax is behind the increase in my cough/asthma like symptoms. It's been the worst side effect that I've had. The levaquin has worked better than Ketex did (which did NOTHING) and I'm feeling MUCH better. Thankfully it appears that my chest Xray was clear.

I know other people who have had issues with sinus troubles on Topamax, and that's another thing I don't want to have. I'm going to go back up to the 100 mg dosage, because now that I've reduced to 50, in the last week I can feel the headaches coming on.

 

[4nana]

for those suffering with the pain and aggervation of M headaches.

Having suffered with terrible 3 dayer migraines for years and tried many, many meds and alternatives before dr recommended Tenormin/Atenolol (beta blk'r). Praise God, it changed my life and has been a life saver past
5 yrs as I rarely have any type of headache.

 

[AZKathy]

I took Topamax for my leg pain from a back injury. It has a lot of side effects; one good one is that you can loose weight with this med. It also can make carbonated drinks taste awful. It also made me very stupid; that is where it has it's nick-names of "dopamax" or "stupid-max". Watch out if you start getting blurry vision with it; talk with your doc if you get that side effect. I had to get off of it when my vision got affected with the med and go onto another med to help me with my leg pain.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I hope the Topamax doesn't make me any more stupid than I've already become... My memory for things like names, etc is already so much worse that I don't need any more issues in that department or I might forget my own name. Yesterday I had to call AAA to get my van started and I forgot how to spell my vanity license plate--at least I remembered the make and model of the van--I've forgotten that before.

 

[Poohgirl]

Hey PoohGirl, yes I'm pretty sure that Topamax is behind the increase in my cough/asthma like symptoms. It's been the worst side effect that I've had. The levaquin has worked better than Ketex did (which did NOTHING) and I'm feeling MUCH better. Thankfully it appears that my chest Xray was clear.

I know other people who have had issues with sinus troubles on Topamax, and that's another thing I don't want to have. I'm going to go back up to the 100 mg dosage, because now that I've reduced to 50, in the last week I can feel the headaches coming on.

Thanks Ursula, good to know..I've been blaming it on the winter/dry house could be a combo of that and the meds...

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I'm going to bump this thread back up because I have another question. For those of you who have been on Topamax and have noticed that it makes you feel stupid (or more stupid, in my case ), is that a side effect that gets better with time?

I'm still having the tingling hands and feet, which doesn't bother me much. The moodiness that I was getting at first has improved, for the most part. When I first started taking it and when I increased the dose I was having a hard time dealing with external stimuli. IE, if there were too many things going on a one time I got too confused--if the kids were making a lot of noise, the animals needed to be fed, the phone was ringing, my DH was asking me a question, etc I would just go into my bedroom for a few minutes of quiet because I couldn't handle all that (in the past I would just do the things that needed to be done and ask my kids to help out, be quiet, etc, etc). That has gotten better, even though I do still get a little flustered.

But I still am forgetting a lot, am having problems spelling common words, am forgetting names, etc. It's frustrating! I haven't even been on the meds for a month yet, so I'm probably just being impatient. I just wanted to know whata experience others have had.

Thanks!

 

[luvwinnie]

Topamax would be my next choice if CoEnzymeQ10 supplements didn't work but they are! I take 220 mg a day and it's decreased my migraines. Topamax does scare me...mostly the "stupid" factor you mention. Neuro said at the dose used for migs that side effect usually does not happen though. I take Relpax when I do get one.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Topamax would be my next choice if CoEnzymeQ10 supplements didn't work but they are! I take 220 mg a day and it's decreased my migraines. Topamax does scare me...mostly the "stupid" factor you mention. Neuro said at the dose used for migs that side effect usually does not happen though. I take Relpax when I do get one.

I've never heard of CoEnzymeQ10 supplements. What is that?

 

[crz4mm2]

I am on topamax. I still feel stupid sometimes, but don't know if it is that or estrogen withdrawl... LOL.
It is certainly better than when I first started on Topamax.
I still get tingly sometimes too, but that is much improved also.

 

[Jennasis]

Topamx user here! I have an appt with my nuero on Thursday in fact to discuss the "dopey" factor. Topamax has made me stupid. I can't spell, I've become dyslexic (when I type) and I forget names, whwther I've locked the doors etc..it's frustrating. Also, soda tastes like crud, but that has subsided with time. I've been on it since October. I also have taken Relpax for pain (made my chest hurt) and now am on Axert. The topamax was working for a while and has recently begun to fail, so it's back to the nuero. I'm on 100mgs oer day (50 am/pm).

My headaches are chronic and daily. They last for DAYS to weeks and they suck. Sometimes I get nauseous with them and tired too. I've had an MRI and there is nothing going on out of the ordinary in there. Because no OTC pain meds work (not tylenol, not ibuprofen, not aspirin, not aleve) I'm wondering if this might not be a migraine. I think it's either hormonal or possibly muscular (I have muscle knots the size of golf balls in my neck and shoulders). If the nuero can't fix me soon then I'm trying an endocrinologist and a chiro next!

I'm desperate. The pain is unbearable...

 

[Jennasis]

Oh yeah...I had tingly toes in the beginning and that went away too. I also had this weird night vision thing, where I would get double vision when I would go from anyplace dark into anyplace light like from a dark theatre into the lobby.

 

[luvwinnie]

I've never heard of CoEnzymeQ10 supplements. What is that?

http://headaches.about.com/cs/prevention/a/coq10_prev.htm

here is an article

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Jennasis, I've also suspected that my headaches are hormonal. I'd had then as a child/teen/young adult and then they went away for almost 20 years and then came back when I hit about 40yo when my hormones started to change. I know that my progesterone had decreased because we had problems staying pregnant with our last pregnancy (I had 3 miscarriages before going on progesterone and carrying the last pregnancy to term) and it was after Jake was born that the headaches came back. They were MUCH worse than they ever were in the past.

When I get a migraine my next gets SO tight and knotty. I don't know which comes first--the tension in my neck that causes the headache or the headache and I then tense up.

I have tried a chiro, which didn't help me at all. I haven't considered an endocrinologist. If it's hormonal that's who I would go to? Maybe I should look into that.

 

[LMC]

I am on one topamax per day (25mg?) and it has really helped me. I went from having 2 or 3 headache free days per month to having 2 or 3 a week. When I go back to the doctor next week, I am going to see if I can take one in the am and continue on the pm dose. I am getting more frequent headaches than I did when I first started Topamax (3 yrs ago) and I am afraid the medication is no longer working for me. You might want to try the chiropractor. I loved going but I don't have time to go 3 times per week. I have the neck problems too and that is where the pain ALWAYS starts. I have tried to get the neuro to consider some type of surgery to fix the neck but to no avail. I am going to address that again when I go back. I feel if I can get the neck fixed, alot of the headaches would go away.

I have not noticed any of the side effects that you all are listing here. No stupid moments, no bad soda taste, no tingling. I didn't even know it could cause problems in the heat or kidney stones!

Topamx user here! I have an appt with my nuero on Thursday in fact to discuss the "dopey" factor. Topamax has made me stupid. I can't spell, I've become dyslexic (when I type) and I forget names, whwther I've locked the doors etc..it's frustrating. Also, soda tastes like crud, but that has subsided with time. I've been on it since October. I also have taken Relpax for pain (made my chest hurt) and now am on Axert. The topamax was working for a while and has recently begun to fail, so it's back to the nuero. I'm on 100mgs oer day (50 am/pm).

My headaches are chronic and daily. They last for DAYS to weeks and they suck. Sometimes I get nauseous with them and tired too. I've had an MRI and there is nothing going on out of the ordinary in there. Because no OTC pain meds work (not tylenol, not ibuprofen, not aspirin, not aleve) I'm wondering if this might not be a migraine. I think it's either hormonal or possibly muscular (I have muscle knots the size of golf balls in my neck and shoulders). If the nuero can't fix me soon then I'm trying an endocrinologist and a chiro next!

I'm desperate. The pain is unbearable...