Topamax

secondseason

Retired Administrator
I was recently prescribed Topamax for chronic headaches. I'm feeling very out of sorts with the medication. It has alot of side effects. Anyone on here taken it with success?
 

Gajbird

Senior Member
?

My wife takes it everyday. The sides are an issue but she has become accustomed to them. We heard a lot of stories about folks getting out of sorts...some lost the ability to do even simple math. She has noticed it takes a little more effort to "Cypher" things out but she has been taking it for over a year and seems to have no real issues.
They have a generic now so check on that to help with the high cost.

God Bless, Jay
 

rayjay

Senior Member
I have been on Depakote and now Atenolol for chronic headaches. Depakote and I think Topamax are specifically epilepsy drugs. With Depakote I had bad tremula and weight gain. Topamax causes weight loss, I don't know of it's other side effects.

The tremors would drive me crazy trying to do fine work so the doc changed me to Atenolol which is a heart rate med, it slows down your heart rate. I can easily get my resting heart rate below 45 bpm which sets off medical monitors :banana:

I have recently cut back my Atenolol to 1/2 a pill a day instead of a whole pill a day. Still working good. I have about decided my headaches are caused by over use of my messed up neck. Heavy lifting, working looking down a lot, etc are my main triggers.

Tell your doc you want to try something else !!!!

Good luck
rj
 
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duckdawgdixie

Senior Member
ive been takin it for about two years now, i havent noticed any negative effects yet
 

turtlebug

Senior Member
D, it seems to affect folks in different ways. I've worked with three different people that it was prescribed for to prevent migraines. One lost so much weight they had to take her off of it, one had to stop taking it because she felt "fuzzy" and as she said "couldn't get a grip on things" and the other took it with no problems at all. :huh:

Not sure what to tell you. All three of them had a major reduction in migraines but for two, the risks outweighed the benefits.

Good luck. :love:
 

short stop

Senior Member
SS --
my 12 yr old daughter was suffering from tramatic headache issues . I mean the horrific kind , like wake her up in the middle of the night migrains pains . Went to Nerologist did a mri /bloodwork and both came back nada ... Then he prescribed her Topomax ..
It has helped greatly and I havent noticed any side effects yet . Its been about a month on the pills so far ..
 

secondseason

Retired Administrator
Thanks everybody...I don't think it's for me. Shortstop I'm glad it's helping your daughter I know y'all were awfully worried about her. It's debilitating to me.

I sat in the office yesterday in fear that the phone would ring because of the wah wah effect it had on me. I'm not myself. My back and legs hurt so bad that I have to rock in pain. I got out of the shower this morning wondering if I conditioned my hair. I can't take the drunken effect.

I believe I'll just have to ask for something else for my headaches.
 

dbodkin

Senior Member
Topamax was Dopamax for my wife. She could not function. Sit and stare off into Never NeverLand.... Had to stop taking it.
 

rayjay

Senior Member
There are lots of options so don't get discouraged. The next drug may not work or may have side effects that you don't like. Then you try something else.

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED !!!!
 

thomas gose

Senior Member
My wife was taking topamax for a while and it made her very hard to be around. The doc also said it may have been the reason she got kidney stones. :huh:
 

SmokyMtnSmoke

Senior Member
Have you tried MAXALT? My wife suffers from severe migrians very frequently and Imitrex , after many years, was showing signs of not working with normal dosing. Maxalt has seemed to be a decent solution.

Wishing you the best.
 

rayjay

Senior Member
Have you tried MAXALT? My wife suffers from severe migrians very frequently and Imitrex , after many years, was showing signs of not working with normal dosing. Maxalt has seemed to be a decent solution.

Wishing you the best.


Define 'normal dosing'. My neurologist has me on 100 mg not the normal 25 mg. I took one last night:( I need to log it into my headache diary. Imetrex is working great for me so there is no reason to change. My sister though is on Maxalt.

Immetrex [ and Maxalt too, I guess ] are for treating the actual headache. What we are discussing in this thread is a daily medication to reduce the number and severity of the headaches. If your wife is not seeing a neurologist then she may be not getting the best available treatment for her headaches. A general practioner MD is unlikely to be up to date on the latest treatments [ in my experience ].
 

secondseason

Retired Administrator
Have you tried MAXALT? My wife suffers from severe migrians very frequently and Imitrex , after many years, was showing signs of not working with normal dosing. Maxalt has seemed to be a decent solution.

Wishing you the best.


I used to take Imitrex in the shot application many years ago when I suffered from migranes. I just have chronic headaches now. There is where the problem is. There are medicines for migranes but not that many for chronic headaches. Most medicines that are for migranes will not work for headaches.
 

secondseason

Retired Administrator
Here's a question for you...how many of you headache sufferers or the folks that you know have light colored eyes?
 

rayjay

Senior Member
Hazel eyes.

It's strange. I am pretty sure my headaches are from over use of my damaged neck but Imetrex is like magic for me. I did ask one of the PA's at the neurologist and she said that the nerve bundles from the neck and the nerve bundles that are involved with migraines are side by side and crossfeed [ I think that's what she said anyway :) ].
 

SmokyMtnSmoke

Senior Member
Rayjay, I don't recall what her mg Rx or the dose rate is. I just know of late that the severity of her migraines was causing her to take more than I had observed in the past. She feels her's are more 'hormonal' induced than what you guys have with chronic.

SS, I guess you'd call her eyes light colored as they are a medium green/blue as they are darker than her mom's and her sister's eyes. Her mom and younger sister suffer from these severe migraines as well and yes they have light pale blue eyes.
 

rayjay

Senior Member
She should still see a headache specialist. I bet they can help with the 'monthly' headaches.
 

fishybzness

Senior Member
Sounds like yours are headache issues, not Migraines. Sounds like they are treating you more for Migraines.

Not sure where in N GA you are but my Nuero is Marietta Neurological Associates. Dr V is good but Heidi - the NP - is awesome. She suffers from the head pains too. They listened, tried things but didn't go crazy - were always clear on side effects and asked me if I wanted to try it or not. When I first went I was on Toprol (BP med) and an antidepressant (stress) and had tried Topomax with horrible effects. Now, I only take an abortive (tried them all, Zomig works for me) as needed.

The big thing is to see if you can break the rhythm. Had sleep test, CT Scans, MRI, sleep studies, EEG, allergist - NO EXPLANATION.

When it gets bad, I will usually get one the same day or days every week. If I can take some time off I do, otherwise, I just change my routine for a few days, the cycle changes and will get a few weeks of relief.

Exercise is the best thing I have found, coupled with tons of water to decrease frequency.

Find a DR that will work with you, not just write Rx. Make changes, find ways to manage them and your triggers.

Again, headaches are a different animal and I know that but maybe some of this will help.
 

secondseason

Retired Administrator
Sounds like yours are headache issues, not Migraines. Sounds like they are treating you more for Migraines.

Not sure where in N GA you are but my Nuero is Marietta Neurological Associates. Dr V is good but Heidi - the NP - is awesome. She suffers from the head pains too. They listened, tried things but didn't go crazy - were always clear on side effects and asked me if I wanted to try it or not. When I first went I was on Toprol (BP med) and an antidepressant (stress) and had tried Topomax with horrible effects. Now, I only take an abortive (tried them all, Zomig works for me) as needed.

The big thing is to see if you can break the rhythm. Had sleep test, CT Scans, MRI, sleep studies, EEG, allergist - NO EXPLANATION.

When it gets bad, I will usually get one the same day or days every week. If I can take some time off I do, otherwise, I just change my routine for a few days, the cycle changes and will get a few weeks of relief.

Exercise is the best thing I have found, coupled with tons of water to decrease frequency.

Find a DR that will work with you, not just write Rx. Make changes, find ways to manage them and your triggers.

Again, headaches are a different animal and I know that but maybe some of this will help.


Thanks so much for taking the time to give me all of this information.

I feel that the lack of caffeine which I gave up as a side effect to the Topamax (bad taste). It may make a difference in my life.

Thanks again!
 
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