Topamax

[Steve762us]

Caffeine withdrawal---yes, it is addictive--can result in headaches.

I attended a psychopharmacology seminar last year. The presenter called Topamax "dopamax". It has a reputation for cognitive impairment, as you've found yourself.

 

[Nautical Son]

D, My wife was taking Topamax for a while we slowly weined her from it because she was losing weight and it made her feel "stupid". Then we noticed the warning that stated not to just stop taking it, so ask your physician.

She has also had some thyroid issues and is taking Synthroid and her new doc here in Savannah has just given her some sample packs of Maxalt, it is to treat the haedache after onset as was described above by someone else, she says it worked but she did have a bad feeling the next day, said she just didn't feel right.

I myself suffer from migraines that almost always strike at around 2:30 or 3:30 in the morning waking me up almost in tears, over the years I have found that 1 beer will trigger it, or 2 Jack and Cokes, rum doesn't always trigger so I take my chances with the Cruzan. Sometimes it's something as simple as eating chicken wings with something other than hot sauce on them (high in nitrites).
I can't always be sure if I am gonna get a migraine but I do know that they wipe me out from onset until 2-3 pm the next day without fail.
Lately I have been taking the Excedrine Migraine's with pretty decent sucess so we'll see how they work before I go see a doc.

 

[LILREBEL]

I work at a doctors office and a lot of patients have told me that most of there symptoms subside after taking it for a while and some patients were unable to handle the symptoms so they switched to a diffrent medication. If the symptoms are not tolerated easily I would call the physician and discuss other treatment options.

 

[BIGABOW]

My wife took Topamax for the past three years and other than feeling a bit clumsey(sp) from time to time she had all but eliminated her Migraines. She will take an Exedrine migraine pill from time to time for a headache and feels fine,
If your first dose was the 100mg thats most likely why you didnt like the pills, work your way into them w/ lower dose and move up in dose and you will be glad that the Topamax exist.
JB suffered 5 out of 7 days from Migraines and she may have got one every 3 months on the Topamax.
Also dont forget that Imetrex makes a portable injection kit now for the individual migraines, set with 2 doses in a kit- instead of having to keep up with viles and serenges.

 

[SHMELTON]

Caffeine withdrawal---yes, it is addictive--can result in headaches.

I attended a psychopharmacology seminar last year. The presenter called Topamax "dopamax". It has a reputation for cognitive impairment, as you've found yourself.

My boy, now 5yrs old took Topomax for a form of infant epilipsey," Infantile Spasms", from the time he was 8moths old to the time he was 17 months old. He finally learned to crawl at 18 months old. It really delayed him. He is catching up more and more. I guess not crawling till then is better then having 200-300 seizures a day. The topamax didn't stop it, but it cut them down to 30 or 40 a day. A partial resection of the temporal lobe finally did the trick ( cutting a bottle cap portion of his brain out).

On another note, my uncle had cronic headaches, and wound up having his gall blatter removed it did the trick.

 

[BamaBart]

My wife and daughter-in-law both take Maxalt. It's the only thing that has ever helped them.

 

[Redneck1919]

My wife had to stop taking Topamax due to side effects and the fact it did not really help. Been on Maxalt for years. It helps, but after the fact.
Just recently her pain management doc sent her for MRI and found her neck is messed up and is probably the underlying reason for headaches and muscle cramps in shoulders, etc.
Going to have a nerve block procedure this afternoon to see if that helps.
You should pursue the causes for headaches not just treat the symptoms.
Good Luck.

 

[rayjay]

I now know that my neck is a large part of my migraine issues. Atenolol is a help [as I found when I stopped taking it and my headaches dramatically increased].

Another big help for me is wearing a Breath Right strip as much as I can. Especially when sleeping, a Breath Right makes a massive improvement in my rest. Wearing one during the day is a big positive for me if I am going to be at home. Once I take it off within a 2 to 4 hours I start to feel the dull ache coming on. Putting a Breath Right on makes me feel better almost instantly.