Headache and Migraines Forum - Topamax for migraines


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Topamax for migraines Posted: 01-05-08 22:16pm


I was wondering if anyone has heard of or is taking this medicine for your headaches. My sister in law recommended me to talk to my doctor about it to help my headaches. I get headaches almost everyday and sometimes they are so bad that nothing relieves them unless I go to sleep. But then when I wake up its still there. I also get really bad migraines about 2-3 times a month. She takes it for her headaches. She gets bad migraines and she also has been told by the doctor that she suffers from cluster headaches. I was just wondering if anyone has tried this medicine and if it helped you or not. Thanks

MandMs

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Posted: 01-09-08 06:24am


This medicine is indicated for adults for prevention of migraine headache, but its usefulness in the acute treatment of migraine headache has not been studied yet. Topamax is an antiepileptic drug, that have been shown to be a most effective preventive or prophylactic Migraine regiment. What is the usual character of your daily headaches? Do they subside when using regular painkillers?

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Posted: 01-09-08 09:39am


I have a headache almost everyday. Im not sure if stress is the cause of them. I am not ALWAYS stressed at work or at home. But it seems that when I am under a lot of stress, they start. They are usually in the back of my head as well as the sides above my ears. Also sometimes in the front of of the top of my head. They usually don't subside when I use regular advil. It dulls it a little, but not all the way. I often times go to bed with a headache and it doesn't go away and I wake up with one as well.

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Posted: 01-21-08 03:21am


Have you experienced pain in your temple area that can be referred to the teeth, the top and the back of your head? Have you noticed that your neck pains are triggering your migraine attacks?

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Posted: 01-23-08 23:12pm


i used to have really bad migraines. i went into a cluster that lasted from september to february a couple years back. i had to basically drop out of school because of it. i took topamax for a while for the migraines, but i didnt like the way it made me feel. it helped my migraines some, but it gave me total "medacine head" i was lightheaded almost constantly. the doctors had me on a couple of other drugs too though, so idk if it was simply the topamax. as a preventative for migraines i tool elavil, or amatryptaline (sp?) it actually helped quite a bit. i was on it for 4 years. imitrex also helped me. though it would upset my stomach a little bit... but then again just about everything upset my stomach at that point. lol if just advil doesnt help try taking 3 of them with a coke or pepsi... i think the cafine helps the advil absorb better, and it usually helps headaches anyways. let me know how you do... good luck!

LadyAllie

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Posted: 01-23-08 23:16pm


oh, and by the way.. try going to your optomatrist... turns out that my problem was actually my eyes... after tons of tests on my brain and stomach we figured out that i had a visual fixation disparity. which is when your eyes dont line up quite right and the brain is basically straining to focus. i got special glasses that had prisms in the lenses and my migraines dissapeared. it usually occurs after some sort of blow to the head, but i hadnt hit my head recently. id recomend trying it out if nothing else works. hopefully your optomatrist has the equiptment to test you. good luck!

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Hi, LadyAllie! Posted: 01-24-08 04:32am


Are you still experiencing migraine headaches? Do you usually get aura of symptoms before headache? Dizziness, confusion, difficulty with concentration and attention are some of the side effects caused by usage of Topamax.

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hello MandMs! Posted: 01-28-08 22:58pm


i actually dont get them often anymore. idk if i grew out of them, or if some of the treatments helped. i know the glasses helped immensely. i was taking imitrex every day, and the day before i got them, i had to take 100mg for the first time. it took me about a week to get used to the glasses, but since i got them i havent had to take imitrex. i ended up growing out of the glasses and i dont wear them anymore, but they were what broke my cycle. i would get auras before the headaches. it usually started with the auras around lights and stuff, my eyes would trip out and i would get dizzy. then my stomach would get upset, almost to the point of vomiting, and about 5-10 minutes later the headache would hit. it was dibilitating. i couldnt function when i had the headaches. it was miserable. i had all of those symptoms with topamax. i honestly did not like it. i didnt do well on it.

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Posted: 02-18-08 04:58am


I'm happy you feel much better than years ago. Do you still get some meds for migraine?

LadyAllie

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Posted: 02-18-08 13:31pm


no i dont have meds anymore for migraines. only for my stomach, which doctors think is a type of migraines that i get. "abdominal migraines." if i start feeling the symptoms coming on (eyes feeling weird, sensitivity to light, upset stomach etc.) ill take 2 advil and half of one of my ativan for my stomach as soon as possible, and it usually kicks it before the full blown migraine kicks in.

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Posted: 03-11-08 05:32am


Do you get abdominal pains with nausea, vomiting or anorexia? Where is the pain usually located?

aussben

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prism glasses Posted: 05-16-08 01:25am


Hello LadyAllie, The prism glasses you got, do you know where I can find some information about them? I have a similar problem where my eyes over converge, I went to a ophthalmologist a few years back he told me I had that. But only suggested exercises that did not really help. None of the optometrists tested for it at all, I have 20/20 vision and every time I go to the optometrists they say my eyes are fine. Which is frustrating... I am now in Hong Kong and went to a optometrists here, they gave me reading glasses which sort of help, pretty much just make things bigger. They only did a chart test, which I thought was pretty useless considering I have 20/20 vision. I even told him I have eye convergence problem. I get cluster headaches daily sometimes with a lot of pain, bad sinus, I have had 3 sinus surgeries, which did help bit with my stuffy nose, I cannot take nose sprays because it triggers more migraines, I cannot read for more then 15 mins, because it makes my migraines worse and start to feel sick. I eventually found out that the migraines caused the sinus problems and not the other way around. It is always my right eye that feels funny. I have this problem for about 15yrs. I want to find out as much information to take to the optometrists as I can about the prism glasses, they are hopeless....