Hi,Anyone Take Topamax for Preventing Migraines?

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Hi,

Anyone take Topamax for preventing migraines?

 

[Trish1953]

I used to take it. I found taking Depakote was much more effective for me than Topamax.

Trish in Texas
Future Director and Recruiter

 

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Did you stop taking it because it wasn't helping your migraines or because of the side effects?

 

[KimmyDarling]

I had to stop taking it because it affected my cognitive abilities. No joke-- it really dumbed me out! (It also didn't help reduce my headaches, though.)

 

[Jilleysue]

I take Topamax. It helped my migranes alot. I take that a blood pressure medicine. I really liked topamax...and still do. I do feel like I have memory lapses a lot. Anyone else have side effects.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I take Topamax. It helped my migranes alot. I take that a blood pressure medicine. I really liked topamax...and still do. I do feel like I have memory lapses a lot. Anyone else have side effects.

I have a lot of memory lapses too....but I'm not on any meds., so I'm not sure what my excuse is!

 

[pcheframsey]

Trish, be careful with the Depakote. Please make sure that you are getting labwork done monthly when taking this. My cousin and son were both on this (my cousin for seizures and my son for mis-diagnosed bipolarism). It became toxic to my cousin and my son's doctor didn't check his levels, so when we changed doctors and they did get checked, they were really out of hand. Just be really careful with it and ask your doctor about getting your blood checked monthly if you aren't doing so already.

 

[Trish1953]

Oh, I was very careful with Depakote. They were checking my liver levels really frequently. Topamax wasn't causing side effects, like memory lapses, it just stopped working. So, that's why I changed meds. Luckily, I got rid of most of my migraines when I switched to doing PC full-time. My major triggers were perfumes, colognes, bug spray, etc., which are hard to control in the workplace (I worked in a bull-pen at a mail-order pharmacy, with no windows and poor venilation). Now, I take Maxalt MLT (the self-dissolving ones that work more quicly) when one comes on, maybe once or twice a month. With Maxalt MLT, the migraine is gone in about 30 seconds or so. What a wonder.

If a med is causing memory lapses, be careful using it. You just never know what the long-term effects might be. There was one med I took that made me think I had Alzheimer's! (My sister-in-law, who was only 56, died from the effects of Alzheimer's in August 2006; her dad, age 83, died of it in 2001. So it's real scary for me to think of getting that because I lived with them and helped care for them).

P.S. Estrogen levels can affect memory.

Trish in Texas
Future Director and Recruiter

 

[ChefBeckyD]

P.S. Estrogen levels can affect memory.

Trish in Texas
Future Director and Recruiter

Would that be low estrogen or high estrogen? I know already I can't take the pill in any form (or the patch) because anything that screws w/ my estrogen levels gives me a migraine. When I was on the pill, I had migraines 3-4 days every month, and NOTHING helped, and also for the first 5 months of my pregnancy....since stopping the pill, I have them very infrequently

 

[Trish1953]

I found that low estrogen can cause memory problems. Some meds affect estrogen levels. I notice antibiotics, as well as some muscle relaxants and some oral diabetic meds make my estrogen levels flutuate, causing memory problems. If I start having memory problems, I always check my meds first, then my estrogen levels, then stress levels next. So far, knock on wood, there's always been a fairly benign cause of my memory problems, rather than something bad like Alzheimer's.

Trish in Texas
Future Director and Recruiter

 

[KimmyDarling]

I had to stop taking Depakote because it gave me a tremor so bad that I couldn't hold a fork.

 

[jenf]

My sister-in-law takes Topomax. She has she isn't sure if it has really helped her migraines, but she has lost a ton of weight using it. Is that a normal side effect?

 

[siderits]

My son was briefly on Topomax for seizures, but we had to make a switch because he was really out of it. His doc said that is a common side effect, but you just never know who's going to be affected. Internally, they refer to it as "dopamax" because it often makes you dopey.

 

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The reason I ask is because my major side effect has been fatigue and I wondered how others dealt with it. Spoke with my dr and I will be lowering my dosage. Memory loss has been a little issue not to bad. I'm just glad it has gotten rid of my migraines!!