Topamax and pills

I have been taking Topamax for about 6 months now. I have been on several different everyday medications for migraine prevention and Topamax has been the best one. I was first prescribed Relpax to help relieve the headaches. I eventually got to a point where I was getting migraines every day/every other day (insurance only covers 12 pills per 20 days). I was later switched to Imitrex - which is MUCH more effective (1 100mg tablet) but my insurance only covers 9 pills per 30 days (unbelievable).

Just wanted to give you guys some background on my situation. I have been through 2 MRIs and a CAT scan, visited a neurologist, done 2 sleep studies, spent 2 months on a breathing machine for possible sleep apnea causing migraines. My family doctor, my neurologist, everyone I saw was unable to determine the cause of my migraines.

THE GOOD NEWS is I was referred to an UPPER CERVICAL SPECIALIST by my old chiropractor. This may not sound believable but my headaches have decreased to about 2-3 per month since I've been treated by my new chiropractor. My old chiropractor was the type who did a complete adjustment on my spine/hips and cracked my neck both ways every time I visited. The upper cervical specialist focuses on C1-C2 vertebrae and uses calculated heat readings to determine where there is inflammation and there is no twisting/turning involved. Look up upper cervical chiropractic on google and see if these treatments will help with any of your headaches. It has helped my situation dramatically and I will continue seeing this specialist and probably come off of the topamax in the next few weeks.

I've been taking Topamax now for about 6 weeks, and my headaches are still just as bad as ever, except now I have headaches with the thrill of numb fingers, confusion, weight loss, memory loss, an absolute horrid taste in my mouth, and now the latest.... my hands feel dirty all the time. Has anyone experienced this?? I just feel like my hands are dirty. I wash them, and a half hour later, it almost feels like there's a film on them, and I have to wash them again. Almost ocd-ish. So 6 weeks in.... Anyone have any advise on how much longer I should give this topamax before I give up on it & try something else? My doc said it should have worked by now if it was gonna - but I have read on here, that it sometimes can take months...? I just don't know if I can take these side effects, AND the headaches for much longer without going NUTS! {grin}
Any advise?

I have been taking Topamax for 3 months for cluster headaches (which is pain equivalent to childbirth). Topamax has made me a maniac. At first, it has been helping, but now that my doc has me on 200 mg a day, I feel like the first thing that I think of when I wake up is death. I worry about everything! I forgot my son's birth date when filling out a dental form. I can't remember the family cat's name. I don't know the second line of our bedtime prayers, etc. I feel like crying because THIS IS NOT ME! I am normally very sharp and witty and I just can't seem to get my normal thoughts out. Today I only took 3 pills instead of 4. I am starting the weaning process myself. I have stuck with it as long as I could. It's time to find something else....a good massage perhaps.

Been taking Topamax 300 mg a day for the past 4 year. I also take 450 mg of Wellbutrin. This is to help with migraine. Although my total count of Zomig pills I took last year was 120 pills and some of those I broke in half so I wouldn't have to use a whole pill for a migraine. So that mean, with the Topamax and Wellbutrin combined, I still had at least 123 migraine this past year. Three months of migraines. That's insane. I can't stop the "Dopamax" because my doctor says it would be really bad with it. I have terrible memory loss, forgetfulness, and loss of words that is embarrassing. The nurses did not inform me of the side effects when I first started taking it and I thought I was going crazy. I started looking up ADHD on the computer thinking I had developed it as an adult. I was made at the nurse when she asked me how I was doing remembering things and and if I was stumbling for word......I wanted to slap her off her stool.........at that point it was NOT funny.

I have been on Topamax for the last year for migraines but during the same time period, started having problems with my eyes. I thought it was an infection from my contacts so I stopped wearing them plus my eye make up. I have been to 5 doctors and they all seem to think it's "Dry Eye Syndrome" and I have been having them insert plugs into my tear ducts and I am constantly putting lubricant drops in my eyes to relieve the burning and itching. It dawned on me this weekend that this All started the same time I was prescribed this medication. I have stopped the pills since Fri.

My question to all: Does Anybody have been having similar problems and will it go away or is the damage done?? Will the doctor.s admit to knowing anything?
Thank you!

I'm 24 and I have had increasingly more migraines as I get older. I now have them 2-3 times a month, and they sometimes last 3-5 days. I went to the doctor, for the first time for migraines, three months ago and he just gave me a to take as needed. those were gone quickly. I had another appointment a few days ago and asked to be put on a daily preventative med. he prescribed topamax. what concerns me is the dosage. he gave me 200 mg to take twice a day. I have never taken any daily med for migraines before, and I see that most people start at 25 mg a day and gradually increase the dosage. I'm very sensitive to medication and I'm worried I can't handle 400 mg of Topamax right off the bat. I was considering cutting the tablets into halves or quarters and starting myself on a lower dosage. perhaps I should just call the doctor for clarification. is this dosage too high for a first time taking Topamax?

any advice much appreciated,

Sarah

Hi My Topamax side effects for the past 4 months have been major confusion, I forget things, such as did I take my pills how many pills do I take this morning when I used to do 4am 3 at night it used to confuse the hell outta me. I am in grad school, I cannot remember a lot of things. I have to read a chapter over and over couple of times, the length of time it might take me to do a 10 page chapter is 4 hours. To get through one set of notes it takes me the whole day or half a day, I am so slow and fatigued from the medicine. My mind works so slow. I have a hard time forming words and sentences. I hate Topamax, decreasing the dose did nothing for me. My eyes burn when I read. Everyday I go on the same road from school to home, I don't drive, someone else takes me, I still don't know how to get from home to school. I know pieces of it. just like my school work, pieces. Everything is a blur.

Hello, everyone. I didn't know there was a page like this, but I'm glad there is. I've been on Topamax for 3 weeks because the medicine I was on for 2 years didn't do anything and the headaches weren't going away at all anymore; they were continuous. The first week at 25 mg I had the tingling for a day or two, the involuntary muscle twitches, the terrible mouth taste, and the chest pain. All but the terrible taste went away by the second week at 50 mg but I started getting wobbly legs and dropsy. I read an article somewhere where a person on Tomamax called the drug Stupamax or Dopamax and said anyone on it turned into a box of rocks. The box hit me at 3 weeks and 75 mg. I'm not wobbly anymore, I'm still irritatingly dropsy, and I am doing things that only a person with half a brain would do. Plus, my ears have been ringing for two days, and today I feel like I'm in a tunnel and everything is far away. I'm getting ready to call my doctor. On the OTHER hand, I haven't had a headache that lasted for more than a half hour in 3 weeks. So what's best? Going back to headaches or continue to evolve into a box of rocks?