Migraine Diet

I too suffer from migranes, my doctor prescribed topomax (sp) and i take it daily. and they are preventing them from coming! but is there anybody else out there who also takes this and is this drug affecting them in any way??? I have been taking this drug now for 7 years.

I was put on topamax (topiramate) on 3 separate occasions and was thoroughly pissed off the last time. I was an honors student in college and topamax not only gave me severe extremity tingling--it also affected my memory and made me think I was absolutely going insane. If I was more then 20 minutes late in taking the meds, I would have "loud" racing thoughts and would be unable to concentrate until I could realize that I needed to take my topamax-and then within 10 minutes of taking it things would be normal. Not cool.

My memory was flaky, and my absence seizures went through the roof (sort of like spacing out, but much more serious hehe, it's like a seizure while you're sitting and looking at something and then all of a sudden you're like whoa, where did the last 5 minutes go? I was in a daze....and by daze I mean my brain shut off).

I fought the prescription being put on me the second time and the neurologist said he'd put me on a lower dosage to start off with. I was still having problems and weened myself off of it because the neurologist was kind of a ****. Then a different neurologist a year later said we should try it again but at the minimum dosage level. I tried it for about 6 days and then took myself off of it and found a new neurologist--one that couldn't believe I had ever been put on topamax in the first place.

I also have a friend who is bipolar and was put in topamax before and she also experienced crazy memory problems and had to be taken off of it. They prescribe it for everything these days and I think it's the worst I've ever been on.

This is strange- just as I was posting a thread about migraines in the chitchat forum, someone sent me a private message, with this thread in it.

My migraines have become debilitating. I have missed most of this month at work, because the pain is so bad. I have a hormone condition, but everything seems to trigger me- hormones, weather change, lack of sleep, allergies, sinusitis (I have only one functioning sinus), diet, etc etc etc.

Nothing has worked for the pain with any consistency. I've cut out triggers (red wine, cheese, chocolate), but that didn't help. The last year, my migraines have been worse and worse, sometimes lasting up to 30 days at a time, with only a few days respite between.

I'm nearing the end of my rope. It's a miracle that I'm still employed, and I'm so grateful for my boss's understanding.. my husband is getting frustrated at the impact these migraines (I also get cluster headaches, but the pain level is the same, most of the time) is having on our earnings. I feel frustrated and stressed over missing so much work, which makes the headaches and migraines even worse.

I get aura, nausea, hyperacusis (a hearing condition where you hear every little noise at painful levels), tinnitus in the right ear, dizziness, sometimes fever, exhaustion... I get moody because of the pain, light sensitivity. I have spent days laying on my bathroom floor, because it's the darkest room in the house, with sunglasses on and earplugs in, just trying to avoid bawling my eyes out.

Gluten, food additives, preservatives, and dyes do me in. Allergy season is also pretty hellish migraine-wise unless I'm taking antihisthamines.

I've had far fewer migraines since I zapped grains and processed foods from my diet. It's making me want fewer and fewer cheats to be honest. I had some B-day cake the other night and wound up with a sick stomach AND a headache. Blargh.

Strangely enough, red wine and dark chocolate give me very few problems, BUT I consume them only in small amounts.

I too suffer from migranes, my doctor prescribed topomax (sp) and i take it daily. and they are preventing them from coming! but is there anybody else out there who also takes this and is this drug affecting them in any way??? I have been taking this drug now for 7 years.

I was put on topamax (topiramate) on 3 separate occasions and was thoroughly pissed off the last time. I was an honors student in college and topamax not only gave me severe extremity tingling--it also affected my memory and made me think I was absolutely going insane. If I was more then 20 minutes late in taking the meds, I would have "loud" racing thoughts and would be unable to concentrate until I could realize that I needed to take my topamax-and then within 10 minutes of taking it things would be normal. Not cool.

My memory was flaky, and my absence seizures went through the roof (sort of like spacing out, but much more serious hehe, it's like a seizure while you're sitting and looking at something and then all of a sudden you're like whoa, where did the last 5 minutes go? I was in a daze....and by daze I mean my brain shut off).

I fought the prescription being put on me the second time and the neurologist said he'd put me on a lower dosage to start off with. I was still having problems and weened myself off of it because the neurologist was kind of a ****. Then a different neurologist a year later said we should try it again but at the minimum dosage level. I tried it for about 6 days and then took myself off of it and found a new neurologist--one that couldn't believe I had ever been put on topamax in the first place.

I also have a friend who is bipolar and was put in topamax before and she also experienced crazy memory problems and had to be taken off of it. They prescribe it for everything these days and I think it's the worst I've ever been on.

"Topamax Dopamax." I was put on it for seizures and it stole my senior year of high school and freshman year of college. I could go all day about how it affected me. I couldn't remember my phone number or social security number, I always got the order wrong, I couldn't braid my hair especially when looking in a mirror because I couldn't understand why they were backwards, I slept ALL the time because I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the shower every day and was always late to school. I lost 80 pounds due to decreased appetite but was malnourished and anemic. I was always cold because the drug increases your internal temp while decreasing your ability to sweat, and therefore I had more seizures when my body was too hot like during my senior year of HS at a drama competition when I got to the dressing room and was hot because of the lights and costume and had a seizure and was unable to celebrate with my classmates after we won the competition...this could go on and on and on. I am not being dramatic. It was such a horrible experience and I can't believe I made it through my first year of college on it.
Since you've been on it for 7 years, it seems that you are one of few that get along with it. I'm glad for you. Also, you are probably on a lower dose than I was because I needed it to control seizures. If I were you though I would still check out the side effects especially the one on body temp so you can regulate your time in the heat and your water intake. Also, if you have a history of seizures, it interacts with cold medicine (pseudaphedrine) and can cause seizures. Learned that the hard way.

Nothing has worked for the pain with any consistency. I've cut out triggers (red wine, cheese, chocolate), but that didn't help. The last year, my migraines have been worse and worse, sometimes lasting up to 30 days at a time, with only a few days respite between.

I get aura, nausea, hyperacusis (a hearing condition where you hear every little noise at painful levels), tinnitus in the right ear, dizziness, sometimes fever, exhaustion... I get moody because of the pain, light sensitivity. I have spent days laying on my bathroom floor, because it's the darkest room in the house, with sunglasses on and earplugs in, just trying to avoid bawling my eyes out.

If your migraines are that severe, you need to talk to a doctor and make sure there's not an underlying condition causing them.

I went through the same thing you described 2 years ago. I've had migraines ever since middle school, but they didn't become debilitating until I reached my late 20s. A week after my 30th birthday I was admitted to the hospital with stroke like symptons (loss of vision, trouble speaking/understanding speach, random facial numbness, and intense pain). Fortuantely the MRI showed it wasn't a stroke or aneurysm.

I finally met with a neurologist after that. She said I was experiencing Basilar Migraines. In her opinion, the main trigger for me was birth control. I went off the pill and have been migraine free since. I still get stress headaches, but nowhere the level I had been for the past few years.

Not saying that's the fix for everyone, but a neurologist should be able to work with you to get some form of relief or find the source of the problem.

I have seen a neurologist, and he was stymied. My tests, my MRI, everything showed I was fine, and yet, I'm in this excruciating pain.

Today, for example, the world looks fuzzy, because light is so bright, it's like it's glazing over everything. I know that the letters I'm typing are black, but they look like a light light gray to me. I know that the Post Reply button is vibrant green, but it looks muted... because the light is overwhelming.

This is one of those days that I don't think I'll make it through the day at work, and that makes me stress, and feel awful, because I'm bailing on my team... I hate these migraines.

and I'm not on birth control. I can't be, as six years ago, it almost killed me (I'm not exaggerating. I almost died because of Depo Provera). My body cannot process extra hormones well, due to a hormone condition.

I have seen a neurologist, and he was stymied. My tests, my MRI, everything showed I was fine, and yet, I'm in this excruciating pain.

That sucks. I wish I could offer some miracle advice, but I don't have any. Hopefully your doc will eventually find a way to help you.

(I'm not exaggerating. I almost died because of Depo Provera). .

Ugh, what a horrible thing to have to go through.