Just put on Topamax, how long?

[sdjeff]

I went to see a neurologist. I get frequent migraines on the order of 1-4 times per week. They are relatively mild but still a problem. He put me on Topamax, 50 mg twice a day. About how long should it take before it starts working?

[kimberly19426]

There are basically three types of meds that can be used for migranes. Topamax is one of them. It never worked for me. If you take any other psych drugs, Topamax may effect the benefits of those meds, because Topamax is also used for psych disorder treatments.

http://www.topamax.com/topamax/tools-resou...CFQplHgod2AUriA

I believe the second is Midrin - also used as a psych drug, which will probably interact with your other psych drugs. I took it in college, before I took psych drugs. Not sure if it worked or not - decided that I didn't want to take pills - I am one of the ones who stops taking the antibiotic when I start to feel better... LOL)

The final one (worked wonders for me and comes in multiple forms) is Imitrex (comes in pill and injection - like an epi-pen) Pills come in 50mg and 100mg doses. I take 100mg tablets if I can catch the migrain as a twing. I have also experienced migraines with the same frequency that you do. You can take the first pill and if the headache does not go away within (2 hrs, I believe), you take a second and that does it. It takes some time but is very effective. Insurance companies will typically only give you 9 pills for a month, but my neurologist wrote an exception letter for 18. Cool thing is that your co-pay is the same for 18 in a month as it is for 9!

http://www.migrainehelp.com/4.about_imitre...itrex_demo.html

There is a brand smaking new mode of administration for an established flavour of Imitrex. It is a one nostril spray. When used it almost is instantaneous in relief. I believe that they say that it like numbs or prevents the part of the brain that experiences the migraine; it is a temporary numbing. AMAZING.

http://www.migraines.org/treatment/promgrns.htm

http://www.zomig.com/

Ask your neurologist for samples before you make the co-pay or full-price investment. Oh yeah, instead of having to take Topamax or Neurotin every day, Imitrex and the other brand is used only as needed.

If you get severe migraines, you should also ask for a prescription for phenergen - an antinausa drug used by most hospitals and dr offices to provide relief.

Hope I helped...

Kim

P.S. This website provides tons of info. I think it dumps you in the middle of the article, so you will need to traverse the pages.

[nalgas]

I don't know about the schedule for migraines, but Topamax takes a week or so to reach a steady level in your bloodstream, and it can take a bit more time after that to adjust to it and for any side effects to settle down and it to start really doing something noticeable. Starting immediately at 100mg/day seems a little rushed; when I took it, I started at 50mg/day and added another 50mg once a week week. I found that to be slow enough to minimize side effects and long enough between dose changes for what side effects that did appear to be mostly gone by the time I raised it again.

In general, prevention is a lot better way to treat a lot of things than trying to go after things when they're already active, and that tends to include migraines, too. If they just don't happen in the first place, then you don't have to worry about them anymore, for the most part. There's a reason behind the saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Also, 100mg/day of Topamax is fairly benign in the grand scheme of things. Most of the side effects people have with it don't become more common until the higher doses that are used for seizures, and it's generally otherwise fairly neutral or even occasionally useful at that dose for helping out with a few other things. It can interact with some other meds, mostly in terms of how much of them you need to take, but at that low a dose it really doesn't do a lot along those lines (although, as usual, it's still good to mention it to doctors and whatnot).

So I guess the moral of the story is that it could be a few weeks before it's really working to its full potential, but you might start to notice something within a week or two.

[Mindful Momma]

i was put on topamax starting dose of 100mg and noticed a slight improvement in about a week or so. then i was upped to 200mg and have seen more of an improvement over the last 2 weeks. i still have headaches in the mornings and minor ones throughout the day so it may need to be adjusted again but it is definitely working to some degree.

hope this helps.

[celestia]

In general, prevention is a lot better way to treat a lot of things than trying to go after things when they're already active, and that tends to include migraines, too.

It should also be said that Triptans (Imitrex, Maxalt, Amerge, etc.) are abortive medications, not prophelaxis. Topamax is the best thing going. Midrin is archaeic, though I guess that doesn't mean it doesn't work. It didn't do shit for me 25 years ago.

50 mg of Topamax is a reasonable titration, though I would recommend 25 as a starting point and then continue on as Nalgas said. It can, and frequently does, remarkably impair the cognitive function, ergo, it's well-known nickname, "Dopamax". In most people who stick with it, these side effects go away relatively quickly.

Another class of drugs not mentioned are beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. Medication typically used for blood pressure, but have a long track record of helping a lot of migraine sufferers. Lyrica is also being looked at for it's potential to minimize migraine.

Good luck,

S9

[wake me when i'm dead]

There are basically three types of meds that can be used for migranes.

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

k, i've seen you post ignorant bullshit in a few threads on this site today.

in any case, please don't spread uninformed bullshit. it pisses me off, and when i'm in a shitty mood, ignorance is one of my biggest pet peeves that pushes my "stop being restrained and let the snarky bitch out to play for a little while" button. and holy crap, i'm still exercising a great deal of self restraint right now.

*clearing throat and continuing in a gentle tone*

imitrex is one of MANY tryptamine based drugs familiarly known as the triptans. (well familiar to people that know a but about migraines anyway). there are a LOT of other options in the triptan family other than imitrex. and be aware that if one medication in that family doesn't work, that does not mean that another won't work either.

imitrex makes me violently ill. maxalt does not. relpax does not. i have not tried any others in that family, so i can't comment on the rest.

there are drugs from other families that have been useful in the treatment of migraines for some people as well. (including but not limited to the phenothiazines, ergots, nsaids, opiates)

i could go on, but i don't want to be more of a thread pirate than i already have been.

in response to sdjeff ... i took topa for a while to prevent migraines. i noticed its effects after almost two weeks and stopped taking it after about four because i felt like i was dumber than a box of rocks. i hope you have more success than i did - i know a few people who have had great success with topamax in dealing with their migraines (and heard about many more who have had fantastic results with topa.)

*edited for spelling*

[Silver]

Hey, Jeff -

For any drug that I've taken that also has a prophylactic effect on migraine, I've noticed an effect within about 3 weeks.

I'm taking the Topamax for other reasons right now, but it killed off my migraines after 2-3 weeks this go-round, definitely by 50 mg.

I'll go through cycles of having them for a year or two if I'm not taking anything for them - they build up over a few months to the point I have to do something.

Tegretol/Trileptal also worked quite well.

Triptans work on me; my neuro and I are in agreement that if I'm needing an abortive agent >2x/week, I should go to a prophylactic agent anyway. I'll second WMWID's post. I always did OK with Imitrex, but the triptans are very much YMMV drugs. The injectable Imitrex kicks migraine butt. The nasal spray was the most disgusting thing ever. Actually so disgusting it wasn't worth the relief. Not something I'd say lightly.

[kimberly19426]

So that you can sleep tonight, I promise that this is my last post. You are correct in stating that you are a "snarky bitch" - that is what you refered to yourself as, right? Links that I provide contain information that is accurate and approved by the FDA (the only US government organization that can permit or restrict the sale of). I will not direct someone to take a medication, because I am not a MD. I offer my PERSONAL experience (positive and negative) and state so. I feel that given that users of this site ask either directly or with curiousity for information about potential drugs. or what's on the horizon... I believe that they are ultimately seeking hope. Hope that one cocktail or another will bring them closer to their accepted "normal"; if not now... the mental heath community and researchers have not given up on us and that if not a solution now, there is hope in the future - they are still trying - society has not given up on helping to find that accepted "normal" for them. Although it is obvious that I have not met my objective/ my goal (I am trying to return something back to other who have been there to help me on this site and similar sites). Oh well, I can only hope that there is someone out there who can help, where I seemed to have failed.

I apologize to all who were offended my any of my attempts to help the community that provided me enlightenment.

-K

There are basically three types of meds that can be used for migranes.

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah

k, i've seen you post ignorant bullshit in a few threads on this site today.

in any case, please don't spread uninformed bullshit. it pisses me off, and when i'm in a shitty mood, ignorance is one of my biggest pet peeves that pushes my "stop being restrained and let the snarky bitch out to play for a little while" button. and holy crap, i'm still exercising a great deal of self restraint right now.

*clearing throat and continuing in a gentle tone*

imitrex is one of MANY tryptamine based drugs familiarly known as the triptans. (well familiar to people that know a but about migraines anyway). there are a LOT of other options in the triptan family other than imitrex. and be aware that if one medication in that family doesn't work, that does not mean that another won't work either.

imitrex makes me violently ill. maxalt does not. relpax does not. i have not tried any others in that family, so i can't comment on the rest.

there are drugs from other families that have been useful in the treatment of migraines for some people as well. (including but not limited to the phenothiazines, ergots, nsaids, opiates)

i could go on, but i don't want to be more of a thread pirate than i already have been.

in response to sdjeff ... i took topa for a while to prevent migraines. i noticed its effects after almost two weeks and stopped taking it after about four because i felt like i was dumber than a box of rocks. i hope you have more success than i did - i know a few people who have had great success with topamax in dealing with their migraines (and heard about many more who have had fantastic results with topa.)

*edited for spelling*

[Mrs. Singer]

For me it took 6 weeks to notice any relief at all, and 8 weeks to really start working.

But it might be a little different for chronic daily headaches.