migraine meds

[Criddybuggin]

I've been taking nortriptyline 25mg 1x at night for 3 weeks and also 50mg only when I get an aura.  I've been diagnosed as having non-epileptic seizures due to migraines.  I've only had one migraine in 2013 but doctor says that they are silent migraines.  With these meds he said 3 to 4 weeks and I should be back to normal and can go back to work with my primary doctor's permission.  Nothing much has changed.  I still have the same amount of spells but some have been leen painful/violent and I do not wake up as stiff but still sore.  I keep a mild fever 99.2 -100.1° and I more nauseated as before and more urine retention as before.  I left a message to be seen again.  These meds have my sleep all messed up because after taking my imitrex I go to sleep for an hour or more but I never remember falling asleep or being sleepy. Has anyone had any experience with these meds? Like I said I dont know if they are preventing migraines cause mine are silent (my lesions in brain point to migraines but two other docs thought ms due to symptoms and obands in CSF only 3 and 0 in serum).   Thanks, Criddybuggin

[AKC_75]

Wow, so sorry to hear about all you have had to deal with!!

I was on Topamax for many years with great success until I finally built up an immunity to it. Just to let you know one side effect is taste changes and for me, the biggest change I had was that every carbonated drink tasted flat. So, say bye bye to your sodas and alcohol (if you drink any). But, it is a small price to pay for being pain free, right?!

[Criddybuggin]

Hi everyone!  Thanks for all your input.  I have recently been taken off Klonopin in which I did exactly as the neuro asked ans after doing so he doubled my nortriptyline. I started having worsening affects of my symptoms.  We went back down to 25 mgs and after another week I ended up in the hospital with a severe allergic reaction.  I also had a siezure in which they administrated Ativan that worked. After observation of 2 hours I started to have another siezure which worked again.  After followup with my primary physician I was told to follow up with my neuro for anther treatment option. I've been told Topamax well be as useful with less of a tolerance dependancy. What do you all think?  God bles you all. Thanks so much for your help,  Criddybuggin

[AKC_75]

Hi and welcome to the Migraines & Headaches Community.

It takes medication a good 6-8 weeks before you know if it is even going to start working....and probably a good 12 weeks to get total relief.
As for the side effects..remember your doctor weighed the side effects with the possible positive outcome and decided your best chance was to try the medication. Side effects typically subside or go completely away within 3-6 months.
One thing you need to keep in mind is treating migraines is a marathon, not a sprint. There are no quick and easy tricks. You have to try this and try that and try a combo of this and that until you find the best path. And each person is different so, just because it helped Amy doesn't mean it will help John.
I know it's hard but try to have patience. I know for me, it has been 20 years with the past 5 years being absolutely torture. We'll get there some day.

[Ball123]

Maybe I don't understand you correctly but these drugs are meant to help you sleep better not worse.

You shouldn't get a fever.

Give the drug some time to work, I would say at least two months.

If you start to feel bad from the drug you must communicate with your doctor about it and discuss whether you should stay on the drug or not.

The drug you are taking is the same type of drug as amitriptyline, which is another very common medicine against headaches and migraines.

If the drug does not work for you you should try another one, there are several highly efficient migraine drugs. If you have tried two or three of them with no effect then it is time to question the diagnosis.

Usually the white spots on the MRI that show up in both ms sufferers and migraineurs can be differed from each other by the radiologist. They don't look exactly the same, typically. Or they don't typically don't show up in the same locations. Negative tests of your cerebrospinal-fluid for ms also points to migraine. Unfortunately there is no certain test for migraine.

I hope the medicine will help you.

Best of luck!