Topomax ?

[Isabel2107]

Hello everyone:

I have been contemplating on taking any medication that I need to daily.  I had a freind who took Topomax (topamax) daily and she lost a lot of weight. I dont want or believe in taking medication to lose weight.  It is my Nasty, Evil, demon MIGRAINS that I get! I am 46 and thought I would have less, NOT! I dont get them everyday, but at least once a week or once every two weeks if I am lucky and I try to take Tylenol beforehand but that doesnt do the trick, unfortunately. I take Imitrex and have heard many women dying from this horrible Migraine medication .  I am scared to death of this and Imitrex is a very bad drug and makes ones heart flutter. Yes, i have taken Maxalt but my body becomes accustomed to drugs or medication if I take it enough.  Today again, I had to take two Imitrex which is very dangerous and you really cant take a third or you will end up in ICU or not be here.  Today, I feel I have reached my point in no longer do I care in taking medication daily, at least a short while.  Sure I can afford losing weight but my problem is my EVIL NASTY MIGRAINES>  I have read many of your notes and most of you say the tingling in toes and fingers. I suffer from Vertigo as well, Can anyone help me and write me who suffer from Vertigo and Migraines, mostly Migrains more than Vertigo, i am tired of feeling nausea with this migraines.. is it possible to go in Topomax (topamax) maybe a year and then stop? How long does a person have to be on it????
Hope someone will write and help and give me tips, Thanks!
Isabel

[darfox2001]

Hi, I just started taking topomax (topamax) 2 days ago and have not had any side effects yet. I can keep you posted if you want, for I am nervous about it and want some one to chat with that's in the same boat.  Just a question for you, Do you use any aspartame (aka Equal)? I used to get at least 4 migraines a week until I stopped, now I just get them about 4 times per month or less.  If I have anything with Equal I get an intense migrain immediatley.

[Isabel2107]

Hi Darfox:

I just began last night with 25mg and of course not symptoms yet and they said, I would not the first week because I am on such a low dosage, when I said, they, the pharmascist.  He said on the 8th day I need to take two one in the morning and one at night.  This week I am only supposed to take it before I go to sleep since it makes you sleepy.  I don't know what aspartame is so no I don't take it.  I need a life without migraine which I dont know if it will ever be a possible. I feel like I am fighting for my life and decided to go off of imitrex which I learend killed several women in my area and who knows what parts of the state! Several women I have spoken to so far has told me they felt they were going to have a heart attack due to imitrex and so have I and I been on it for years and miraculously I am alive.  What have you taken? I dont understand what you mean when you stopped what you only get migraines 4 times per month?  To be honest I am not a pill popper, never believed in them and is why a year ago when a friend of mine  was taking it I said I would never be that weak, but a few days ago, I put my gaurd down and said , enough is enough before this nasty imitrex kills me after having another migraine attack, I went to the doctor to get tomapax.  Most of the time the first imitrex does not work, so I had to take the second dose and my heart is fluttering, and nausea and I am very drugged for 3 days.  I am TIRED! Although Tomapax does not stop a person from getting migraines, I have decided to go back on my old drug Relpax, what do you take?

[darfox2001]

The aspartame isn't a pill, its artificial sweetner found in diet coke and other diet sodas, ice teas, crystal light, light yogurts almost anything with the word "light" in front of it. It is the one in the "blue packet" when you make your coffee. Any way, I used to drink a lot of diet coke and used Equal to sweeten my coffee and the migrains were excruciating. When I finally made the connection and stopped using it, I didn't get any where near as many migrains. I'm down to about four a month. I'm starting the topomax (topamax) to try to get rid of them all together as well as to help with my depression. But I'm not a pill popper either. I just like to tell people about the aspartame because it changed my life when I started checking all labels for it. You'd be suprised how much food and drinks its in. I get an almost instant migrain if I slip up and have some by mistake. Let me know if it helps and if you get any side effects from the topamax. I'm on day four and so far so good. Just not very hungry, but I can stand to lose a few pounds :)

[Isabel2107]

Thank you for clarifying about the aspartame.  Can you please tell me if it is in Splenda? My girlfriend and husband only use Splenda thinking" that they are doing themselves wonders and are a healthy life path etc.  I never cared about artifical things that are not real things such as real sugar, real butter, etc.  I want to be able to 100% share this with her.  I did not know that anything that says light in front of it has aspartame in it.  So does Danan Yogurt Light that has only 60 calories that is about 4 cups worth have aspartame in it? Gosh, this is terrible! I feel betrayed as a migraine suffer for tons of years! At least I never drank light sodas, just your regular but I have cut those pretty much out of my diet.  I am on day two of Tomapax and so far like you so good, I dont know about the apetite thing as it is still the same for me and am REALLY looking forward to making me less hungry as like you I could defininately afford to lose some weight myself!  I walked today and noticed my heart beat faster than usual and I wonder if it was the tomapax, it was the same effect as I had when taking Imitrex (nasty medication) but we shall see... I dont know I have only taken tomapax at night before I sleep so far for the first 7 days that is what I am instructed to do then I am supposed to take two one in the morning then one in the evening how about you?

[darfox2001]

I am on the same regime of topamax as you I think, 25mg for first week at night then one in am one at night for week two, then one am 2 night at week three, and finally up to two in am and two at night week four where I think I will be staying. I'm a little worried about the hair loss that so many people say they have experienced, but I'm still willing to try this anyway. I used to take relpax, but it made me feel hung over and I have 4 year old twins to run after so I usually just suffer with the migrains. At least I'm not getting them 4 times a week anymore.  As for the aspartame thing, yes it is in Dannon yogurt and I don't know about Splenda causing migrains, it doesn't seem to be as bad, but like you said it isn't natural. The only people who should use that stuff are diabetics because real sugar (in moderation of course) is so much better for you.

[got_nd]

Aspartame is just one brand of artficial sweetener. Splenda is the trade name of the artifical sweetener sucralose. There is also acesulfame potassium, saccarin, and cyclamate. All of these have been approved by the FDA even though there have been studies linking each of these to cancer at one time or another. It would be wise to eliminate all of these from your diet because you don't know if you are a person susceptible to the side effects(like migraines and brain tumors and cancer and etc...)until you start to FEEL the side effects. Since these sweeteners don't affect everyone the same way, the companies that make them think they are safe for everyone, but don't be fooled.
I don't know if you drink any caffeine, but I also heard that it can give people problems with migraines...

[Isabel2107]

First, I want to thank you for your knowlegde about got_nd about the sweetners! Love learning about this after half my life is gone, better now than later I guess.   I do have to tell you that the pharmascist told me just the opposite of what you have told me that caffiene helps migraines and other people have said what you have, I have no comment but just standing still at this one. To me it is the same thing as the three C's Chocolate, Cheese, and Citrus. These are supposed to trigger Migraines, well let me tell you, I drink orange juice nearly every morning, so where is my migrianes then? chocolate? I dont know I have been a chocolate attic as a kid but of course it affects me more now so I have to be careful, and I do eat pizza that has cheese on it and gee, I have no migraines after that, I just dont know what to believe when it comes to foods , exactly, that is all I have to say about that and curious about the caffinee part.

Oh my goodness darfox2001!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You actually suffer with your migraines????????? You say you have twins that are four years old, how do you deal with that ? Your migrians must not be severe like mine. Mine are so severe that rocks are coming out of my head that are ready to blast open and I could barely move around not to mention the nausea, I do have vertigo that sometimes kicks it, hey it becomes a huge party, so yes, I must must take something.  Since I went on this site to find tomapax, by the way, it is day four here for me, hurray! By the way, I have never hear of loss of hair, that is all I need to hear, I already shed hair, just great! i do hear it makes you dizzy as it says on the box, and I hope it wont be severe or I will have to stop it.  Anyway, I ran into an herbal supplement called.... TULIV.... If you are reading this GOT_ND... you may comment on this please as well.. I told my doctor about it and she said it has not been approved by the FDA so some herbs may be poisonous to some people, but this lady who takes TULIV, her husband who is a doctor invented this for HER because she suffered from Migraines for 43 years. Please go on her site and read about it , it is on the left side, her name is Eileen. She began taking this since 2004 and has not had a single migraine since then! Now that sounds like heaven huh?! Yes, her herbs are expensive and according to your weight you have to take more etc... Let me know what you guys think ?  
Isabel

[got_nd]

I have never heard of TULIV. I know you have to be careful about things not approved by FDA, BUT... I know of a great depression "drug" (actually a homeopathic topical application - with no side effects,no less) that has not been approved by FDA that I give to my son and it has worked wonders with him! The person who invented that also invented a new medicine for MS that was not approved by the FDA either, but has also worked wonders for people. So, often things that are really great just have not been approved YET. That being said, please be careful, 'cause there are still a lot of evil people in the world(that is the cynic in me) that just want to make a buck selling you whatever you will buy... Ok, I started looking at the site, and it has way too much info to get through it quickly. (my husband is an ND, I'll ask him to look at it) However, the listed ingredients are all safe as far as I know; most have been used for menstrual problems for hundreds of years...
Here is what I think of the caffeine thing...Certain people are more susceptible to certain things, and others are not susceptable or at least very little. The stuff we put into our bodies is usually the first place I look for triggers for any problems. Caffeine is a drug, and maybe in smaller amounts it could be helpful? and in larger amounts harmful? So, if you think that it might be a trigger or a problem, try eliminating it for a while and see what happens.(of course, if you use a lot, there might be withdrawal symptoms so you would have to go without for long enough to truly see if it helps) If there is no change, maybe it is not a trigger for you. I just threw that out there because my sister in law has migraines all the time, and she drinks a lot of iced mochas and my husband(her brother) said that those couldn't help, but she won't stop drinking them.

[Isabel2107]

Thank you for your info, boy you are loaded with so much information and very intelligent I can tell.  I don't know your name but I nearly died last night from taking Relpax (migraine medication) AFTER I took Tomapx. I felt my nerves in my neck that day tighten, kind of stressful, day and very tired from running around, and I felt headache coming on but I always usually say, no, you are not going to get me this time, it is going to just be a head ache NOT a migraine, Please god let it be a headache that is just coming through town and leaving.  Then I thought, Hey, I am on Tomapax and it is my 5th day ( last night) 25 mg so far ( only first week then I double) So since I knew I was going to take the tomapax, I made bed time at 9:15 pm since head and neck were not doing well, well, I tried brain washing myself more and more that it is going way, but that didnt happen. So, I took Relpax and was so happy that I was NOT going to take Imitrex anymore. After mabye 20 minutes in, i had to go and vomit big time and then go to the bathroom BIG time and then contine while the veins in my head are going to burst out and I am losing my motion in walking barely hanging on to anything and breathing, this went on for nearly six hours and I was pretty sure that this may be it, my heart was going to stop, somehow, I got up , I am drugged as I write, and numb, very scared! seems like my migraines are coming at night and I wonder if Taking Tomapax with  migraine medication has any effect, waiting on a doctors call as I write, spoke to her receptionist and she said it was fine... yeah right? any suggestions with anyone or got_nd?????????????? HELP!!! I DONT WANT TO DIE!!!

[Isabel2107]

Said I had a message today but it was blank,??