Daughter has migranes and gets dizzy often

[tetting]

My adult daughter has been suffering from severe migraines for the past year. Lately she has been getting dizzy spells and falling into things. She went to a neurologist who did an MRI, which suggested that she may have a brain aneurism. They followed up with a CT scan (see the enclosed photo of the scan) and told my daughter that he did not know what was causing her symptoms. When she asked about the strange material growing around her arteries on the scan he said he did not know. He put her on a seizure medication and told her it would take care of her symptoms after she worked her way up to the full dose. This does not make sense to me because she does not have seizures. Do you have any idea what this is? Should we get a second opinion? My daughter is still having bad migraines and needs help.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[tetting]

Thank you for the response. My daughter is on Topamax but it does not seem to be working. She still gets very bad migranes. I think we will seek out a second opinion and make sure  she does not have an aneurysm. The response she got that it could or could not be one does not satisfy us. We have to know for sure so it can be taken care of.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.
Seizure medications like Topamax are prescribed in migraine patients in order to prevent migraine attacks. Which medication has she been prescribed?
Dizziness and frequent falls can be due to migraine and also due to brain aneurysm. It is important to make sure if she has an aneurysm or not.
I would suggest you to seek a second opinion on this. Also you can speak to her doctor about magnesium supplements, as they are known to help prevent migraine attacks.
Take care!

[Jules77733]

Is the seizure medication Topamax? Sometimes, certain medications have a variety of uses--like Topamax, which is primarily prescribed as an antiseizure medication, but is also heavily prescribed as preventative migraine treatment.

If the medication your daughter is on doesn't do anything for headaches/migraines, I would definitely suggest she bring this up to her doctor at her next appointment. If the medication does not seem to be working after several weeks, it would be up to her to stop it and wait for the next appointment, or continue on it, while waiting to talk to her doctor about it.