TOPAMAX..Should i up my doseage myself or wait for doc? - Headaches & Migraines Message Board

Worried1977 · 07-10-2006, 04:08 PM

I was on this before for 3 weeks i went off it cuz i was afraid of side effects. but it did help with headaches. now that i havent been on it ive had a headache for almost 4 weeks every single day. i put myself back on the topamax last monday. i remember when i was on it before the dr said side effects i was having were normal and if i wanted to i could go up to 50milligrams and i said no. im wondering if i can go up to the 50 now that i have started them again because i have been on them a week now and they are not working at all. i think i need to be at 50 milligrams. when i was at the topamax site ( which if any of you are on them and are like me with no insurance there is a months free supply of pills you can get by printing out the vouvher) but anyways on that site it said recommended dosage was this:

Week one....one 25 mg pill at night

Week two....one 25 mg in AM and one 25 mg pill at night

But i dont know for sure and like i said i have no insurance and drs visits are killing me and so are these headaches. im at my witts end and i am willing to try anything and do anything.

Gobsmacked · 07-11-2006, 05:05 PM

ok, i've been on the topamax for a while (well a little over a month) so i just got totally confused reading your question

so i will skip right to the end!
that is correct about the dosage. starting slow like that is supposed to result in fewer side effects. i am on a higher dose but by the end of the 4th week i was taking 1/2 dose in morning and 1/2 at night. my main side effect has been tingling in hands and feet. i hope you get some relief.

Worried1977 · 07-12-2006, 11:52 PM

Yeah the tingling is what im now getting.

basically ive only been on it again for 10 days. i called the dr today he should be calling me back tomorrow. im sorry if i confused you

Today is actually the first day i havent had a headache in 3 and a half weeks!!!

I was actually feeling pretty good about taking this medicine and not worrying about it and i kept telling myself im gonna get better and start feeling better and i walked into the salon where i go tanning and the girl that works there got to talking to me about these headaches and she said " oh i hope you dont have an aneurism" and that did it! ive been worrying my head off now about this!

I just went through a bunch of crap about 2 months ago with all this headaches stuff thinking i was dying. i was convinced i had a tumor and i finally had a ct scan done and a bunch of heart blood work done and everything was normal. the only thing i didnt do and cant do is the MRI. so now im scared to death i have an unruptured aneurism. But i did read that ct scan can also detect them and i didnt think they could.

This will never end

Gobsmacked · 07-13-2006, 12:13 AM

the stress from worrying will only make it worse! try to relax. my dr. gave me the option of going up to 100mg. in the first 4 weeks if my headaches did not improve. she has now given me the option of going up higher since the topamax is also helping my bipolar disorder. i started worrying about about my headaches too but duh!, i've had them for almost 20yrs. i hope everything checks out ok for you. make sure to drink lots of water

Worried1977 · 07-13-2006, 08:32 AM

Yeah i understand what you are saying. i am going on 16 years with having headaches. im almost 29 and i got them when i turned 13. my mother did and my grandfather also had them.

This is the weird part. When im really stressed out ( like the time i thought i had a tumor) for the whole 2 weeks i was balling every day because i thought i had one i really thought i was just gonna drop over dead and guess what? in those two weeks not one time did i get a headache!!! My b/f even said "With all this worrying you have been doing how are you not getting headaches but when you are fine and having a good day and not worrying why are you getting them?"

And this is the conclusion i came to on what is causing them! My dr told me headaches are so often undiagnosed becaused there are many causes of them and its hard to pinpoint what the cause is so he told me to make a diary. I started to and it seemed to bring on a headache every time i ate. within an hour after i ate id have one so i started staying clear of certain foods but it was EVERYTHING i ate. Now thats why when my dr said it felt like i had TMJ real bad on my left side (same side of headaches) ive concluded thats where these headaches are coming from.

And back when i was under all that stress and never got a headache for 2 weeks?? well i wasnt eating much because i was nervous and scared so thats why i didnt get a headache, ive now noticed if i dont eat breakfast or lunch im fine. but after dinner BAM headache starts. and its not a "normal" headache. mine start infront of my ear and go behind my ear then into my temple and into my left eye somtimes i "throw up" its just a radiating pain the only way to describe iit is like a "brain freeze" type feeling that comes and goes and if i lay on a heating pad for about 5 minutes it goes right away (i just found that out) ok lets say 4 is the highest on the pain scale this is how it feels to me....1...2...3...4...3...2...1..pause.. .1...2...3...4..3..2..1..pause..then generally gets worse id say about 6 but thats all it is like a throbbing feeling ONLY on that left side. and sometimes down my neck.. What do you gather from all that?