Hello, and welcome to HealthCentral's Migraine Community!

Welcome to the Migraine world! There are lots of us who have Migraines and feel very isolated until we find a site like this. Again, welcome. 

I hope you don’t' mind if I ask a few questions - the more information I have the better I'll be able to point you in the right direction. How long have you been on Topamax?  Here's the thing - anyone who has more than three Migraine attacks a month needs to talk to their doctor about a Migraine prevention plan. So on Topamax, if you have more than three attacks a month, your dose may need to be adjusted or you may need to talk about another medication with your doctor.

You asked what to watch out for? Do you happen to know what any of your triggers are? I can't stress enough how important trigger identification and management is. Lifestyle is an important part of Migraine too. These can all help reduce Migraines. Take a look at our Migraine Trigger Page for more information.  One of the best tools for identifying triggers is a good Migraine diary. You can download a free diary workbook from our article Your Migraine and Headache Diary. Some of us have food triggers; some of us don't. It's advisable to determine if your daughter does, and an elimination diet is the best way to do that. For more information and a workbook, see Managing Migraine - Migraine Food Triggers.

Fiorcet is an opioid pain reliever but not a great choice for Migraine pain. In fact the American Academy of Neurology just released five things (test, procedures and medications) you should question your doctor about and one involves headache the other Migraine. Yes, they are two different things!

The first is - don't use EEG to diagnose headaches because there is no advantage over the doctor's evaluation and it ups the costs and does not help improve a patients outcome. The next recommendation applies to you; do not use opioid or butalbital for Migraine treatment unless it is the absolute last resort. These medications can make Migraines worse and are only to be used when a patient has a condition that limits them from using special Migraine medications such as triptans or ergotamines.   

So there are the tricks, trigger management and lifestyle changes. Keeping a regular sleep schedule and avoid triggers!

Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.

We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get there, go to the Migraine home page and look on the left hand side where you'll see a row of boxes. The Forum box is at the very bottom. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom of that page, and you will see the log-in spot. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.

Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com. Under the Find, Manage, and Connect tabs on the left side each page, you’ll find a wealth of information – educational articles, tips, quizzes, workbooks, support and advocacy information, and more.

Do you have questions about Migraine? There are three ways to get answers – through our Ask the Clinician column, in our community Question and Answer Section, or through our forum. Just go to our Migraine Answers page HERE. 

Our email newsletter will help you stay up-to-date on Migraine and headache news and new information published on HealthCentral's MigraineCommunity. To receive our newsletter, click the “Sign up now!” link in the navigation bar across the top of our site pages or simply click HERE.

Welcome again,

Nancy Bonk

Health Guide
HealthCentral's Migraine Community

PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!

jonijobob

2/21/13 8:20pm

Thank you for the information.

I have flipped through alot of the information here and find it helpful. Printed off the food triggers and posted them on my refridgerator. I started a journal while in the hospital. This is a great website and I thank you. Like I said I just got out of the hospital with the Topomax and instructions to take it twice daily and the Fioricet for the headaches. Not alot of explaining was done, long story. I have an appointment with my regular doctor tomorrow so I will get more information then and another in a few weeks with the neurologist.

I think what I took as sinus headaches were migraines and with my high pain tolerance just dealt with them, or is there a reason they exploded?

Nancy Harris Bonk

2/21/13 10:58pm

Thanks for the reply.

 

First let me say that Topamax is a medication that needs to be titrated up slowly to get the most benefits from it and lessen potential side effects. Typical dosing is 25 mg once a day at bedtime for a week, then 25 mgs once in the am and once at beditme for a week and so on until a beneficial dose is reached. Please feel free to take this information with you to the doctor tomorrow; Dosage and Tapering Topamax for Migraine Prevention.

 

Do you mean "exploding" in frequency or "exploding" pain? 

jonijobob

2/24/13 10:13am

Well I have had to go two days without the topamax because the stomach flu got me. A week in the hospital and now that...thanks to my friend who brought her kids over to see me!

I took the pills but they came right back up! My regular doctor lowered my dose to 25mg. on the day after I posted last and then the flu hit. Is this going to cause major problems? I drank as much as I could to stay hydrated and avoid headaches from that.

I'm beginning to question my health team (doctors) as to why was I put on such a high dose to begin with and then my doctor lowers it just like that.

They thought I had a hemoplegic migraine, ran all kinds of tests, that came out negative including a spinal tap that left me with an elephant on my head.

Sorry, I have too many questions for the doctors I guess.

The exploding I meant was that before the big migraine as I call it, I never really had any at all. Now I have them more frequently.