Hi.  I was just reading the postings regarding Topamax, and I wanted to share my own experiences.

I've been on (and off) Topamax for several years.

I've had migraines for 20 years, starting when I was 18.  I get combination migraine/muscle-tension headaches, with extreme sensivity to sound.  I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after the birth of my son.  My headaches are always worst in the mornings, and accompanied with back/neck/shoulder pain and stiffness.  Stretching and exercise helps.  (I stretch in the mornings in a hot shower.  Exercise in the late afternoons when I'm feeling better.)

Topamax is one of the few migraine medications that has ever worked for me.  Elavil made me fat and dopey.  Imitrex made me queasy and gaveme a huge head rush.  (If I wanted to feel like that, I would have started drinkin'!)  Cymbalta was the med-from-hell went it came to withdrawal symptoms.

But, Topamax turned out to be the winner.  I was as surprised as anyone.  Before I take any drug my doctor recommends, even a sample pack, I spend hours researching it on the Internet.  The research on Topamax was downright scary.  The side effects were intimidating.  Word cognition difficulties.  Tingling in the hands and feet.  And, a whole host of other unpleasantness.

But, it was also the first medication I'd seen that had a "positive" side effect... Weight loss.  Yes, the average person on Topamax loses something like 3-10% of their body weight. 

Well, that only seemed fair since every other med I'd ever taken for migraines or fibromyalgia made me GAIN weight.

So, I will admit I was a shallow enough individual that the glimmer of hope of losing weight was enough to push me over the edge to give this particular drug a try, and hope that it also helped my headaches.  Yes, I was scared of the "brain fog," but I was willing to give it a try.

I'd done my homework, so I knew the first couple of weeks would be the worst.  It was.  I noticed all the symptoms I'd expected.  The tingling in my hands and feet.  I did feel a bit down, but certainly not enough to want to commit suicide.  I did notice feeling a bit foggy, but nothing I couldn't compensate for.  It was just like having to think a bit harder because you are tired, or because you are distracted by something else.  Over the course of four weeks, I titrated up from 25, to 50, to 75, and then to 100 mg.

Once I'd been on 100 mg. for a while, I noticed that most of the side effects subsided.  I very rarely had the tingling in my hands and feet.  When I did, I knew it was from the Topamax, and just ignored it, and didn't think I was having a stroke or something.

And, my headaches did get better.  Not overnight.  But, gradually I noticed it was easier to get out of bed in the morning.  Instead of needing two Ultram in the morning, I needed only one.  And, then eventually, I could get by on just two Tylenol and two Ibuprofen in the mornings, (and sometimes a few Sudafed and a cup of coffee thrown in for good measure.)  Still this was a big improvement over the morning headaches of before.