Depakote Next Step

By Renee1104 Thursday, December 29, 2011

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I have always have had a tendency of getting headaches but after a bad car accident I have chronic daily headaches. From the car accident, I have a lot of neck and shoulder tightness and pain. I am currently using non-medicinal treatments that include chiropractic and message therapy. Without prophylaxis medications I have a headache every day with about 10 migraines per month. I have tried the 2 triptylines with success and then had to change because of increase of headaches after about 5-6 years of using triptylines. I then tried Topamax with no success because it didn't help the daily headaches (my largest concern). I then was prescribed trazodone and am currently at the maximum dose and it worked great for about 3 years. I am now having more headaches so I have been prescribed gabapentin to the current trazodone regimen. I am having several rare side effects from the gabapentin at a very low dose. So the neurologist wants to try Depakote now. I was wondering how other people have handled Depakote with regarding side effects and the efficacy of this treatment coarse. I was also wondering if anyone who has a lot of chronic neck and shoulder pain have used any fibromyalgia drugs to help with the chronic pain and if you have has it helped with your headaches/migraines. I also read that Namenda might have benefits also. Have any used Namenda with success?

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Melanie Jane

12/29/11 2:54pm

I hope this info about my experience might be helpful:

In my twenties I started getting chronic neck and shoulder pain from a work-related repetative motion injury. It took a long time, but with some chiropratic treatment and change of job duties, the pain eventually subsided and then I would only get neck and shoulder pain when a migraine was coming on. In my forties, the neck and shoulder pain gradually became constant again, until I started using a low-dose estrogen patch to help manage my migraines and daily headache, and I noticed the neck and shoulder pain went away completely. Now I am 49 and nearing menopause (I hope!) and for some reason I can no longer tolerate any supplemental estrogen at all without tirggering a migraine (the very opposite of what I had experienced before!) So I stopped the patch and I soon noticed the neck and shoulder pain returned.

Now my doctor has me on Cymbalta (a fibro med) as a migraine preventive and for peri-menopausal depression, and I'm back to only getting the neck and shoulder pain when I'm coming up on a migraine. I've been taking the Cymbalta for three months now, and I am still getting the same number of migraines I had before, 3 or 4 a month, but they are less severe than before and because my mood is more stable, I can cope with them better.

Nancy Harris Bonk, Health Guide

1/ 2/12 4:20pm

Hello, and welcome to HealthCentral's Migraine Community!

With that many Migraines, it is definitely time to talk about a better preventive plan with your doctor. I know how easy it is to feel as if you've tried everything out there, but there are so many medications that can be used for Migraine and headache prevention that it's literally impossible. You can find a list of potential Migraine and headache preventives in Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up! Namenda has been used by some with good results. One thing to keep in mind is that when we start new medications, it may take up to three months to see a reduction in our Migraine frequency and severity.

Do you know any of your Migraine triggers? Trigger identification and management is a vital component of managing Migraine disease. 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 on this, see Managing Migraine - Migraine Trigger Foods.

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 to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. 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 at the top of 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.

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lcfrey

1/ 5/12 3:20pm

Depakote is on my list of 6 (so far) evil drugs. When I took it, my migraines were better, but my hands shook so badly that my writing was unreadable, and food fell off my fork. I never knew what would come out of my mouth. My balance was off, and my driving was really bad. My neurologist told me that I was at the "end of the road", having tried all the preventative drugs. I promptly found a new neurologist.

GidgetCommando

1/ 5/12 5:42pm

Everyone's experience is different, of course, but Depakote extended-release dosing DID help reduce the number of attacks I got on a regular basis. Before Depakote, I'd had mixed results with a number of preventives (and really unpleasant side effects). On Depakote extended release, I backed down from nearly-chronic-daily-headache status to a big reduction in number of attacks per months.

The side effects that bugged me the most were weight gain and a constant sense of fatigue, along wth some brain fog. A very small dosage of another drug seems to be addressing those side effects pretty well, and I'm finally looking forward to a less painful and more energetic future.

Famsuccess

1/ 5/12 6:58pm

I was on Depakote in 2003 and was on it for a month before my hair started falling out. I didn't want to be a bald 30 year old, so I stopped it immediately. From 2003-2011, I tried everything, so I was suggested to try Depakote again. Well, I have been on it since June 2011 and I have gained 40 pounds, lost most of my hair and have face acne. You say, why are you on this medication. It's simple. Prior to taking this medication, I was suffering a 26 month chronic daily migraine and I became incompacitated (sp?) I wasn't living at all. With the help of Botox, Depakote and Cymbalta, my 26 month migraine stopped and now I get 6-9 migraines a month, but nothing in the severity I had prior to taking this medication. Botox helps the tension in my neck and shoulders as well as the migraines. I wish you luck on finding the right medication for you.

Liz

1/ 5/12 8:36pm

I was on Depakote for chronic daily headaches. it was short term and did stop the daily headaches. The side effects of minor hair loss and increased appetite stopped when I stopped the medication. The daily headaches have not returned though I do still have periodic migraines that is treated with Maxalt MLT.

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