Zonegran Success Story

There have been several posts asking about Zonegran successes. It is a miracle drug for me. I'm a 50 year-old man who had been suffering from severe migraines for 25+ years. Family history of them. My uncle and I could describe each other's symptoms to a "T". Years of CT Scans, MRIs, every drug under the sun. I was suffering from a 3-day bender back in 2002. Blew through every Imitrex injection, Amerge capsule, and any other drug I could find and, before I reached for the cleaver, I called 911. Demerol, Morphine, etc. failed to break the headache. When the hospital said that they weren't able to do anything more and that they were releasing me to "sleep it off", I begged them to admit me. Thankfully, an amazing neurologist who was a migraine sufferer himself eradicated the hedache with a caffeine IV and other drugs and prescribed Zonegran prophylactically. It truly changed my life. I have not had a single bed-ridden migraine in 6 years since being on Zonegran!! I take 3 caps (300mg) every night, up from the original 200mg prescribed. No mental side effects, but here are the physical ones for me:

 - Zonegran has affected my ability to perspire - I don't sweat. This can be dangerous, as I overheat easily. It's a strange side effect, but it's real.

 - Zonegran may increase the likelihood of kidney stone production. I have always been a producer of stones, and now I'm loaded with them. I do not know if Zonegran increased my production of stones, but I need to hydrate myself religiously. Several years ago I had to have a 10mm stone blown away with shock wave lithotripsy. Not fun.

 - I have a borderline low platelet count. After a host of tests (including for cancer), the conclusion was that the high dosage of Zonegran may be a contributor. I get monitored every 3 months and, if i ever get dangerously low, I will be taken off of Zonegran to see if the count climbs.

All-in-all, the benefits of Zonegran (living a normal, headache-free life) FAR outweigh the side effects.

Try it. If nothing else has worked and you are suffering, is may be your miracle too.

Zonegran went formulary a couple years ago. Beware! Not all generic zonisamides are created equal! Glenmark (for me), for example, is junk. After several weeks, I began getting daily headaches, strong enough to feel like crap. Unfortunately, Glenmark has flooded the market with cheap zonisamide and 'everyone' carries it. The Milan brand works well for me, and my local K-Mart pharmacy (believe it or not) has been marvelous in being able to keep me supplied with this specific brand.

I hope this helps someone...

Tim