Full Question:
I've got a question that I hope you can help me with. Two years ago, I was in a car accident - I was a passenger in the front seat. We were hit from behind at a high speed and the fellow's head from the back seat collided with mine - also leaving 2 teeth in my head, which weren't removed for over a week. I've got a lot of problems since then with memory loss, and nasty head pain.

I've been told a lot of different things - but yesterday finally met a neurologist that seemed to understand that there would be a lot of what I am experiencing from the impact and the teeth.

I also have a history of kidney stones (cystinuria). This dr. prescribed topiramate at a low dosage - Anyway, before filling any prescription, I do check to see what it is about. I have never seen kidney stones mentioned before that I know of - but there it was - and as I researched, I see that when taking this medication, you should increase water intake as it could cause 'calcium' build up kidney stones. My stones (I've had over l800) of them are cystine - but to read this just baffled me. I definitely told the neurologist about my kidneys as I have been prescribed MSContin for many years for this. I am more than frustrated by the headaches - they are horrible - I am also beyond that with my memory, but I am now leery about this medication as I have a genetic disorder as I mentioned (cystinuria) and wonder about increasing my risk of more stones, calcium. I do hope you can answer this. Very sincerely, Cathi.

Answer:

Dear Cathi;

You raise some interesting points: persistent post-traumatic headaches are very common. Most of them respond to migraine-specific treatments (i.e., the triptans). Concussive brain injuries happen nearly a million times a year, and headaches are the most common post-concussional symptom. Topamax has a slightly increased incidence of kidney stones vs. what we see in the population at large (see Topamax Can Increase Occurrence of Kidney Stones). It may be wiser to have your doctor pick another medication. Memory can be evaluated and treatments now can be offered that are sort-of "memory" molecules. Because I see a lot of traumatic brain injury (TBI), we have treated people struggling with memory issues sometimes long after a concussion. This is the good news.

Good luck,
John Claude Krusz and Teri Robert

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Dr. Krusz is a recognized expert in the fields of headache and Migraine treatment and pain treatment. Each week, he and Lead Expert Teri Robert, team up to answer your questions about headaches and Migraines. You can read more about Dr. Krusz or more about Teri Robert. If you have a question for this section of our site, please click HERE. Accepted questions will be answered by publishing the answers here. Due to the number of questions submitted, no questions will be answered privately, and questions will be accepted only when submitted via THIS FORM. Please do not submit questions via email, private message, or SharePost comments. Thank you.