I have had migraine for over 30 years. I am 55 years old. In February I woke up one day with awful throbbing pins and needles in my feet and legs. In March I had an MRI, that according to my neuro. showed that the migraines had caused brain damage, causing the damage to the nerves going to my legs, and now hands. On top of the throbbing and buzzing and wringing sensation that never stops, I also have stabbing pains like a bee sting or ant bite many times a day. Sometimes a sharp pain will make me jump. Sometimes my legs just ache. Some days I walk with a pronounced limp. And I could go on and on with all the strange and pains and sensations. Has this happened to anyone else. This has been going on for almost 8 months now, and is just getting worse. I see my doctor tomorrow and don't even know where to start. I have tried and stopped several medications already like Mirtazapine, Cymbalta, Geodon, and Topomax because I can't stand the weight gain, swollen face, and other side effects. I'm prepared to just stick it out as long as I can, but am wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Strangely enough, since I pretty much gave up even treating the migraines, they aren't nearly as frequent. I seem to have traded the daily migraine for this leg thing! Sorry this is so long.
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Q: Anyone out there dealing with nerve damage to legs caused by migraine brain damage?
Hello,
I'm so sorry to read about your situation. You're the first person I've seen with lesions or other brain damage that's causing symptoms. I suspect there may be others who don't know what's causing their problems. Did your doctor give a name to the type of damage you have? Perhaps neuropathy? I know people with neuropathy from other sources who have found relief from Neurontin.
Sorry you haven't had more responses. Maybe others will still see this and reply.
I know you're going through a rough time. If you'd like some additional support, come join our discussion forum. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.
Best wishes,
Teri
I took Topamax for several years and at first had the weight loss, eye problems, very cold, memory problems and most seemed to taper off after awhile. I stopped it once because of the side effects but my headaches were awful. Then I started taking it again for relief. I started noticing that my feet were feeling funny and I was having trouble wearing enclosed shoes of any type and had to rely on sandels that only had a top strap and were very cushiony. My doctor mentioned that the topamax was probably the cause of my neropathy I was diagnosed with. I am now off topamax and take amitryptyline in it's place and it works just as good with no side effects. I wish that there was a civil suit against the company, as my feet continue to get worse and I have been off it for 3 years now.
I have nerve damage in my face -- it's actually it's own condition called trigeminal nueralga (spelling!) -- my nuero says that odds are the damaged has happened to the main nerve of the right side of my face because of 25 years of migraine. Nerve damage like mine can also be caused by head trauma injury, but, I've never had that, so, it must be migraine.
I also had an MRI but my showed as normal, which is what my nuero expected. There were no spots of visable damage or anything like that. Do you actual have spots of damage that can been seen clearly on a MRI? Because, although I hate to bring this up, spots of visable damage can also be a sign of MS. MS also causes extensive nerve damage and nerve pain with pins and needles, etc. This may be an ave that you want to explore -- and hopefully rule out.
With my particual sort of nerve damage there are classic medication treatments.... gabapentin, lyrica, lamictal... these are meds specific to nerve pain. Your post mentioned topamax... I've always understood that med is used a daily preventative for migraines rather than nerve pain. Is your pain coming only with migraine? So your MD is trying to stop the migraine from starting to help stop the nerve pain from starting?
Anyway. Just a few thoughts for you. You're certainly not alone in finding that decades of migraines may be causing other issue that are brain related.
I have bing sting sensations in my feet, and sometimes numbness. A foot Dr. told me I had a Neuroma on my foot and I had surgery to remove it, but I still have stinging in the foot and now I feel like the nerve is damaged since he did surgery.
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I was given topamax and had stroke like symptoms and lost the use of my left side and i have regained some of it back. When did your symptoms start before after u took topamax.? Did you experience the feeling anywhere other than your legs? My doctor tried to say it was anxiety. You do not lose use of one side due to anxiety. They thought That I was having a stroke. I also experienced slurred speech,muscle spasms and knots, I had problems with my menstral period. They also thought that I overdosed on something and I didnt.Maybe if more of us come out and speak about the side efects and long term effects their can be a law suit. They told me I am just one person so my lawsuit means nothing.