I've had Migraines for 25yrs. I take imitrex 100mg practically everyday.
My neurologist has recently prescribed Topiramate 25mg but I'm affraid to take it due to side effects. Are these hormone medications adding to my migraines and should I risk taking the Topiramate as a preventitive???
Bronxbage,
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Hormones are tricky. For some women, they can help with Migraines. For some, they can make them worse; and for some, they make no difference at all. Did your Migraines increase when you started using them? The only way to know if not using them would help would be to stop using them.
As for risking Topamax, talk with your doctor. Tell him or her that you're afraid of the side effects and would prefer to try a different medication for prevention. That's a perfectly reasonable request, one you have every right to make. There are over 100 medications in use for Migraine prevention, many of which have fewer potential side effects than Topamax. You can find a listing of these medication in Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up!
It really is important to use Imitrex less. It shouldn't be used more than two or three days a week. If we take Migraine abortive meds such as triptans (Imitrex) or any kind of pain med more than two days a week, a big part of the problem may well be medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this.
Let me give you some encouragement here - When it comes to our health, the person with the most at stake should be in charge. That's us, not our doctors. We should work with our doctors as treatment partners. Our doctors should lay out our options and make decisions WITH us, not FOR us. Topamax is not the be all and end all of Migraine prevention. It's just the latest medication approved by the FDA for Migraine prevention, so it's been talked about a lot, and it's on people's minds. But, there are plenty of other choices.
I hope this helps.
Welcome again,
Teri
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Hi Teri thank you so much for your response. I will continue reading and checking the attached links. I'm so happy I found this site. It has been very informative and I've been able to learn so much more on managing my migraines.