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Migraines..Help Please!

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Pseudonym
Pseudonym

I am hoping some of you can advise on the following as after seeing consultants/Drs I am still at a loss.

i am 28, male, generally fit and healthy (Scans have all been done and come back clear)

About 4 months ago I suffered from my first Migraine with Aura, patchy vision, sensory overload, nausea, slightly slurred speech etc. It then progressed to headache and took me about 3/4 days to get over it. This sparked off a cycle of 6/7 migraines in 2 months. My consultant gave me the choice to go on preventative treatment which I took (At this point it had been 13 days since my last migraine so I thought the cycle might be ending, but the headache was still there and taking a while to go)

I started off at 200mg Epilim and took that for a month. During this period I got daily headaches and nausea. I am still not sure whether this was side effects from Epilim or Migraines coming back in a different way (there was no cycling, just quite severe headaches and nausea).

After going to the Dr I have stopped taking Epilim to see what happens to my headaches. I am wondering how long it takes for drugs like these to exit your system (I was on quite a small dose). It has been three days without epilim and I am still getting headaches however no 'migraine attack'.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it likely that the Epilim is exiting my system slowly and still causing headaches? I have been prescribed Topiramate 25mg in case I start going on migraines but I am unsure of the side-effects.

Any help or experience on this matter would be helpful!

Thanks! 

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Strongreadybold
    Strongreadybold Pseudonym

    Posted

    Pseudo-

    Horrid for you...Talk to your doc right away but here are a few experiences of mine and others in response:

    I don't know epilim but have years and years with Migraines of various kinds and with topomax and Trokendi (just extended release Topomax). It takes a while for Topomax to build up in some peopl'es systems to become fully effective. 25 is the lowest dose. I found the side effects-AT FIRST-to be a bit tough. Mostly on my stomach but others have mentioned many others that I experienced as well. My experience was such that I went off, even though it was a miricale drug from the Migraine help point of view. I should have stuck with it. I went back on with the extended release form (which has more recently been released in the US). It took longer to be effective but a higher dose and staying on it longer and the headache results are substantial with the side effects totally tolerable at present (who needs short term memory or quick word recall? haha). Check your kidney function regulary (but you are quite young so shouldn't be an issue for you....never too careful though). No, seriously, it is fine. Stay hidrated and stay with it. I didn't give the body enough time to get used to it and I suffered MUCH longer than needed with at times near-daily migraines. 

    Be well!

  • Strongreadybold
    Strongreadybold Pseudonym

    Posted

    Oh, as to "drugs like these leaving your st\ystem". When I went off Topo, I asked the same question. Since both are anti-siezure-though are different- there are probably differences and similarities that require you to check. My doc said between 4-7 days (ling window). Your own system (kidney, liver, your younger age, etc...)affects that too. 
    • Pseudonym
      Pseudonym Strongreadybold

      Posted

      Thank you very much.

      I'm have been to the Drs recently but he kind of said it was up to me to make the choices, we decided to come off of epilim and see what happened to the headaches. I think I will hold off starting topiramate until I get a migraine attack - part of me is hoping my headache is still the effects of the epilim but I am not sure :-/

      The side effects of topramate don't sound great, I may even consider going back on the epilim and going to a higher dose as maybe it was working just not enough.

      As you can see I am quite confused!!

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