Should I stick with it?

I think you'll struggle to find anyone that has had a good experience with Topirimate.  I had a near fatal experience a year ago and it frightened the life out of me and there are loads more people on here with similar stories of life changing conditions. 

I too was put on Amitriptyline, also Propanolol and Epilim and none of them worked, so unfortunately I've had to resign myself to living with the damn headaches/migraines as I have for 40 years, because I don't believe anything will work.

If you decide to continue PLEASE keep an eye on your symptoms and if you start to get sore throats and a bad taste in your mouth go immediately to your neuro and tell him, this happened to me for about 8 weeks and 3 GPs snubbed me and told me it was nothing, until I was forced to return to my neuro and I was told I could have Stephen Johnstone syndrome which is fatal, thankfully I was OK but it scared the living daylights out of me.

Good luck

The worst side affects so far are pins and needles which are bad in the middle of the night and wake me up, mood swings, nausea and insomnia coupled with extreme tiredness but I can't sleep for a full night no matter how hard I try. This is turn causes the migraines to return as tiredness is a trigger for me. Today I had to take 200mg of Sumatriptan to get through the day and be functional. I have two young children and fortunately my normal job is freelance so I don't have to work. However, I have not been able to work for months now and I'm desperate to get my life back. This drug is not helping me do that!! I feel like a zombie and so isolated as my pain is worsened by this drug I'm sure of it.

I don't want to get up to 500mg as I'm worried what else is will cause. I am going to call it quits at 200mg and start to wean off if it has not shown any improvements. So far I have not had any problems with my vision though. Anxiety and depression for sure though, it's ilke having permanent PMS!!!

I'm starting to think nothing works for migraine prevention :-(

Perhaps natural remedies are the way forward, have you tried any?

I've been on Topamax/Topiramate for about 6 years now. I take it to reduce my migraine attacks AND to reduce the intensity of my never ending regular headache.

And for me it works.

I am currently on 25mg morning, 25 mg at night. I used to be on 100 a day, but talked my neurologist into a lower dosage as a trial to see if the effects would remain the same. In the end, because it worked, my neurologist has implimented a new regime with all his patients he puts on topamax. He starts them out on 10mg a day for a week, upping to 25, upping to 50, then to 75, then to 100. He keeps people at 100 for a year, then lowers the dosage to 50 a day.

According to my neurologist, any dosage about 100 a day won;t give additional benifits for migraines, only for epileptic problems.

In any case, I have gone from a migraine attack every other day, to an attack once or twice a month. And I can often get rid of that with my imigran pen.

And yes, I do have side effect..... but I have either managed to live with them or work around them. Though I do realise that my side effects aren't as bad as some I've seen around here....

My main problem is that I've had diarrhea ever since I started taking the topamax. I simply take immodium for that, which lessens the intestinal pains involved. I've recently learned that if I regulate my temperature better, the intestinal problems (and diarrhea) are less as well [more on the temperature in a bit]

Then, I also have the 'word soup' problem, though not really as bad as I've heard others have it. I'm in luck, I speak several languages at native level...usually, if I don't know a word in one language, I usually know it in another language. And knowing it in that language often triggers it back in the language I was looking for.....

I also have the pins and needles sensation in my fingers and toes sometimes... Or well.... I don't know if I would call it pins and needles....just a severely lessened sense of sensation.... or a dead feeling...

Then, I am often quite tired..... There's about 3 days a week that I have to take naps during the day so I can keep functioning.

Then last, but by no means least (as it affects me most, in certain ways) the topamax influences my body's ability to regulate temperature. And I'm not just talking about being able to sweat. (I don't easily sweat anymore....though I do when I get really hot). I'm talking about the temperature in my head. Yes, sounds nuts....but it's true....

I notice problems when I don't help my body along with the temperature regulation in my head (and I help it along by putting a wet washcloth on my head while napping or sleeping). If I don't, my breathing becomes more difficult, I get irritable, my intestinal problems become worse, my regular headache becomes worse, all those kinds of things. I regulate with a wet washcloth, I don't have those problems as much.....

Having said all this: I WILL NOT, nor would I want to, live without this drug anymore. Without it, I would be back to my migraines every other day. Now? I have a life, I have a job, and I am happy. Side-effects and all.....