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Topamax maybe causing headaches??

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Posted 2/15/2008 5:41 AM (GMT 0)

Hello Everyone!!! A few days ago I decided to call up my neuro and ask for topamax because I really needed to be on a preventive and also I was on it several years ago and lost weight on it and I need to lose some few extra pounds. She offered it to me a few months ago but we decided to go with neurontin, which my insurance wont pay for. My insurance wont pay for topamax either but she said she has enough samples for me.

      Well the doctor wrote on a sticky note she put with the samples t take one pill 25mg for 7 days then one pill 25mg twice a day. Well I started taking it 2 nights ago and the past 2 ngihts  have woken up with headaches. Not migraines, they're not even really that painful, but it is annoying. I almost feel hung over. Now I havent felt drowsy with this low dose yet or any other side effect yet. Just this weird headache. Is this normal?? I cant find anything about topamax causing headaches?? has anyone else gotten this???

-hellokitty

Posted 2/15/2008 6:42 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Hello~Kitty :P

As with most migraine medications, topamax can give you headaches.  I'm not sure if it's because it dulls the migraine so much that it just feels like a normal headache, or if the medication actually causes headaches.  I never had any problems with topamax, but I have a friend who experienced dry-mouth and headaches while on it.  She stopped taking it right away, so I don't know it the side effects would have gone away with time or if they would have continued if she had decided to give it more time.

I hope this helps somewhat,

Liz

Posted 2/15/2008 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
Topomax gave me worse headaches for awhile (a month or two) before I got up to a dose high enough to help. I think people respond very differently to it in terms of side effects; I was able to overcome most of them with time. Then it stopped helping, just like every other drug that's ever helped -- very frustrating!
Posted 2/16/2008 10:13 PM (GMT 0)

Unfortunately, topomax has a long list of fun little side effects, particularly when you first begin taking it. Any side effect you're worried about, you need to notify your dr about and discuss it with them. Headaches weren't a side effect for me when I started taking topamax, but I had the tingling in my hands/feet that drove me crazy.

Good luck!

Posted 2/27/2008 6:02 PM (GMT 0)
Good morning Kitty, I was on topamax for only 1 month during the holiday season.  I started on a low dosage of 25 and went up to 100.  It caused me to to have tingling in toes and fingers, food tasted bad, couldn't drink soda pop.  Worst part was it caused me to have not just 1 headache a week but 3 a week.  Finally neurologist said he felt it was not working for me.  For me it was the worst month of my life.  Having a migraine was better than all the side effects it gave me.  Good luck hope it works for you.

Cruiser yeah

Posted 2/27/2008 10:15 PM (GMT 0)

Yes, I got those weird side effects also. That weird tingly feeling in my finger tips was just weird and annoying, and drinking soda pop was aweful, tasted like I was drinking really old flat soda everytime I drank anything, no matter what kind of soda it was. Well I was suppose to go up to taking 25mg twice a day but I think I'm gonna stay at just taking it once a day for now, the headaches are gonna be here no matter if I stop this med or not. But the side effects seem to get worse the second I took that 2nd dose in a 24hr period, so maybe sticking with a smaller dose for a while wont kill me.(hopefully) Well thank you for the replies.

-carmen

Posted 8/24/2008 9:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi I had disturbed sleep when I started taking Topamax for migraines at 25mg, I woke at about 5am and felt like I had been kicked in the back of the head. It lasted about a week. I persevered got up took painkillers. It was nothing like a migraine. I have titrated gradually every 3-4 weeks to 50mg evening and 25mg morning and touch wood at present I'm migraine free. I was having breakthrough migraines whilst getting here, but I expected it. In England little is known of this drug for migraines hence I've read everything I can on websites and only done what I am comfortable with. I have felt very alone though and wish that I had had a consultants assistance. I have had some side effects, but they have gone in time. I have changed the way I eat also and I am very conscious of what I am putting in my body, I eat very healthily now. I was scared stiff that my eyes would be effected, thank God they haven't (touch wood). It's swings and roundabouts I think, I cant function when I have a severe migraine.
Posted 1/23/2009 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
I did not realize there was a break though moment, I'll try again when I have a spare month. I had got Topamax in place of pizotifen(which had halfed the migraines I got), I got headaches with 25mg and got worse at 50mg and when though my supply of naramig to counter act them(which I use when pizotifen does not catch them). I did get the feet tingling and a complete need to not to eat(not due to headaches or nauser, a different closing down of the gut!, the only good thing) I could not face 75mg and gave up. thanks.
Posted 10/9/2009 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
A week after I started taking Topiramate (the generic for Topamax) I experienced an excruciating throbbing pain in the back of my head which became unbearable with any movement. This happened the day that I increased my dose from 25 to 50 mg. The pain was different & far worse than anything I've ever experienced in the past. Prior to this episode I had never been hospitalized for a headache. Weeks have gone by since the severe pain & I still have a dull ache in the back of my head. I'm not sure if this was related to the medication, but I highly suspect it. My CT & MRI were both normal. My fingers & toes were also tingling. Regardless, I was pretty horrified when I started reading the potential side effects of this medication. I'm curious to see if others have experienced this. My advice: Be cautious.
Posted Yesterday 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I got headaches with topamax also. I had to get off of it b/c the pain was too bad to continue.
Goodluck to you,
migrainemisery
Posted 2/10/2012 4:56 AM (GMT 0)
Stopped getting so many migraines w/ excrutiating neck & shoulder nerve or perhaps vasculoar pain since quitting topamax. Thrilled at improvement. Please beware. Perhaps a personal chemistry thing but give this serious consideration if getting between 12 - 20 migraines per month. Will continue using zomig in moderation. Neuroepileptics may not be for everyone. Less is more!
Posted 2/15/2012 2:36 PM (GMT 0)

Hi - I'm new to this board.  I started topiramate (generic Topamax) a week ago.  I had a lot of side effects, I can't get my thought together, headache, stomach upset, dizziness, headache, trouble sleeping, tingling hands and feet and the newest and my personal favorite constipation.  I was taking 25 mg at bedtime but could not sleep, on on my doctors orders I started taking it in the morning today and slept better last night.  We (my doctor and I) have decided not to increase my dose until my side effects improve.  The tinglingling and stomach up seem to have improved but are still present.  I still have a problem with my thoughts and I still have a pretty bad headache but I have hopes that they too will improve.  I willing to try and stick it out for a few more weeks but if I'm still experiencing side effects I may discontinue the treatment.   I'm thankful for this forum.  Until now I felt like I was suffering with my headaches and migraines and now these side effects alone and that no one else understood what I was going through. 

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.  I hope we all get the relief we need and deserve.

Posted 2/16/2012 1:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Timazwastin, Addinging endings was so totally freaky when writing. Not a typo but memory problem. This will improve but I cannot say I am a fan of this drug. Personally I think it should be used only to help medication induced migraines and then stopped when things improve. Being off hasn't hurt but helped with headache frequency.
Posted 2/16/2012 1:41 AM (GMT 0)
yeah headaches increased for me on "dopamax".
Posted 2/19/2012 9:15 AM (GMT 0)
hi there, i am just coming off topiramte now, decreaseing slowly, i was on it for 5 weeks, it was the worste drug i have ever tried to date! i had so many side effects it was insane, i felt like somebody removed my brian, i couldnt evan think! i couldnt string a sentence together, or take any info in, pins and needles in feet and fingers, my memory went, crying all the time, weak, exhauted, felt like i had flu, head pain was worse than ever, sleepy, numbness in my mouth, i couldnt get out of my bed. they were horendous for me. so im not a fan at all. good luck
Posted 4/1/2015 7:54 PM (GMT 0)
I was up to 200 mg twice a day and my headaches got worse while I was on this medication. I couldn't form sentences or find the right words or remember my office phone number. My neurologist and I decided to reduce my dosage until I was off this medication. My brain functions are back to normal and my headaches are not nearly as bad or as often as when I was on this medication.
Posted 4/2/2015 6:51 PM (GMT 0)
I'm taking 150 mg once a day for my tension headache, the headache is getting worst and my left eye hurts I don't know what to do, I started with 25 mg and I end up with 150 mg and no tangible changes..
Posted 5/15/2015 1:56 PM (GMT 0)
I am taking Topiramate 25 mg Twice a day for the last 60 days.
And my pain clinic doctor did inform me that I will loose weight and small other side effects. But never have I had headaches like this like a hang over like won't go away. Me and my Doctor started slowly taking me off my other meds like tramadol to find out which one is causing. Now I'm down to Topiramate and after reading everyone's comments I'm for sure it's the Topiramate. But I read that if you go cold turkey stop taking at once you can possibly have severe seizures. So what should do. chronic back neck feet shoulder pain chronic arthritis. Never had Seizures. Should I go back to Gapatin 600 which helped and worked also I'm I started taking Aleve did not work so went back to my old motrin 600 and that seems to help a lot with the headache but my doctor told me to be carefull. Pain clinic experimental drugs so confused

Post Edited (wayoutqueen) : 5/15/2015 8:13:47 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/19/2015 6:04 PM (GMT 0)
I'm glad I didn't have seizures!!! I just stopped the topamax cold turkey. I was on 200 mg a day and the dr wanted to up me again! It was awful. The topamax helped at first and I felt like if I just upped my dosage then my migraines would be under control. Like I was mostly better but I could see that finish line with a higher dose. What really happened was that the topamax just got less and less effective and the more I took the slower it made me. I never got any tingles or headaches but I did get some weird mental side effects!!! I can say that immetrex turned a migraine into a headache that just killed me. I can't take it at all. Every time I took it for a migraine its like the migraine moved to the back of my neck in a tension headache way. It was really bad.
Posted 8/9/2015 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on topamax for a couple of years -100 mg. I am 47, and have been having migraines for 40 years. Since topamax, the nausea migraines have subsided some, but now I am experiencing several that begin in the neck and shoulder region and end up in excruciating pain behind my eye. These are occurring sometimes two to three times a week. I am now wondering if the topamax has just forced the migraine to shift around to another part of my body. Before they were more around the top of my head to one side and the nausea was much, much worse.
I am at my wits end with this pain as it is a disruption in my daily life, and I have been considering trying to ween myself off of the topamax, but I am scared that the intense nausea will return. Any thoughts from someone who has experience anything similar?
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