Life Long Suffering, looking for answers

Im 23 years old, and i was diagnosed with migraines at 7 years old. I have been through countless test and been on countless medications and to this day not much seems to help. I have been on Topamax for about 2 months now it seems to have helped some but i have lost a massive amount out weight and seem not to have much of an appetite which the doctor says is normal untill i adjust to the medicine. Well, I went to the doctor about 3 weeks ago and they upped the dosage and now the headaches are back. I go back next week and we are suppose to discuss pain management and some none traditional treatments. I have headaches every day and have no idea what may trigger them after all these years, some days they are not as severe as other, but some days they are so severe that i cant even get out of bed for 2 or 3 days. My rescue meds are Lortab 10's and Phenergan. Something is better than nothing right? i hate to have to rely on narcotics to deal with the pain, but its gotten to where all the sumatriptans and so on weren't helping me and i was having to go to the emergency room 2 or 3 times a week and there is no possible way i could afford that. any ideas to what may help me?

Hi Country, Sorry you are having trouble again. Why did they up the dosage if the dosage you were at was helping control them? As far as narcotics, I have a friend who has a standing order at Kaiser's urgent care for up to 5 morphine shots per month if she has a particularly severe migraine because there are times that the morphine is the only thing that allows her to rest because of the pain. It at least helps her avoid the expense and wasted time of the E.R. but I know something like that is more difficult with a standard doctor's office, and she has also had years with the same doctor and has the advantage of her doctor and the urgent care being in the same building. Unless you have an addiction issue, there is really nothing to worry about and I don't see any shame either in having to resort to narcotics to control the pain of your migraines. The pain is excruciating, and only someone who has experienced the pain can understand it. Dependence and addiction are not the same thing, and until they figure out why we suffer with these awful migraines, we need to do what we have to do to take back our lives to whatever extent we can.

I'm on topamax right now as well, and knock on wood, under control for now. Down from daily migraines of varying intensity and zero life left before starting the medicine in May, to 10 in July, 3 that were severe enough to require Maxalt. I'm on 125mg at the moment. I've lost only 7 lbs or so in the 3 mos, so nothing drastic for me there either, but that could be because my neurologist has raised my dosage very slowly right from the beginning, only 25mg at a time right from the start so my side effects have been minimal as well. I hope you are able to find something that works for you soon and can have your life back without it revolving around your migraines.