Hey Gang,
Saw this topic and felt compelled to chime in again. I've had migraines for 35 years, since I was 8 yrs old. Depakote was horrible for me. I started taking it shortly after losing 180 lbs. after a gastric bypass. Depakote gave we a weird eating disorder. I would only eat one food for weeks or months, i.e. rice cakes, puffed wheat cereal by the bag, two months of ACT II Kettle Corn(brand specific). It was awful, but it was compulsive behaviour that I couldn't control. Gained back 80 lbs in about six months. Also had horrible dry mouth, and had cavities in every tooth by the time I quit taking it. I never had a single cavity before age 30, but as soon as the Depakote came along, my whole mouth rotted. I'm still having problems with my teeth to this day.
After Depakote came the Topamax, which was even worse. Topamax turned me into a mental midget. I topped out at a dosage of 400mg...but my doctor wanted to up it to 800mg!!! I lost a lot of my shortterm memory function, and several other cognitive abilities. My longterm memory was also affected, as well as my ability to remember common words and the ability to speak with ease. My spelling and grammar also went straight into the dumpster. I have good and bad days now, but I have never regained what I lost.
I know that these medications work for some people, and that's great. However, their side effects can greatly and permanently affect the patient taking them. I highly suggest erring on the side of caution. If you start having negative side effects, back off the medication and see if you can find an alternative. I, personally, really went through the ringer with these medications, and have to deal with the longterm damage on a daily basis. The worst part of all, neither medication did anything to stop or even lessen the frequency of my migraines.
I am still in a daily struggle to prevent, abort, or manage the pain of screaming migraines. Doctors don't even want to treat me anymore, especially when I get an acute migraine. Tonight, I had a really bad one, and went to a regular walk-in clinic to get a pain shot, and was basically lectured that I have the problem far too freqently(well duh!!!) and they weren't going to do anything to help me. I also got fussed at for coming in too late in the evening, even though I got there a half-hour before closing time. Hello....why does the time I arrive have to do with whether or not I deserve any assistance with my pain?!! The doc checked me out, and basically just told me to go to the emergency room, which I did. Got another lecture about having too many migraines(uh, not my fault), even after explaining that I've been waiting for an appointment with a migraine specialist out of state for three months already. I swear, there's nothing worse that being in horrible pain and getting lectured to about something you have no control over. Doctors are really beginning to be resistant to treating anything that isn't fatal or that can't be corrected by some sort of medical procedure. Lately, I've really been wishing I had something terminal, so I wouldn't have to catch flack from the doctors every time I need their help.
Leigh Ann 