Been on Topamax for 2 months now..... in MEDICATION Forum

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Been on Topamax for 2 months now.....

Author	Comment
desertdweller7	Been on Topamax for 2 months now.....	Lead	[-]
Posts: 223 (12/19/08 17:46:13) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Remove this ad You all know I've tried tons of meds over the years and am currently on three narcotics for joint pain and severe muscular headaches mostly in the temporalis muscles. My doctor decided to try me on Topamax about 2 months ago. Week 1: 25 mg. Week 2: 50 mg. Week 3: 75 mg. Week 4: 100 mg; and staying at 100 mg. Well, the first 5 weeks were ROUGH. I felt sick to my stomach, lost my appetite, and just felt 'weird'. But I did notice my headaches weren't as severe. So I kept on it and decided to give it a full two months. Starting about week six things started changing and the side effects started going away. I have been able to cut back on the valium for the muscle spasms, I have an appetite and don't have that weird feeling anymore. The only thing I have noticed is that since the headaches are better I notice the joint pain more..... I see the doctor on Monday for follow up and plan to stay on Topamax but want to see what she can do for the joint pain - the Methadone I thought was helping with that is now more noticeable. Topamax is very expensive. I have good insurance and Rx plan but it is an $80 copay per month; but apparently it is going generic soon. I wanted to post this because I read some people tried it and couldn't stand the side effects. Just wanted to put it out that to stick with it for at least two months before giving it up; especially if you have the headaches. It's rough but at this point, I would say worth it. Julie
desertdweller7	Adding Lyrica now to the Topamax	#1	[-]
Posts: 223 (12/23/08 14:28:23) Member I Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Had a follow up with my neuro yesterday. She is the one who added Topamax to my pain meds and muscle relaxers. I told her the Topamax was really starting to help the headaches (after 5 weeks of getting through the side effects - she commended me for sticking through it and said that was normal) but that now I noticed the jaw joint pain and the muscle spasms in my lower jaw. So she added Lyrica 75 mg. 2 x a day. I read the post on Lyrica a while back. It's so weird how different doc's do differnent things..... everyone posted that their doctors had them start on Lyrica slowly then work up to a higher dose and it looks like nobody combined Lyrica with Topamax. Mine just started me right off with 75 mg. Lyrica 2x day plus 100 mg. daily of Topamax. My PCP writes the methadone (30 mg daily), soma and valium (but I am coming off the valium since my headaches are better with the Topamax). Anyway, just strange how doctors are so different. Julie

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