In terms of personality change with Topomax, it turned me into a crazy teary wreck in the first week, though that soon passed. After that I don’t think I was really aware of having any personality change but according to my nearest and dearest it kind of made me a lot more highly strung and tense. Something I didn’t realise personally until I came off it. Everyone is different though which is what makes it so difficult with these drugs.
In terms of low side effect profile, propranolol has pretty much no side effects for most people (unless you’re one of the rare ones like me that gets hallucinations from it), and pregabalin / gabapentin would also get my vote. They don’t get very high ratings in the literature in terms of treating “conventional” migraine, but if headache is not your primary complaint then may be worth a try.
The kid is taking propranolol, and while he’s not 100% better, he’s pretty much back to normal. He’s going to school every day, hanging out with friends, doing homework. The only side effect we’ve noticed is a little bit of fatigue, but that’s not as much of a problem if he takes the med at bedtime. And he’d much rather be a little bit tired than always dizzy!
It looks like, at least for now, if he takes his meds, gets enough sleep, and avoids Nutrasweet, he’s okay. Given that he’s a teenager, the sleep is the hardest one. He’s still walking with a cane, but we’re hoping that the vestibular rehab therapy will be helping with that. (He hasn’t gone to the therapist in a few weeks, because my husband had surgery, and I can only drive to so many appointments and keep my job!)
while he’s not 100% better, he’s pretty much back to normal
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Mamabear – this is great news. He was really having such a miserable time. Glad to hear trigger avoidance and propranolol has given him some sanity back and a break from this junk.
Thanks, Scott! It was a really, really rough time for the kid. And he’s never been a slacker, so seeing him not wanting to get up off the couch day after day – I hope we never go through anything like that again.
hope it continues to improve from here