Now we have discussed the alternates to medications …can you all tell me what medication has worked for you all?
And what has not and why?
You may have discussed this before but since I am new and I am trying to learn I would be most interested in finding out the pros and cons of the medications and their side effects.
I am very nervous about all of this and that does not help the condition I know but it sure helps to discuss it with those who are also suffering and how they cope with this disease.
I have a very low tolerance to medication as I do not take very much period so I am searching so that I will have some information to discuss with my new doctor who I will see later this month.
In the meantime I am off to bed as I have a surgical procedure tommorrow since they found a place on my left breast they want to take a closer look at so to say the least I am a bit nervous tonight.
I will try and catch up tomorrow once I get back home and get some rest.
Timeless, the only other med I have tried is topomax but I stopped after 3-4 days as it made me feel sick to my stomach. I was prescribed elavil but never filled the prescription as I did not like the doctor who prescribed and knew I wouldn’t be going back to him and I felt he started me at too high a dose(week 1 25 mgs, week 2 50mgs and week 3 75 mgs). However, if all goes well with my new doc I will talk to him about trying this again and hopefully that will work. I also have a low tolerance for many meds which is why I want to start with a very LOW dose of elavil. I’ve tried other anti-d’s in the past (for depression not for MAV) and the only one I had any luck with was Lexapro.
May I also send good wishes your way for your surgery. I pray that everything will turn out okay for you.
I too will start elavil in a lil’ while. It’s been 5 months now and this thing, mav or mdds, is rocking on at low levels all the time (except when I slept like crap, much worse then), but never goes away.
I’ll start at 2,5 mg a day, then 5, then 7,5 then 10.
That’s week 1. I’ll stick by 10mg a few weeks, then go up to 15 if needed etc.
I am really scared of irreversible side-effects; a woman with mdds claims that paxil made her irreversibly worse
First I tried Pamelor aka notriptyline (I think). It made me too dizzy/jittery, so switched to Verapamil … which helped with my dizziness but caused my headaches to return with a vengeance. Off that and onto Inderol (can’t remember what happened with that, but apparently not much because I stopped it & went to Effexor next. Effexor seemed to help early on, but eventually turned me into a zombie & headaches never really went away.
Now I’m on Topamax. Started out at 25 mg for about a month & increased to 50 mg last weekend. It seems to be working very well. Headaches are less frequent - only happen when I eat a real trigger food so far. Dizziness is the same - only when I have a definite trigger. I feel a lot better for the time being. Only side effect I’ve experienced with Topa is the dry mouth & it’s not at all a big deal.
Verapamil worked best for me with the dizzies, but then it caused my headaches to return … or more accurately according to neurologist, caused me to have a headache … so I had to stop it.
Hi Timeless,
I’ve tried elavil for 3 month, it increased my symptoms and never helped the migraine.
15 years ago, I tried zoloft, it broke the migraine cycle for a while then stopped working, and gave me chronic insomnia.
Verapamil , works well for me to ease my symptoms and rocking in-between migraines.
Then prothiadon (dothep) it’s been my favorite so far, and really did work, but gave me tachycardi, which I’ll be having an oblation for soon.
After having the procedure I’ll be able to return to it.
prothiaden was an easy med for me, and gave me quality of life.
topamax failed miserably, and made my migraines worse, as discussed before.
Best wishes for your surgery, sorry to hear your going through this,very frightening indeed.
Timeless…Over the last 16 years with this dizzy condition (but diagnosed with MAV in 11/06)…i tried a number of SSRI’s including Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Celexa and a couple of others to no avail and with nasty side affects. Also tried Elavil which is actually called Amtriptyline and that didnot help. I heard Nortriptyline is more successful. I tried some other anti-depressants from another class of family…can’t remember it has been so long…but those did not help. Seems like anti-depressants never give me any relief. I tried Valium but no help. I believe i tried Wellburton(spelled) but not help. The only medication that has been helpful is Xanex and to some degree Verapamil. Currently i have begun Topamax and we’ll see where that takes me.
Timeless…Over the last 16 years with this dizzy condition (but diagnosed with MAV in 11/06)…i tried a number of SSRI’s including Prozac, Paxil, Effexor, Celexa and a couple of others to no avail and with nasty side affects. Also tried Elavil which is actually called Amtriptyline and that didnot help. I heard Nortriptyline is more successful. I tried some other anti-depressants from another class of family…can’t remember it has been so long…but those did not help. Seems like anti-depressants never give me any relief. I tried Valium but no help. I believe i tried Wellburton(spelled) but not help. The only medication that has been helpful is Xanex and to some degree Verapamil. Currently i have begun Topamax and we’ll see where that takes me.
Joe
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joe,
I think from previous discussion that our symptoms are similiar and did the Verapamil help with the wave like, feeling you have or at least diminish it.
I am really scared to take the Topamax because of the side effects as my tolerence to medication is so low.
I recall you and i have the wave-like motion. Verapamil helps decrease some of the tension in my head and to some minor degree the motion is lessened. But here again…the anti-anxiety medication helps me the most. I have had absolutely no side affects from verapamil. It has been great in that respect. If i were you…i would give it a try. How are you going to know if a med works for you if you don’t give it a chance?? I was very nervous about taking Topamax and e-mailed and spoke over the phone with others who are doing fine on it and they encouraged me to try it. So i’ve been on it since Saturday night and the only side affects are a little sluggishness. Remember…if you decide to try it and the side affects are too overwhelming…then you can get off it. That is what happened to me with Paxil and Effexor and some of the other SSRI’s…the side affects were crappy and i just did not have the patience to go thru it. It’s your body and you have choices. I’m like you…my tolerance to medication is very low too. So this Topamax turned out to be a real surprise as far as tolerance is concerned.
Topamax has worked wonders for me. I went from living at a mere 20-40% every day, rarely having good days, to living at 85-90% every day now and back to doing MOST of what I want. Topamax saved me!
It’s your old pal, Julie. We are definitely on the same page when it comes to Topa. Glad to see ya back
I’ve heard from others that you’re doing great. I’m doing great myself. In fact, i’m pretty near to stillness. A feeling i thought I would never feel again. If this keeps improving to full stillness and I put it through a few tests, I’ll be convinced. Right now I’m just bathing in the glory of it.
I even got my hair back - the hair that Topa robbed me of!
Great to hear that Julie and thanks for the welcome! Topamax is a pretty amazing drug I’m finding. It’s not for everyone, but when it works, it works like gangbusters!! All the initial side-effects I had went away, and now I have none. I’ve maintained my stability remarkably well, about 90% most days. It’s not perfect, but I find that the vitamin D therapy, sleep, and diet fill that in nicely, and help keep me there. I never thought I’d see the day. I hope you hit 100% Julie
