Has anyone ever taken Zonisamide for their migraines? If so, how has it worked for you? My doctor wants to move me from amitriptyline to this to help with my weight gain.
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Please do a search and contribute to an existing Topic on this med if you can.
I’m not convinced you’ll get a lot of responses to this Topic as it’s not a very popular medication especially with current site regulars as partly illustrated here Medication mention count in User Cards but I’ll leave it open as we haven’t got a lot of Topics dedicated to it
Amitriptyline is an extremely effective medication for MAV, it’s a shame you are considering moving off it but I can relate to the weight gain. Worse for me was the bowel slowness, ugh.
Good luck.
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I’d not really heard of it so, after being unable to find it on Dr Hain’s site, I used this site’s excellent search facility and there is quite a bit of useful stuff. Not bad reviews at all. Used as an alternative for people who cannot tolerate Topiramate it seems. An alternative would be a straight swap to Nortriptyline. Ask @naejohn. She did it for same reason, weight gain.
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HI Denise,
I have not heard of Zonisamide but as Helen mentions, I did make a clean swap from Ami to Nort to help stem the weight gain. My Dr said they are both known for weight gain but Nort is more weight neutral than Ami. I can say that at least with Nort I have not gained any more but am struggling to lose what I had gained on Ami. Nort effectiveness has been great for me and I am experiencing more and more good days. I cannot say obviously for anyone else but it has been the right cocktail for me.
Zonisamide is topomax lite. It has a better side effect profile than topomax. I might try this in the future. The weight loss is an added bonus.
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It seems to have much fewer side effects than Topomax but still has the weight loss effect for some. I’m not sure why it isn’t more widely prescribed instead of topomax. Is it a lot more expensive I wonder?
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Her, hee. Sputnik you’re as cynical as me. Please take that as a compliment because that’s as intended.
Good point. Checked it out and yes it would seem so. Unfortunately cannot find a dose for migraine. Perhaps @Dkkrueger can give an idea of how much the doctor suggested she try. Then we could work it out. Suspect pricing may well come into it.
Hi all. I’m starting at 50mg and then increasing to 100mg. It was covered by my health insurance, $3 per month. I am so hesitant to start it because I’m a chicken when it comes to starting a new med. I wish Ami didn’t have the weight gain, because otherwise it works great.
topomax is better studied and more field trial data. Zonisamide is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor same family as Topo. Folks who don’t respond to Topo try Zonisamide.
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What’s the side effect profile like?
Same as topomax but most users dont complain of cognitive decline like dopomax.
I’m out then. The stupid bit was rough. Every other side effect was worse. I’ve been down that highway; no need to explore the frontage road.
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