Hi there!
I'm on Topamax myself!
It has helped a lot since I've started using it..
When I do get an attack I have Imitrex Instant 50 that blocks everything instantly -or should-.
I've been having a lot of problems with hair loss lately..
I fear it's going to get worse soon! I also have other side effects like uncontrolled movements and I can't focus that well anymore, more aggressive, can't sleep, etc.
So pro's and contra's
Do you have that too?

Hi..am so sorry to hear about your migraines, but something here is raising a flag. As a practitioner in neurology I am a little concerned about the seizure. If you have never had one before, please contact your neurologist right away..this is something that might require a new imaging test such as an MRI or CT of the brain and perhaps an EEG.

Good luck,
Mary Kay

I too have complex migraines... I've had every test there is... muscle biopsy, eeg,emg,ekg... I mean everything and there is no other problems or reason. I also have developed asthma recently and seem to trigger a complex migraine from the albuterol so I no longer use it and am confined to my house on humid, warm days.
I become paralysed for up to 5 hours with several short episodes for the next few weeks. I also take 4 months to get over the fatigue and mental "slowness" follows.
It is very scary but after 5 years I'm learning to live with it. I've also tried topamax, depracote and am now on lamictal... at least the last lets me think and talk and keeps me kinda relaxed. i've also taken a disability retirement. Good luck, keep in touch... Trisch

Hello I am new to NeuroTalk...I have had migraines as long as I can remember, my grandmother had them as well, now my youngest son has them as well...anyways. I wanted to know if any of you have had symtoms like this...out of the blue feels like someone has hit you in the head with a bat in the head, searing pain, burning sensation in the head, blurred vision,nausea, have to hang on to something so you dont hit the floor, slurred speech, and meomory loss, according to my husband and family. Went to see the doctor has ordered a CT of my brain without contrast..I worried...anyone have ideas? Not even sure if I am posting in the right spot! Thanks

I have been dealing with migraines since as long as I can remember, it wasn't until I was older that I was diagnosed as a severe migraine suffer. The sound of my own heart beating, can be sheer torture. From Talking with other migraine suffers, I have learn a few things.
1. some migraine suffers may have heart disease, I had open heart surgery at 30.
2. there are more left handed people than right handed, that suffer with migraines.
3. Migraines are hereditary, both of my children get them, my daughter more than my son.
4 Women get them more than men, especially around the time of their cycle.
5. Migraines can turn into seizures, I was diagnosed 3 years ago to be suffering migraine seizures, my left side is affected much more than my right. I never lose consciousness.
6. I have had 2 what were described as a migraine strokes, one I was hospitalized over night, the second which was a year later. I was hospitalized for three days. There was talk of sending me to a rehabilitation center. I regained all my functions, except for one numb spot right in the middle of my top lip.
&. Thee days before Christmas this year, I ended up in the hospital because of a migraine seizure, plus two panic attacks. The ER doctor told me I was not having a seizure, my husband said I was. But I was also having a panic attack. The doctor gave me zanax and sent me home. It didn't matter that I didn't know where I was, how I got there, who my husband was, what day or month it was. I saw my primary care doctor and explained what had happened, I will be seeing my numerologist in a couple of weeks and will fill him in on what had happened.
Mirgaines are not just headaches as so many people believe they are.

My first migraine with aura happened when I was 10 years old and in class when it happened, naturally I thought I was dying.

Since then, other than the yearly allergy issues, those migraines were not a problem in that they were always the same and I knew how to live with them.

I am not 42 and in the last 2 years my migraines have progressively gotten worse. In Oct. 2008 I was hospitalized for 3 days on a DHE drip to break the cycle and it worked, I went just over a year with no migraine, just an occasional headache dispensed of with an OTC drug. Since Dec. 2009 my migraines have gotten progressively worse and suddenly. I can only describe the worst attack as a "funny" feeling, unbalanced feeling like a magnet is trying to pull me over and I have to fight to stand upright, visual disturbances-flashbulbs, strings of very bright light points, loss of peripheral vision, sensation that my eyeballs can't move in their sockets or that my eyes have crossed blurring my vision, the ever present pressure, ache, pounding in my head, ringing in my ears, slight confusion, loss of mental acuity, trouble finding words to speak, tingling and loss of sensation on left side of my face and left hand (this happened the other night).

I am currently taking Neurontin x3, B-Complex, Naproxen (PRN), Esgic Plus (PRN), Clonazepam, Depakote, Lortab (PRN). I am not big on narcotics and would rather not go down that path if at all possible. When driving I stay right in case an episode hits and I have to pull over quickly.

Sorry so long and thanks for reading if you got this far.

presuming you are female (your screen name, lol) i would guess you are perimenapausal, see if you can get your hormones checked....good luck

I realize you posted this quite awhile ago. But that's exactly what i do down to throwing the temper tantrums - when I have a complex migraine. Only I have NO head pain with these migraines. I do have an "aura" I guess (hubby says he can tell when their coming) where I get super .. almost a manic state both in mind and body. I cannot stay still and flutter from one activity to another.
Though I did see in a later post that they have you taking Ultram.. thats a medication well known for lowering the seizure threshold ... I didn't have my first grand mal seizure until after my pain management doc put me on ultram and robaxin at the same time. They thought it might be due to the two meds being given together, but even with just the ultram I still had grand mal seizures.
I am curious as to how you are doing now?

Does anyone suffer from these?

As I browsed over the Dayton Interventional Radiology website, I saw that they have a treatment option, called occipital nerve stimulation, available for people with chronic migraine. I had my spinal cord stimulator implanted there with Dr. Morar. The doctors and staffs were very friendly. So, you may want to give them a call. I hope this help.