Question: Husband's migraines increasing... triptan rebound... preventives?
Answer:
Full Question:
My husband is 35 and has been having migraines
for the past 15 years. 10 years ago, he only had a migraine twice a year, about
two years ago they increased to about twice a week (while completing his masters
degree). Triptans control these effectively, but he gets a rebound headache
unless he cycles between triptans. He went on Depakote for 5 months, but the
side effects made life difficult and he was still having 3 migraines a week. He
tapered off the Depakote (following Drs advice). Once completely off the
Depakote he experienced the same level of migraines but additionally had
constant nausea, other headaches, and disassociation (like a constant migraine
with out the specifically migraine headache). An MRI showed unusually large
ventricles (for his age) and some random white matter. He tried propranolol for
6 weeks with no effect. He is now on his 6th week of Topamax with no effect on
the migraines but some reduction of daily headaches. Wendy.
Answer:
Dear Wendy;
Topamax might be good or not--the dose is? The time of treatment is still short. I'd have your husband seek out the services of a headache expert. He will likely have some headache into the future, based on his history. There's a link below to our directory of recommended specialists.
Good luck,
Teri Robert and John Claude Krusz
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To visit our directory of recommended specialists and clinics, click
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Published March 6, 2006
