Hi,
I was on amitriptyline a few years ago. It took the migraines away, but I felt AWFUL when I was on it. I was so tired I could barely function. I remember talking with a friend on the phone and she asked me what was wrong - I was so lathargic she could hear it in my voice. I wasn't on it long enough to know about weight gain. After 4 weeks I couldn't stand it anymore and went off the med. Of course everyone has different reactions to medication, so hopefully it would be nearly so bad for you. Good luck - I know how difficult migraines are!

Thanks for your reply. I'm afraid of the lethargy side effect, too. Can I ask, have you found a daily medicine that works for your migraines, or have you gone in a different direction?

I'm not taking anything daily to prevent migraines now. I tried a few anti-depressants in the past, and they helped a little bit, but then the side effects would start, mainly really bad night sweats. It was awful, so I went off them. Now I try to control them with lifestyle - getting enough sleep and staying on a fairly regular schedule, a big thing for me is not sleeping too late in the morning. I seems like I'm okay if I get up and eat a little bit, and then take a nap, but if I just sleep over a couple of hours it can lead to trouble. Also, I have to eat regularaly and watch what I eat, I don't have any definate triggers but too many simple carbs will cause problems. I haven't found anything that always prevents them or always treats them successfully (ie, makes the headache go away), but I do my best to control them. When I feel one coming on I take extra-strenght excedrine and that works about 1/2-3/4 of the time. That's probably not very helpful, because so much of it is the basic common sense stuff that you probably do regularly. PM me if you'd like to talk more.

Have you tried altering your diet? Seems to me like that would be a better solution than Rx. I just did a 7 day raw food diet (raw, vegan foods) while training 16 hours. It was a cinch--I've played around with it before but have never strung more that 4 days together. That, or modified raw, might be a good experiment.

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leslie myers
http://www.foodsensenow.com

I am so sorry about your migraines and I hope you find something that works!

I was on amitriptyline for several months and did not have untoward side effects--was not fatigued and did not gain weight, but unfortunately it did not work as migraine prevention.

I took it before I went to bed, and it did make me a little drowsy then, but I was fine during the day.

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Yanti Ardie of Y Tri Multisport & Majick Juice for lasting critter defense & skin soothing
~ World Open Water Swimming Association Coach & Official
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Migraines are all different. Food/diet is only one type of trigger.

What dosage of Topamax were you on if you don't mind me asking?

I have been getting migraines for almost 5 years. Mostly induced by stress and anxiety as well as hormonally related. The type of birth control I take seems to have an effect as well. So much that even name brand and generic differences seem to have an effect.

I started taking Topamax in 2006. Started off at a lower dose, but am up to 200 millagrams a day now. I still get migraines, but also have a great deal of stress and aniexty right now. The less of that, the less the migraines. Before I started topamax I was getting migraines at least 18-25 days a month. Now it is usually 4-8. Still not great. Increasing the dosage of Topamax helped. I think I started off at 50, then 100, then 150.

I haven't heard of the other medicine.

I hope you find something that works for you.

When I first started the Topamax I was on 25 mg twice daily, and it worked beautifully for about 3 months. I started having more migraines so my doctor moved me up to 50 mg twice daily. The migraines did not lessen in frequency at all at the new dose, and the "stupid" side effects were a little worse. I tapered off the Topamax and the migraines seemed the same, about 5-6 per week, and I was willing to give the amitriptyline a try, but had not started it yet.

My mother, who also has frequent migraines (thanks, Mom!) said that a twice daily magnesium supplement helps her. Migrelief, which has magnesium, never made a difference for me, but I started supplementing with magnesium and 400 mg B2 daily. To my surprise and delight, I am down to about 1 migraine a week on just these supplements. I don't know how long this may work for me, but I'm going to avoid any prescription meds for now as long as the magnesium/B2 combo is working.

Thanks for all the replies!

Glad you hear you have found something to give you some relief! I was actually thinking about you this weekend when I was looking for a new multi-vitamin and I saw some supplements for migraines. I've taking some of them in the past and they helped some, at least got the migraines down to a manageable level. One thing that I have found is that nothing works all the time, so when 'A' stops working I try 'B' and then 'C' but then I may need to go back to 'A'. Also keeping my digestion healthy makes a big difference - right now that means I need to take some extra fiber, some other time it may be something else.

Good luck - I know how difficult all this can be.

I was on it for a few miserable weeks in the 1990's to try and stop me from bruxism (grinding my teeth in my sleep). It was awful. My doc strongly encouraged me to ride the tx out for a few weeks but it never got any better. I had no energy to do anything...total lethargy. I guess , if I remember correctly , it felt a lot like being on dramamine or benadryl.

Never helped with the bruxism, either. I remember wondering how anyone could ever be on that med and get anythign done.

more notes on the drug, in case anyone else needs to know:
- it increases resting HR about 15 beats. I went from low 50s to high 60s. This seems to be typical,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7862922
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18590531

- there are other effects on the heart under stress,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8243020
which I interpret as meaning the drug will reduce exercise performance

- weight gain is usual, more likely at higher doses (starts at 25mg, up to 150mg) and longer durations. Due to alteration of the resting metabolic rate,
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16389718
I'm eating less than usual and only maintaining at about 5lbs over normal weight.

It's still better than having constant headache, but lots of unwanted side effects. Now attempting to wean myself off it..