Posted by Snoozy on June 24, 2003, at 15:04:52
In reply to Re: Topmax for Migraines, posted by dave1 on June 24, 2003, at 9:37:06
Hi Dave -
Is your mother taking the fiorinal every day, or just when she has a migraine (or does she have a migraine every day)?
I took Tylenol w/codeine and sometimes fiorinal for my migraines about 10 years ago, before the triptan medications came out. My experience was that they lessened the pain somewhat, but most of the benefit I got from them was that they helped me sleep through the migraine.
Topamax and other psychotropics are used to prevent or lessen the frequency of migraines, and they do work for a lot of people. I don't know if you're familiar with the triptans, so forgive me if this is old news to you. Triptans (Imitrex, Maxalt, Zomig, Amerge, Frova, etc) are not painkillers like fiorinal (they are not analgesics at all). I can't tell you exactly how they work, but it's along the lines of affecting the chemistry of what happens during a migraine. They don't work for any other kind of pain, just migraine. Side effects are pretty minimal (for patients with a healthy heart). They are very expensive though.
If your mother has never tried a migraine prophylactic medication, I think it would be worth checking out.
> Hi,
>
> My mother takes 6 fiorinal a day for migranes. Do topomax or these other psycotropic drugs work better?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
poster:Snoozy
thread:5053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030624/msgs/236702.html