Hi, Karin. Unfortunately, I am manic-depressive and tricyclics are
notorious for swinging us into manic episodes, so that is not an
option for me. However, after a long search I'm on an antidepressant
that works for my depression, Effexor. I noticed that when I was
started on it that both my seizures and migraines became more intense
and frequent. Is it just a coincidence or is it the Effexor?
Considering the timing it's hard not to blame the Effexor, but it's
the only antidepressant that's worked for me and it got me out of a
suicidal depression, so I'm really loath to experiment with it.

I was on Remeron for a short time, and it did make me very relaxed
but I don't remember how it affected my headaches (if I even took
time to notice). Wellbutrin was very bad for my seizures (it's well
known for lowering the seiure threshold in people with a history of
seizures). It made my seizures happen non-stop one after the other. I
was on Lamictal for a couple of years (they use it in manic-
depressives as a substitute for antidepressants), but I was never on
a dose large enough to cause me headaches or even help my seizures. I
took my final dose of it last night. There's no way I can ever take
Depakote. I was on it for over a year and it made me very ill. They
use it not only for seizures but also for migraines and manic-
depression. It would be a magic pill for me, but it makes me very
sick as well as clinically depressed. Definitely no toleration.

Across the counter medications do nothing for me, and the ones with
caffeine make me anxious--nervousness with a migraine is more than I
can take.

I'll look into the supplements you suggested. Thanks. Thanks also
for the other suggestions, though I'm not able to pursue them. I'm
sure that if the Cardizem doesn't help me more that my neurologist
will try something else.

Mark

--- In migraineswithepilepsy@yahoogroups.com, Karin Schacht
<karinschacht@e...> wrote:
> hi mark~
>
>
> Are you able to take or tolerate an additional med like an
> anti-depressant? I wonder if something like one of the tricyclics
would
> help with some of your other migraine symptoms.
> Although a higher dose of remeon made my siezure problems worse,
the
> remeron in general helped with many of the other migraine symptoms
you
> mentioned- nausea, sensitivity,etc.. Can you do an adjunct
> anti-convulsant? Have you tried Neurontin yet? I would like to go
back
> on that because i had a lot less migraines on it than now,even
though i
> was on a fairly low dose. I was taken off that to go on topomax
(didn't
> tolerate) then lamictal (recently started and sure enough I have a
> headache:o() - these for the seizure activity.
>
> I found my migraines also started when I got my first complex
partial,
> at age 13. My mothers side of her family has migraines.
>
> Right now I im in a medication limbo-land, trying to get off
remeron
> for other reasons but trying to find another good subsitute and a
> tolerable anti-convulsant. I notice my migraine problems worsening
(or
> really going back to the way they used to be) as I get lower and
lower
> on my remeron dosage.
>
> Two things I have found helpful somewhat (as a preventative but
I've
> read of some using these to abort a migraine) is
magnesium..chelated
> magnesium in a pill form, and WaterOz (an aqueous magnesium product
> that you can order online), which has been pretty good..up until i
> started this lamictal :0(.
>
> I hope you can work with your drs to come up with something that
will
> stop your frequent migraines... out of all the meds i've tried, the
> neurontin and the remeron have helped me the most...
>
> best of luck in finding something helpful!!
>
> karin