Love had his second appointment with the neurologist yesterday; a follow-up to his first one to see how his new migraine medication was working. He told the doctor about all the crappy side effects of the Topamax and how miserable it was making him, but that he hadn’t experienced any of the dizzy spells since taking it. This seems to indicate the neurologist is right that what we thought was vertigo for the past year and a half, was in fact, really silent migraines. (Migraine with everything but the headache stage.)
That said, the doctor thinks Love is too sensitive to the Topamax. Some of the side effects he has been experiencing (like, not sweating at all even in hot conditions which can lead to overheating) are extremely rare. Poor Love was being a trooper and enduring these miserable side effects thinking eventually they’d get better and turns out, the doc thinks it’s just a bad fit for him. So he said stop the Topamax and try something else. (And since he was on it for migraines and only 50mg/day dose, he was allowed to stop it cold turkey without any real risk of seizures which can happen when you’re taking in it larger doses for seizures.)
So now he’s on Propranolol. It’s a beta blocker and actually started off as a blood pressure medication. But it’s used for migraine prevention as well. He’s starting off at 80mg of an extended release pill. The side effects for this are almost non-existent; the only thing to be on the look out for is lightheadedness.
The neurologist also wants him to get a head CT with contrast since no one has any idea what the cause of the “whooshing” and “throbbing” he gets in his right ear is all about. Especially since he saw an ENT (ear, nose throat specialist) last year who said everything looked fine in the ear. The neurologist said there might be a narrowing or restriction in the skull basically behind the ear which might cause it and the best way to determine that is with the CT scan. So we’re waiting to hear from scheduling when that will be.
But that’s where we’re at for now. No more Topamax, trying Propranolol instead. He’s back in another month as well to see how he tolerates this medication instead. Fingers crossed that second time is the charm here. Poor Love just wants to get his life back.