At a meeting of The Migraine Trust International Research Symposium in London on September 23, 2002, a study was presented showing that Topamax (generic - Topiramate) treatment can lead to a significant reduction in the frequency of migraine headaches. Topamax was originally introduced as a medication for treating epilepsy and, as with many other anticonvulsants such as Depakote and Tegretol, was found to be effective as a mood stabilizer for those with bipolar disorder. Previous studies of Topamax for migraine headache were promising, but this new study offers the best evidence yet that Topamax can be of great help to migraine sufferers.
The latest double-blind study of 469 patients divided the participants into four groups receiving either:
- 50 mg Topamax
- 100 mg Topamax
- 200 mg Topamax or
- Placebo (inactive pill)
- 200 mg - 52%
- 100 mg - 54%
- 50 mg - 36%
- Placebo - 23%
- 100 and 200 mg - average 3.8% weight loss
- 50 mg - average 2.4% weight loss
- Placebo - average 0.3% weight gain
The number of patients who dropped out due to side effects was lowest - 10 percent - with placebo and highest - 33 percent - at 200 mg of Topamax daily. Most side effects were temporary or went away when the medication was discontinued (but see Topamax Warning).
In June of 2002 a smaller study found that Topamax provided significant migraine relief for pediatric pages (ages 8-10 in the study). In the 34 children who participated in that study, the results were substantial:
- migraine frequency - 77% reduction
- migraine severity - 68% reduction
- disability from migraine - 71% reduction
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