To everyone who has been on migraine medication, I am wondering if one of your side effects has been weight gain? I have been given two different antidepressant type migraine meds. Each one is suppose to cause terrible weight gain. The first one I tried, imipramine, did not agree with me, it kept me awake all night, the second one, remeron, sounds a little better but I have been told about the significant weight gain it causes so am now nervous to start it. What about anyone else? Any migraine meds out there that do not cause this side effect?
The Dr. won't put me on the other two popular meds, amitryptiline and noritriptyline because of my reaction to the imipramine as they are in the same family of drugs.

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I've been on Remeron for almost a year, no weight gain whatsoever... unfortunately. Nothing on amitriptyline either, btw.

That is great news!! I have heard nothing but negative reports on this drug so nice to read that. Were you prescribed remeron for migraine? and if so has it helped?

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Im on propranalol , been on it for 4 months and ive gained 10 lb and cant loose weight ,
my consultant told me it can do that , so Im doing daily excersize and following calorie controlled diet to try to balance it

Hi Nitty,

I am on Pizotifen and I am sorry to say that the weight gain is not good. I have piled it on. Its the last thing I need just after giving birth but needs must. It will come off at some point.

Love

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Julie-Ann

We strongly advise anyone wishing to take up vrt or start/change/stop medication should consult their doctor first.

I'm on lamotrigine which allegedly has a low weight-gain profile. Topiramate is linked to weight-loss but the side effects...for me...were too awful to carry on so never saw this side effect or any reduction in MAV.
It is a real pain in the proverbial that a huge majority of the migraine preventatives have weight gain as a significant side effect. For some people, me being one of them, the idea of putting on excess weight would do nothing to help with the "down" feelings associated with constant MAV. I have a problem with body image related to weight and see a therapist to help cope. This has all been exarcebated by the fear that any meds. I take could make me blow up like a balloon. Combined with having an underactive thryoid, looks like the odds are stacked against me.
I run three times a week, go to the gym twice a week and eat cautioously. Even so, I stay a curvy size 14-16 and hate it.
People don't seem to realise that feeling terrified of weight gain can be a real serious problem for some, and has nothing to do with vanity or narcissism.

Actually, my review isn't very raving either, I'm afraid!
Short timeline:
Around Aug 2006: Motion sickness, nausea etc. makes me quit school.
... lots of irrelevant stuff ...
May 2007: Started taking an SSRI (Lexapro), bedridden from the initial side effects.
June 2007: Got really dizzy when taking a walk, and since then stuff's been crap. Started taking remeron (for anxiety) a few days *after* the walk, but I've been even worse since then.

When looking back, it seems that every drug I've taken to increase serotonin (SSRIs, remeron, amitriptyline) has made me worse, and quitting them has made me slightly better - when withdrawal didn't force me back on - amitriptyline included, although I'm still on that (and Remeron, thanks to withdrawal).

Currently tapering the remeron slowly to see what happens (my doc isn't too happy about me still having it, I should've stopped quite some time ago).

On the positive side, it did help at least with morning anxiety, and made me sleep really good at a time where I used to wake up at 5AM feeling nauseated and really, really anxious, with zero chance of falling back to sleep.

EDIT: Hmm, I just realized how negative this post turned out! A bunch of people seem to be helped by increased serotonin/noradrenaline (tricyclics, remeron etc) - it's just that it seems *I* don't.

Hiya Nitty,
Sorry - I don't know about any of the MAV meds but I've been on a medecine that made me gain weight. My GP wrote me a gym prescription so that I can go to the gym but for reduced prices. It might be worth asking your GP about whether this is avaliable in your area to help counteract any weight gain.

I hope you manage to find something that helps you.
Take care,
Clare xxx

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We strongly advise anyone wishing to take up vrt or change/stop medication should consult their doctor first.

Thanks for the info everyone, I like to hear everyone's stories.

Lately, I've been researching alternative methods and figure maybe I'll try those first. Then if they don't work I'll bite the bullet and go conventional. In the end, the only thing that really matters is that I can be a functioning and happy member of society again. So far I'm on my way but I really can't afford another set back like the one I had last fall. That was horrific. I had the same sort of thing that you had Tranquility, the waking up with nausea every day and terrible motion sickness and constant dizziness nearly put me over the edge. These days, I still get milder forms of the same thing and shorter lived but there all the same. Still worry about the "big one" coming on again. So will do almost anything to prevent it with the exception of enormous weight gain and insomnia.

Has anyone tried feverfew and butterbur? I hear that these are great migraine prevention herbs as well as coenzyme Q10. I currently take magnesium but I am thinking of adding these others as well.
I'll keep everyone updated on their effectiveness.

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Hi Nitty

I have a book of herbs and in it is says that Feverfew has been used for years for Migraines and hangovers.

If you do go down the alternative route be careful what meds you mix them with as some will react even to natural remedies, especially St Johns Wort.

Good luck with your trial of things, please let us know what you try and if anything is successful or not.

Love Dizzy Di