The days from hell passed and I finally saw the neurologist. He switched me to a new med - Pristiq. We talked about Topamax as a headache preventative but given I am still having some cognitive issues, he said definitely not. One of the side-effects of Topamax is a problem with word recall. I've got enough of that already, thank you very much. So Pristiq it is.
As the neurologist described it to me, Pristiq contains the active ingredient of Effexor without all the other stuff that was causing the horrid withdrawal symptoms. The downside - it's still patent protected so there is no generic substitute and the stuff is horribly expensive. What price sanity??
Pristiq is weight neutral which means it doesn't cause weight gain, and it is often used to reduce body aches (another one of the charming Effexor side-effects - is that why they call it Effex-or? Or, what??). What did I have to lose?
I started taking it Thursday night. Today is Easter Sunday and I can honestly say that today is the very first day since the accident more than a year ago that I haven't woken up with a migraine. There was almost no pressure in my head and minimal when I went for a walk. It's nigh on to evening and I can feel I need a dose but all in all, it's been a very very good day. It feels great to be alive! Dare I hope.....
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