Migraine drugs and driving

There was an earlier post about taking narcotics (or other pain meds) and driving. It just occurred to me that why is driving allowed on drugs such as Topamax and I'm sure a host of others (this is the only one I have tried). I found Topamax very unsafe to drive on. However, while on a narcotic, I feel not only normal but a heck of a lot more normal than having a migraine but cannot drive on it because if I was pulled over and it was found out, I could be in trouble. I don't recall drugs like Topamax being illegal to drive on. Nobody should be driving while on anything that may impair them but who is to say what impairs some but not others? Just wanted voice this.

I passed my driving test whilst taking topomax.

I don't drive anymore because my auras and migraines have changed so that eg I can have pretty severe tunnel vision and not notice until I've walked into something - I wouldn't feel safe behind the wheel now. That and the fact that pain is pretty distracting in itself.

Amy

Great Point!!!
I should NOT have been driving on Topomax. I couldn't add simple change, find words to complete thoughts, and a various list of other things. I drive frequently on Hydrocodone. I have no choice. I am not "disabled" enough to give up my career or my other activities, but I have severe pain frequently. I believe I am only able to keep my job and be as active as I am BECAUSE of the narcotics. I take Hydrocodone a few times per week to get me through the work day when an M hits. If I didn't I would have lost my job long ago. I know I am not impaired when I drive. I take the minimal amount to help take the pain down a notch if I know I'll be driving. I don't know HOW the police would know I was on it if I were pulled over or in an accident. I don't drived all "looped" out.

There are lots of meds for lots of diseases that have strange side effects. You raise a great point about the unfair treatment of narcotic pain meds. I can name three drugs just off the top of my head that I have been rx'd in the last 2 yrs that impaired me WAY more than the Hydrocodone, yet they carried no driving restrictions/warnings.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.

Jessica

I take topamax and I do NOT drive. The minute I realized it messed with my brain, I took my own
drivers license away for the sake of my kid and everyone elses lives at stake.

Maybe once the side effects subside I will drive again. The brain fog gets clearer every day I take it

I was an extremely UNSAFE driver when I was on Topamax (and a host of other drugs). It was not uncommon for me to fall asleep at the wheel on my way into work.

Like stillhurtin' I wouldn't be able to work if I didn't take hydrocodone several times a week. It's the only thing that gets me through the day. Unfortunately, because of the hospitalization I had (see the mental health post), I have to be secretive about it because of the rumormill that I had been hospitalized for drug abuse.

I do my best to take it during the middle of the work day, not shortly before I know I'm going to be driving.

Have I driven while on it? Yes. I've been on it for a very long time and don't get a high or any feeling from it other than pain relief. Am I comfortable driving on it? No. Mainly because I'm concerned of legal implications should I be involved in an accident.

There is definitely a double standard when it comes to narcotics.

Charlotte

I have had no adverse affects while on topomax and have been on it for almost a year now. I have it in my system all the time. I am currently on 300mg.

I can't say my Topamax impairs my driving. Now that my doses are split up during the day and into the evening I don't get the feeling that a wild animal gets when he's been tranquilized. In the beginning when my doctor was trying me out on the drug and had me taking the full dosage in the morning, yes, I was a zombie the whole day. I ended that quickly and changed things a bit with his approval. Now things have been tweaked a bit more. As far as the vicoden, I endure the migraine as long as I can until I get home to take those, due to the feeling I get after taking them.

Hi All,

Excellent point. I have often wondered the same thing. When I first started with severe intractable migraine, I was 17. My parents refused to let me drive on some of the anti-seizure medications- neurontin and depakote mainly. I was on topamax for a short period of time and I was in boarding school (where boarders couldn't drive, even if we wanted too.) But they were adament about being careful when I was home. I have driven while on MSContin or other long acting pain meds. Most I was fine on. I know how you feel though.

I really miss driving. I haven't been allowed to do it due to fainting. Strangely, my roommate was the one who actually took my keys first as she recognized the huge problem with fainting and driving. I still have a license though I do not drive. (apparently, in my state, drs have to do too much paperworj to pull a license, though all current drs have made me promise not to get behind the wheel. I'd made that descision pretty easily.)

Pain free days,
sailingm

I think it is a very personal decision to take away your own license. Everyone knows their own
boundries, and as long as we have matured past our "teenage" phase I think we can make that
call on our own.

I know if I reverted back a few years and I was taking topamax I'd be driving. I drove drunk, too.
I also almost killed myself. I flipped my car over 4 or 5 times. My BAC was .22 when
I arrived at the hospital. Thank god I wore my seatbelt and wasn't ejected from the car.
I wouldn't have been too mad about myself, but I would have been really mad if I had killed someone
innocent. That is why my standpoint is so firm. I have already made my mistake and grown up
from it. I'd really hate to see someone else learn the lesson the hard way like I did, or the even
harder way the way I almost had. I regret my choice every day, but I'm happy I'm tough on myself
because I know i'll never do it again.

Driving drunk and driving medicated irresponsibly is very much the same in my mind. BUT
as long as you are a mature responsible adult, I believe that is where the difference lies.

Topomax doesn't have that effect on me, so I don't feel like it impairs me enough to not drive. Stadol does, though.

When I first started Topamax, even a 25 mg dose taken at night made me very stupid and poorly concentrated.
As long as I was upping the dose and not until at least a month and the hf have passed of me being on 100mg
and my body gotten used to it, I was very concerned about my driving because I could see I was losing focus rather easily while driving.

But once I got used to it, things are back to normal. I guess it could be:

a/ how much you take of Topamax
b/how long you take it
c/perhaps it does matter if you take it all at once at a bedtime, when the most of the initial 'fuzzy' impact happens when you sleep?
d/ last but not least -individual reaction to the drug?

Risa