Avoiding suggested drugs for vanity

Has anyone been told to take a certain drug, and then--whether you tried it or not--backed out due to some "vain" reason? Reasons include weight gain, hair loss, lack of ability to enjoy anything, etc etc. For instance I was just looking at Depakote 500mg ER--the next drug I'm supposed to take--and found that hair loss is very common, compared to most psychoactive drugs. I will admit to being an incredibly vain person. Right now the concept of taking Depakote is tough to swallow, both for the "petty" reasons as well as the more acceptable fear of side effects in general. Any change in my life routine, of any caliber, is typically a problem for me--a lot of it is self-absorption, but some of it could be due to another issue, that doesn't need discussion here. If I can be downright honest, though, my general response to trying new drugs is something like "a lot of side effects, low odds of getting relief in the first place." That's avoidance behavior, and vanity--who else but me has such a childish response to adversity.

I'm thinking if I had blinding migraine pain 7 days a week, even if it wasn't 24/7, I probably wouldn't care about a lot of these "incidental" side effects. But since my headache is not like that--or at least not yet, thankfully--I prefer to cling to the highest standard of living as I can. I just think I can keep on going without making adjustments, probably just more immaturity. I realize that can't really happen if I'm going to try and relieve the headache, though.

Back to the initial quesion, I wonder if there may be some here who found some relief with a drug, but gained some weight, lost some hair, couldn't enjoy anything anymore.. and quit because of it. Likewise, anyone who was simply intimidated by these effects, or just never tried it from avoidance. Anyone?

Hi,

I understand completely. Sometimes it seems like "the cure is worse than the disease" and this is certainly the case with side effects of preventatives. I tried oral depakote again recently and I did stop it due to weight gain, the fact that it makes me out it, and yes, the hair loss was a factor. The same is true of Topamax for me. However, I know that some people are greatly helped by both medications. Before making the choice- weigh the options- pro and con.
1. How often do you get migraines? I know you said something about it a previous post, but I have forgotten.
2. How much are the headaches effecting your life? Are you able to do things normally with your headaches?
3. Which is worse- the headache, the side effects, or the fear of side effects?

Much of migraine treatment is simply trial and error. One medication may work really well for one person and do nothing for another. And sometimes you have to try many medications before you find one that works for you.

I have had to stop many medications due to side effects. About five years ago, my doctors and I came to the conclusion that preventatives weren't helping me all that much and that we would go with treating the symptoms and cycle through preventatives that worked in the past. For the past five years, the goal has been to keep me out of the ER, do pain management, as well as the preventatives that help, and go for quality of life.

Personally- here is my two cents regarding your problem-especially with side effects. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that trying it is probably the best thing to do. This way, you will know whether or not the medication helps. If the side effects are too hard, call your dr and ask about something else. Also, I know that when I first tried Depakote- my doctor had me take several supplements to prevent alopecia (Hair loss}. I am pretty sure it consisted of zinc, vitamin E, and something else. You can also mention this to your dr. As for the weight gain, personally, I would simply watch what you eat- it does increase appetite.

The bad thing about migraine treatment is that it is frustrating, annoying, and you have to keep trying things till you find something that works. Everythingis a trade off at some level.

Also, if you are too intimidated by the side effects to try it now, there are other medications you could try instead of Depakote.

I hope this helps.

Pain free days,
sailingm

One needs to protect their overall health too, so weight gain can be more than just vanity. It can cause or worsen high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, etc.

The other thing I wanted to ask--rather than starting a new thread--is if anyone has had permanent or longterm "issues" after stopping a migraine med. I'm looking for hyperacusis, gastric issues, personality changes...

Looking through some of these threads here, some of you are soldiers--taking a medication that causes near-constant nausea for a month, the neurologist tells you "keep taking it, i'm sure the nausea is your migraine", two months later still in bed, the nausea is still there, you stop the med, nausea is gone. "oh, it was the medication after all."

Typically if a drug causes nausea for me, the longest I might give it is 2 days...

The only preventative that I have tried, several years ago, was a two month trial of the calcium channel blocker Verapamil (generic form). On the one hand it does seem to have permanently reduced the pain level of the migraines, but that was at the expense of increasing their frequency. Also, before I started the trial my blood pressure level was borderline on being too low, and after the end of the trial my blood pressure sometimes borderlines on being too high. That is, the verapamil (a blood pressure medicine) seems to have permanently raised my blood pressure level since I discontinued taking it.

My withdrawal from Effexor XR took about 6 months. The doctors told me that it should be out of my system in about 3 months, but I was still suffering night sweats, nausea, shaking, "brain zaps" and motion sickness 6 months later. I have tried alot of medications and this one seemed to give me the hardest time with lasting effects.

I did have hair thinning when I took Gabapentin (similar to depakote), I would have kept taking it if it was effective for my Migraines, but it didn't really help.