Topirimate: the good and the bad. Naproxen: Any benefits?

Hi, I'm new here and just want to say thank you for you all being here.
You're all an inspiration to me. Knowing I am not alone in my pain helps.
I am 26 and never had migraines, I woke up on february 6th 2012 with mild but consistent pain localised above my left eye, like a sinus thing, that got worse over the week and spread until it became an unbearable pressure booming in my head.

I have had migraines almost every day since. Since July 2012 they have been 24 hours a day at varying severity.

Thank god I didn't have any aura or sickness apart from constant heavy/dense and foggy head etc. But it took me 11 months and a good private specialist for me to accept it was chronic migraine. I thought I was going a bit mad. CT/MRI Scans are all clear.

I've lost my job and moved back to my parents, and since October I have pretty much been an invalid..

I tried Gabapenten for 3 months back in the summer, it didnt do anything either way. No side effects except maybe mildly lowered my mood. Maybe.

I tried Betablockers (propranalol) in October - made me really unwell and a bit loopy, like want to kill myself loopy. Came off after 5 days.
It also kicked off the most severe migraine attack I have had so far, as in highest severity for longest period of time (about 3 and a half weeks at what i call a level eight)
Topirimate at 50mg brought this level 8 pain down to a level 3. It was like MAGIC.
I could literally feel the drug closing into the pain as it tried to come on more severe. it was like a hand in my head closing at the pain. it was good.
I enjoyed this great reduction in pain for 2 weeks, even though it was still there i could enjoy watching TV again at least. and I had hope in this miracle drug.
I did have side effects at 25mg but only for 3 days, and waited a week or 2 before increasing to 50mg, again only had side effects for 3 days. slow and steady is important.

I increased it to 75mg after 2 weeks of enjoying this consistent pain reduction (i even had 5-10 minutes here and there of NO PAIN!).
I had the side effects as before, but this time it carried on past 3 days (side effects were no energy, no motivation, no appetite - basically like u have a really bad virus and cant get out of bed except not actually being ill) come day 5 this kind of switched into my mind and i became a bit crazy, having negative thoughts, they were my thoughts, but the medication were causing them. Like severe depression/suicidal/wanting to die thoughts. So I reduced it back to 50mg after day 6 with the help of a friend.

pain shot back up to 8 the next day, took 6 weeks of pain slowly reducing again each week reduced by a notch until by week 6 it had reduced down to a level 2 wonderful, i had a few days of enjoyment.

the following week it interacted really badly with my period hormones, I went CRAZY again, Intense low energy - like i couldnt move had NO energy or motivation. then for 7 days had suicidal/negative thoughts. My pain also increased and has stayed up since.

My new specialist is trying Naproxen now, So after 2 weeks of Naproxen and a random Low day yesterday that felt topirimate induced I decided to come off Topirimate. Pain is still there and has increased a notch today since reducing it down to 25mg, but I am interested to see what it feels like to be emotionally stable again...I know i cant go through constant fear of medication making me feel suicidal thats for sure...means I avoid getting on the tube and doing normal things.

I am very sensitive to drugs/hormones affecting my mood (anxiety/depression) so it probably wasnt the best one for me.

Anyone found any benefits to Naproxen long term? I am taking Omeprazole alongside it to protext my stomach (although do have stomach pain all the time still). I can increase the dose from 250mg 3 times a day to 375mg 3 x a day tomorrow according to my specialist.

I was thinking maybe trying amytriptaline as well, as at least it wouldn't make me suicidal right?

Also, how does anyone function with 24 hour migraines? I haven't worked/socialised since October. I go to the gym when I can, and live with my parents now. maybe coming off the topirimate will make me more independent again..

I don't see any mention of triptans in your post.. haven't your doctors tried prescribing one of those yet? That's the only way I function with having a migraine everyday, by taking a triptan and it magically disappears for the next 20-26 hours.

ahh yes, i tried a couple of triptans, but i found them really confusing as you are meant to take them as soon as you feel the migraine coming on. Since mine is Always there is was impossible to know when to take it, i.e. it didnt work for the milder severity and i managed to take it once just as the severe one came on and it helped a bit. But generally the milder pain merges into the more severe pain over time, so by the time i take the triptan, it seems to be too late to have any effect.

At least thats my assumption, either that or they just don't work for me. But yeh they only tried me on two, and only after 7 months of agony! bad doctors! they literally left me to my own devices (they kept trying to push codeine onto me but i know how addictive that is and the rebound affect so i denied it after a couple of weeks).

I am hoping that coming of topiramate will make me more functional again, maybe its the cognitive/emotional effects that have made me so reclusive and unable to do anything by myself. and the fear of feeling suicidal at any moment! I mean functional in the basic sense i.e. getting a train by myself and seeing a friend for coffee, not working.

I would recommend that you try all of the triptans. I actually had to try every single one until the last one - Frova - happened to work. Also, you should see if you can't find any foods that make your migraines worse. I found that artificial food colorings, like red #40 and yellow #5, or sodium nitrates like in bacon or lunch meats, and aspartame and sucralose like in diet drinks all make the pain worse. I still get the migraines, but now that I don't eat these things the pain is only 30-40% of what it was before. Also, pain meds and triptans work much better and faster.