How TOPAMAX works
"Some migraine medications you take when you feel migraine pain coming on ...TOPAMAX works differently." — it is a daily medication.
Some migraine medications are taken at the start of a migraine. They work one migraine at a time. TOPAMAX works differently. It's a daily prescription medication that you take for as long as you and your healthcare professional decide you need it. Migraines can't be completely eliminated, but TOPAMAX can help stop them before they start, so you can get fewer of them to think about.
How TOPAMAX Is Believed To Work
Although no one knows exactly why migraines happen, the process is believed to be a series of events in the brain that cause pain and the other symptoms of a migraine attack. For people with migraines, the brain is felt to be very sensitive to change and the nerves become overexcitable. There are many different triggers that may start the process of a migraine attack by increasing this excitability. The excitability in the brain may then activate pain-causing nerves to release chemicals around blood vessels that surround the brain. These chemicals cause inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels, which will cause head pain and throbbing. Specific areas in the brain may then become very sensitive to otherwise normal sensations causing sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, and tenderness of the scalp.
Unlike medication taken at the start of migraine pain to treat an attack, preventive medications like TOPAMAX are taken every day to help decrease the frequency of migraine attacks.
The exact way that TOPAMAX works is not known, but it is believed to help "calm" overexcitable nerves in the brain so they don't send out the signals that can cause migraines. Medical research has proven that taking TOPAMAX every day may help reduce the total number of migraine attacks that occur over time.
Calming nerve cells in the brain
TOPAMAX is believed to help "calm" the process that leads to migraines. During a migraine, overexcitable nerve cells send pain signals. With TOPAMAX, it's believed that overexcitable nerve cells are "calmed" to help reduce migraine occurrence.
Sticking with TOPAMAX
Clinical studies found that TOPAMAX began reducing the frequency of migraines at 1 month and showed sustained improvement throughout the 6-month studies. To achieve best results, TOPAMAX should be taken for 2 to 3 months and then its effectiveness can be determined.
Find out how big an impact migraines have on your life.
