Marci Nolan
“What really made me want to speak up about migraines was that, in my household, we just never talked about them. My mother had them, and I've always been ashamed of having them.”
Talking to someone as energetic and outgoing as Marci, you'd never guess that migraines played such a huge part in her life. But with migraines in her family, she was good at not talking about it. Now that's changing and Marci is taking charge — which is perfectly in character. And part of that is wanting to get it all out.
“I always knew they were going to come, I just didn't know when. So there's always this sense of impending doom, you know. When is the next migraine going to come? How bad is it going to be?”
For Marci, it was hard to plan a trip, to make a commitment, to have people count on her — with the threat of a migraine attack always in the back of her mind. She couldn't be spontaneous, she couldn't be herself. The migraines were clearly affecting her day to day. For more on the migraine cycle, click here.
“I knew that I had to do something. I communicated to my doctor that I was getting six to seven migraines a month.”
When Marci's doctor heard how frequently her migraines were occurring, the two of them decided on another approach. She would stop just treating the migraines one at a time, and start trying to reduce their frequency. She would start taking TOPAMAX.
“It felt really good finally standing up for myself and having a plan to get myself well.”
TOPAMAX is a daily prescription medication that has helped thousands of people like Marci reduce the frequency of their migraines, so they can get fewer of them.
“In terms of the side effects, things tasted a little tinny, a little tingling in the feet, but that dissipated within a couple weeks. And the outcome was less headaches, and that was well worth it.”
TOPAMAX can cause side effects but most side effects are mild to moderate. In clinical studies, most patients did not stop taking TOPAMAX due to adverse events.
Knowing Marci, it's no surprise that she has gotten the upper hand on her migraines — that's just how she is.
