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Medication Side Effects

Program: Effective Treatments for Headache and Migraine
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Andrew Schorr:

And I thank Chloe for contributing. That's what we're about folks. If you have suggestions, you be the expert too and let's hear from you. Let's take some other calls as we round out our hour and race through as much as we can. Phyllis, you've been holding for quite a while from Shoreline. Did you have a child with migraine?

Caller:

Well, she's an adult, but she was diagnosed with migraine variant neurological disorder. And the headache was not the main thing. It was her heart was racing and her lungs. They first diagnosed her with having a serious heart/lung condition, but it turned out that something in her brain was triggering this.

Andrew Schorr:

How old is your daughter?

Caller:

She's 33.

Andrew Schorr:

And she's dealt with this now over a long period of time?

Caller:

No, just since December, November, December of last year.

Andrew Schorr:

And how are they treating that?

Caller:

Well, she's on some kind of a pill, and I can't remember the name. Anyway, what they gave her is taking care of the heart and lung thing, but she's having side effects from it that are numbness in her hands and feet and face. And what I'm wondering is is that a serious condition to have these side effects. Are these side effects apt to be harmful?

Andrew Schorr:

Okay. That's a good question. And do you know if she's been telling her doctor, about these side effects?

Caller:

Yeah, she thought maybe a lower dosage. She talked to the neurologist and told him this, and he said, well, just continue. But then the next time she got the prescription refilled he didn't try her on a lower dose. But we don't want the lower dose triggering the bad effects because they said she could get a heart attack from this other.

Andrew Schorr:

Oh, my. Okay. I'm going to let you listen, Phyllis, on the air, but thank you for calling and I hope things can work out for your daughter. Let's see if Dr. Lucas has some suggestions.

Caller:

Thank you.

Andrew Schorr:

Thank you.

Caller:

Bye.

Dr. Lucas:

Hi, Phyllis. I'll try to make a comment here, but we don't know what this medication is. Some people will have a migraine variance instead of the typical migraine where you get pain and nausea and maybe lose your vision for a while. Some folks may have heart palpitations and actually feel like they're going to faint. We all think that migraine is a serotonin problem, but some people have actually dopamine hypersensitivity, and this might be one of the issues although again without talking to your daughter I can't tell.

Andrew Schorr:

What about the side effects issue, though?

Dr. Lucas:

v Well, the side effect issue, not knowing the drug, I'll pick a drug out of the air that I know has numbness and tingling as a side effect, and that drug is called Topamax. And probably the number one side effect it has, seen in 50 percent of people that take it, is numbness and tingling, and that is thought to be benign. It's not a problem. It's tough when you have it and so you may have to lower the dose but it's not dangerous.

Andrew Schorr:

Phyllis, it's difficult for us to do this not knowing more, and it's also difficult to do it on the air. What I would encourage people to do, though, when you're having side effects be sure to speak up. And don't just gloss over, should the dose be lowered or is there another medicine in this class that possibly I could use but have an active dialogue with the nurse. And if you're not getting satisfaction there say, I really want to talk to the doctor about it.

Dr. Lucas:

One other thing, Andrew, too, a lot of us are able to ask our pharmacists, the people who actually hand us the drug, for a medication side effect profile, and they'll probably print you out one or two sheets on what you might expect with the medication that you take.

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