Physiological Laziness?

I have some new information today which may be groundbreaking in my struggle.  As a lucky migraine-getter, I take a daily preventative, morning and night: Topamax.  Today I read up on it to see if it is safe for pregnant women (yeah, I doubted it too), as it has occurred to me that I might have to taper off of it before the possibility of conception happens.  Among the varied, interesting and terrible things I have found (bad idea for pregnant women) is a basic list of side effects which I have long forgotten:

• fatigue or drowsiness
• difficulty with concentration
• difficulty finding the right word (word retrieval)
• confusion
• dizziness
• unsteadiness
• a feeling of pins and needles, usually in the tips of the fingers and toes
• loss of appetite and weight loss
• nervousness
• depression
• difficulty with memory

Without making this longer and duller than necessary, I will say that I am startled and am motivated to stop taking Topamax, especially since supplementing with Vitamin D has made such a dramatic and great change to my health.  I have experienced such fewer migraines since whomping up on D (and have even eaten CHOCOLATE several times with no punishment!) that I have been motivated to do mini-research on a possible connection between Vitamin D deficiency and migraines, and boy there quite IS a connection!  I wonder why my significant migraine research has never uncovered this before?

Lessons for today:

1. Have your doctor order regular blood labs on you.  Keep tabs on what's going on inside your machine.  When something is off, get 'er back on track.
2. Stay informed on what you're swallowing.  While this goes for absolutely everything, I'm specifically speaking of medications, supplements, foods and other substances you put in your mouth.

In accidental response to Lesson 1, my Vitamin D supplementation has been knocking out multiple problems I didn't know I had.  Rather, I thought they were "all in my head".  Sorry for the ambiguity, but I'm either too lazy or too tired to go on about it now.

In response to Lesson 2, I am ready to taper off of my medication, as I will need to do so soon enough anyway.  (I have already been given the "all clear" to handle this by my doc.)  Simply stopping a medication due to its side effects will often not be a possibility, but knowing about it is half the battle.  If I wouldn't/won't be able to cope with pain without the medication, at least being ultra aware that much of the way I feel might be attributed to the medication, I will be better able to draw that line between my identity and the effects of the drug.  This will help me to work with what I have, not making better excuses (ha ha!), but accepting reality and doing my best despite it.  However, as of this moment I am excited to taper off of Topamax and see how that works with my heightened Vitamin D levels.  For more information, read here.

My usual dosage is 50 mg in the a.m. + 50 mg in the p.m.  Tonight I will take 25 mg!