I am new here and have been getting cluster headaches for about ten years.  The only medications that I have found to actually work for me are Prednisone and Imitrex.  I started my current round about two or three months ago.  Last month, my doctor started me on Topamax.  Currently, I am taking 50mg each night.

They seemed to have stopped the cluster attacks.  However, I have been waking up with a headache every morning that lasts all day long.  These don't feel like cluster headaches, they are more like a really bad tension headache...more of a dull pain that covers my entire forehead.  They are at their worst in the mornings, and mellow out a little in the afternoons (just a little), but are definitely there all day.  I have also noticed that if I take the Topamax an hour or so before I go to bed, rather than immediately beforehand, I notice the headache starts to get worse after twenty or thirty minutes of taking the pill.

When I am in the middle of a cluster cycle, I wake up most mornings with a headache.  Those headaches also don't feel like a typical cluster headache.  The pain isn't nearly as intense and they aren't always necessarily centered over one eye.  Also, those headaches are always gone with in an hour.  I have seen almost exact descriptions of headaches like those on cluster headache websites, so I know that they are somewhat of a normal symptom.

I am starting to think that these new headaches are a side effect of the Topamax.  I didn't take one last night, and while I do have a headache right now, it's not nearly as bad as it has been for the past week.  

I am supposed to be making a follow up appointment with my doctor very soon, and I will be bringing it up with her.  I am thankful to not be woken up in the middle of the night in blinding pain, but this is not exactly a pleasant alternative if it is a result of the medication.

I was just curious if anybody else has had a similar experience with the drug.  Thanks for any advice.  And I apologize if this post was a little long winded.