TOPAMAX Reviews (TOPIRAMATE)Average Rating: 3.0 (1824 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare TOPAMAX with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by length of time drug was taken longest to shortest. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 |
More on TOPAMAX: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR TOPAMAX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | migrains | severe muscle pain in upper arms and hands. I have no night vision. I can not recall names and have trouble spelling. | It has helped with migrains it has worked like a miracle drug. But at what cost. I am in so much pain I can no longer sleep at night. I can not drive at night and my memory is a joke. | F | 37 | 3 years | 12/28/2004 | 3 | Migraines | Topamax is a miracle drug for migraine avoidance, but not worth the side effects. The funny tasting carbonation effect went away, but the memory loss and inability to focus and process information increased. I quit taking it a few weeks ago and hope that I regain some intelligence soon. | M | 33 | 3 years | 7/20/2009 | 3 | Migraines | This did initially help my migraines, but even on high dose they slowly returned. Topamax gave me extreme fatigue, cloudy thinking- especially word retrieval, hair loss, weight loss - which was a +, my main concern was it flattened out my mood to a dull blah nothing. I couldn't seem to get off couch for much- not depressed just no feeling. I took it for a long time and the fatigue and flattening took time- I just quit it after reading more about the drug. Extremely serious side effects from this are possible / no dr not neurologist or internist told me to watch for vision changes- it can cause blindness. I was on high dose, too. Migraines are miserable! I will find another med w/ less serious side effects. I have taken many meds - have chronic illness- but this one scares me a bit. it made me crave sugar like crazy!, too. I am not sure why? Maybe the crushing fatigue? Almost as soon as I stopped I started eating normally again. I got rebound headaches, but they are tapering off. I tapered off this med too over about 2. 5 wks to quit and my legs went numb from the knee down a few times coming off it and I felt cruddy, but it wasn't hard to get off compared to other meds. | F | 49 | 3 years 200 mg | 1/10/2014 | 3 | Migraine prevention | At first carbonated beverages taste flat but then this side effect goes away, brain fog when starting treatment, word finding and speaking problems, may cause drowsiness (good idea to take before bedtime) some tingling of hands and feet, This drug is not a good choice for anyone in public speaking, editors, lanquage professors, etc. | F | 56 | 3 years | 2/21/2009 | 3 | migraines, severe pain | hair loss, tingling, aversion to soda, word drop, fuzziness | does anyone know if there are any vitamins or something to take to combat the hair loss from topamax? i am on birth control pills and can't go on a non hormone contraceptive such as an IUD. please let me know cause mine keeps getting thinner and thinner!! :( it works so well for migraine aversion but oh! the side effects!THANKS! -juli email: [email protected] | F | 27 | 3 years | 1/10/2009 | 3 | MIGRAINE | TINGLING IN FEET AND HANDS, LETHARGY, FOGGY THINKING, LACK OF MOTIVATION | I'M NOT SORRY I TOOK TOPAMAX. IT HELPED ME SOME, BUT THE SIDE EFFECTS WERE NOT WORTH IT AFTER 3 YRS OF ONLY SLIGHT RELIEF. WHEN I STOPPED TAKING TOPAMAX, I REALIZED THE TOLL IT HAD TAKEN ON MY LIFE. I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH BETTER OVERALL I FELT WITHOUT IT. I AM NOW TAKING KEPPRA FOR MY MIGRAINES WITH MUCH BETTER RESULTS AND FEWER SIDE EFFECTS. | F | 57 | 3 years | 2/13/2009 | 2 | loss of memory, cognitive impairment, word finding issues, mood swings would cry easy and some angry outbursts, numbness in lower legs and pain is starting in my L eye. | I was started on Topamax 12/06 at 50mg twice a day. I started to complaint about memory loss, word finding issues and cognitive impairment by 3/07. But since I suffered with migraines since I have been 12 yrs old the doctor said the side effects were worth the issues I was experiencing. As the dosage increased the side effects increased. I didn't notice them all at once but my work suffered and I tried harder and I did not get the resutls I expected. At 62 and will be 63 in August my job in on the line and I am facing going out on a disablity to see if my doctor can regulate my meds to see if Topamax and other drugs can save my mind but still control my migraines. As of today I have been on a reduced dose of Topamax for 1 week and I have had 4 migraines and I headache. Has anyone else experienced balancing Topamax with other drugs with success? Or has anyone gone out on disability because of this drug? | F | 62 | 3 years | 6/3/2009 | 1 | migraines | people have covered this pretty well. The most bothersome this was the memory and just feeling a little dumber overall. | Be extremely careful with this drug. I had been on it for several years. One day I was driving and lost consciousness. I don't know if it was some kind of seizure or what but I have no memory of what happened. I was on no other drugs and had no history of anything like this. Anyways long story short, I woke up in the hospital. I was was pretty beat up with broken bones and such, but turns out I had caused an accident that caused someone to become severely hurt. They took me to court and I'm basically financially ruined. This drug is serious stuff and I blame it completely for my accident. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU DRIVE ON THIS POISON | M | 30 | 3 years 150 2X day | 9/5/2014 | 1 | Update from my 9/30/2009 post | Update from 9/30/2009 post about my daughter. | When I posted on 9/30/2009 my daughter was being weaned from Topamax- she has been completely off of it for three weeks now.What a difference!! It took 6 days at 1/2 the dose for us to begin to see a change from there it continued to get better and better. Her happy fun personality is back. You can reason with her. She is not a stressed out mess.She is not quick to anger. She is starting to have some realization of how she behaved while on Topamax- and that weighs extremely heavy on her mind and heart. I daily berate my self for not contacting professional help earlier. I look forward to the day when I turn on the TV and this poision has been removed from the market. If you take any thing away from this, let it be this; research any and all medications your family and friends are prescribed- research before they take it and research everytime a prescription is filled. The good news is it was finally figured out she is off of Topamax and she is moving on with her life......her husband well thank goodness he stuck around too! | F | 41 | 3 years | 11/15/2009 | 1 | Migraine prevention | Fatigue, brain fog, language disturbances, weight loss, painful tingling in hands and feet, irritability, anger, rage | I began taking topamax several years ago for migraine prevention. I can remember in the first week asking a friend who also took topamax if she ever felt anger on it. I had been at Target with my kids and a woman looked at my daughter and I almost screamed obscenities at her. I considered stopping, but my migraines had gone away and I had the added benefit of effortlessly losing weight. I dealt with the painful tingling in my hands and feet. That was worth the headaches being gone. Flash forward 3 years, I came to the realization that this medication has changed my personality. I gradually became more hostile and personally aggressive (sometimes physically but not violent), having temper tantrums, getting annoyed or pissed about every little thing, my patience went way down, anger would spike up unexpectedly. It has had negative effects on my personal relationships and at work. I am weaning down slowly to go off of topamax but the side effects are magnified as I taper. I experienced a horrifying fit of rage so bad my boyfriend threatened to call the police, I slammed a door so hard it broke things in his kitchen, I threatened suicide. He broke up with me because of it. Never have I acted this way prior to taking, and weaning from, this med. So while this medication worked for taking away my migraines, it has taken away much of my life. I never would have gone on it had I known. Beware. | F | 44 | 3 years 75 mg | 9/2/2016 | 1 | Migraines | Developed severe stomach pain that took a negative MRI, colonoscopy, gallbladder scan to figure out it was the topamax. Be careful with long term use | F | 61 | 3 years 50 2X day | 1/12/2023 | 1 | Migraines | painful tingling in feet, hangs, legs, face (also numbness); extreme fatigue, trouble breathing, nervousness, anxiety, rapid weightloss, dizziness, confusion, emotional distraught | ive been having migraines since i was in 3rd grade and ive been sent to many doctors and put on many prescriptions. topamax did take away my migraines but it isnt worth it. I have had to be put on many other meds just to help the side effects of topamax, and i still feel awful. since im a 16 year old girl when i quickly lost 30 pounds and couldnt explain everyone got worried. The worst side effect is the breathing trouble. | F | 16 | 3 years | 10/11/2006 | 1 | Epilepsy/OCD | confusion, forgetfullness, loss of words, fatigue | It was hell, I felt dumb all the time. I would have to write everything down so I didn't forget it. Eventually I chose to quit my job because I couldn't remember one thing to the next (very frustrating!) I have now been off of topamax for approx 1 1/2 months and I'm still not myself; I still suffer from forgetfullness and loss of words | F | 33 | 3 years | 6/3/2007 | 1 | Bipolar/mood stabilizer | I had INCREDIBLE memory loss. It was so bad that I did not even know I had it. I failed a mini-mental exam at my doctors, I am 39 and they thought I had early onset dementia. Then it was realized I took Topamax. Ive been weaned off of it for 6 months and I have had no memory improvement. Very discouraging. | F | 39 | 3 years 100 2X day | 11/9/2010 | 1 | Migraines | Weight loss was great and it did help migraines but the consequenses are not worth it. Tingling, taste changes, very aggravated, slurred speech, mean, ect that did not come on all at once. | This is a drug that has so many side effects. After taking it for approx 3 years, I had NO thought process, could not speak at all, lift my left leg AT ALL. I could only walk with a shuffle. My headache dr said to go to the hospital and I never heard from him since. (LOL) They did EEG which was abnormal and an ammonia test which was out of this world-all because of Tapamax. I then had a seizure as they were weaning me off (a week in the hospital). I still have problems with left side tingling and thought process. I thought this was a miracle drug until the dr told me I almost died. | F | 46 | 3 years 100 3X day | 11/16/2011 | 1 | Bi-Polar | First yr: quit smoking, quit drinking, lost 60 lbs 2nd yr: bad soar throat 10 months, feet & hand spasms, fibromyalgia symptoms, then horrible itching began 3rd yr: painful lesions, dillusional parasitosis, scarring Physicians: 2 ENTs, 2 primary care, 2 dermatologists, general surgeon (3 biopsies), Infectious Disease, Rheaumatologist, 2 Psychiatrists Resolved: Topamax is a sulfonomide drug. Have had KNOWN sulfa allergy for 15 years. NO physician recognized the correlation. I resolved this puzzle on my own through net research. 2 weeks off Topamax: itching, pain, lesions; all healing. Physical and mental anguish subsiding. | F | 42 | 3 years 200 MG | 9/22/2012 | 4 | migraines severe, chronic pain | same as everyone.. metallic taste at first, hair loss, tingling. all have gone away except chronic dry mouth and thirst. i do have some word drop and fuzziness but could be attributed to another med (also on percocet and methadone for chronic spinal pain) | i am on 100mg BID. funny i didnt know about hair loss as a side effect but in retrospect i definitely lost some hair! just thinned out is all. i started taking this medication for migraines mainly and WOW it works. i am on a birth control pill which you take continuously for three months so i am only getting migraines during PMS for those four periods per year. if i miss birth control pills or topamax, even for a day, the headaches come back right away with a vengeance though! i wanted to assure people that have only been on this for a short time that the tingling and aversion to taste is short lived, as well as the hair loss. my fuzziness im sure is a mix of all my meds. the dry mouth unfortunately you have to get used to (at least in my case) IMPORTANT: DRY MOUTH MAKES YOU VULNERABLE TO GUM DISEASE AND CAVITIES. GET A MOUTHWASH WITH FLUORIDE ... MAKE SURE IT HAS FLUORIDE IN IT AND USE BEFORE BED. SALIVA HAS GOOD BACTERIA TO FIGHT PLAQUE. MAKE SURE TO TELL YOUR DENTIST THAT YOURE ON | F | 27 | 2.5 years | 10/26/2008 | 1 | mood stabilization, bingeing | cognitive slowing -problems with speech and reading, weight loss, relapse of eating disorder | If you have cognitive slowing that does not resolve within a few days discontinue the drug. I would only suggest it for weight loss if gastric bypass is your only other option. | F | 31 | 2.5 years | 3/24/2004 | 1 | Migraines | Oh boy, where do I start? Unable to eat, I was a zombie, zoned out, confused, brain blips-I would forget how to do simple things, leg cramps, generally unwell | I can't believe I stayed on this drug for so long! I thought initially that it sort of helped the intensity of my migraines, but after 2 1/2 years finally realized they were the same! I still took the same amount of Imitrex. I really think this drug made me so stupid that it just didn't dawn on me. I lost 10 pounds right away, and I didn't need to lose anything for sure! It was awful--I made myself eat some just to stay alive--how sad is that?! I love to cook and eat, and there was no enjoyment in that anymore. Not to mention sometimes while driving, I would totally forget how to drive! Not safe with two little kids in the car! I couldn't exercise anymore, and I'm a runner! I hated that. After being off it for a while, I was able to run again and finished my first marathon this year. Take that, Topamax!!! The side effects of Topamax are extreme, and unless it's helping you in an extreme way, I would not advise this drug. You also have no libido--not good. Also, I would hate for any children to be on this--you cannot possibly do well in school on this. I couldn't even read a book--no concentration or ability to focus. I'm sure there are times when the benefits of this drug outweigh the side effects, but that's definitely not true for me. Also, I don't like being on a drug that makes me physically dependant. You could have seizures if you stop it cold turkey. I wouldn't take this drug again for a million dollars! | F | 37 | 2.5 years | 1/12/2010 | 5 | weight loss, pain | extreme weight loss, cognitive issues, blurry vision, low libido. | I love this drug! I have to say it was a Godsend. I know all of the problems people have with it-I did not not have them. However, I did have and still have some cognitive problems. I actually approached "nirvana" with topomax. I'm not crazy. I'm an engineer, an executive. It helped me see things more clearly than ever in my life. I lost over 100 lbs and more importantly it helped me think clearly, with clarity. However, I agree that I was also cloudy at times which is really bothersome and scary. But I must say the good definitely outweighs the bad. I have an excitement for life that I have not had for a long time. I take 100mg twice a day (topamirate). | M | 49 | 2 years | 1/14/2010 |