TOPAMAX Reviews (TOPIRAMATE)Average Rating: 3.0 (1824 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare TOPAMAX with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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More on TOPAMAX: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR TOPAMAX | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | migraines | Feeling "out of it", weight loss, tingling, short term memory loss which hasn't gotten better. | I was on Topamax years ago and am needing to go back on...scared to death. I was at a high dose 3 years ago, may try a smaller one now. At what mg. did you all experince weight and memory loss? | M | 39 | 6 months | 9/13/2007 | 3 | transformed migraines | altered taste and feeling of food texture (beer/soda is flat, most fruit, anything acidy (red sauce, oranges), most cereals -- all bad, cucumbers taste like watermelon... the list goes on. Almost no appetite. Scarring/redness from rosacea is clear insomnia and clinical depression? | Controlled classic migraines with 25mg nortriptyline for 4 years. In the fall headaches transformed into chronic daily migraines and neurologists changed to topamax 45mg/day. Not sure about the cloudy head because when I get migraines I can't find my words and can't concentrate and I was having migraines everyday. The chronic migraines have gone away, however, I had 2 classic migraines and one of them was close to the worst migraine I ever had (4 months on med). Since starting topamax, I can't sleep and have been diagnosed with clinical depression. Don't think depression is from topamax, and although insomnia is a symptom of depression, I always slept well before (although I was on nortriptyline for the past 5 years) | F | 27 | 6 months | 5/6/2007 | 3 | seizure's an eating disorders | weight loss, deppression and i've been on my menstrul now sence the 14th of this month this is whats really beginging to worry me I wanna have children in the posibable future is doing any damage to me. | This drug has helped with my seizures thow an isn't as hard on the body as the one I took as a kid. | F | 32 | 6 months | 4/23/2005 | 3 | migraines | Nausea,weight loss, major confusion, memory loss,difficulty concentrating,tingling and numbness in feet and legs, dizziness, fatigue, Irritable, panic. | I am satisfied w/ the 25 lb. weight loss in 5 months, well actually now I am starting to lose too much weight. It did take my migraines away. But I started school shortly after taking topamax and I was never one to stuggle in school. The simplest tasks are so difficult I feel ridiculously STUPID, my skills have declined not only in my studies but at work. I have been in denial about the medication making me this way I blamed it on stress. I took my last dose today and I am done!! I walk around like a freakin' zombie, I hope I can get my mind back to where it was. I hope it has not destroyed my brain forever. | F | 25 | 6 months | 5/18/2005 | 3 | Hemiplegic Migraines - severe | Speech difficulties (wrong words), confusion, weight loss, tingling in hands/feet, visual "tracers", inability to taste or smell, hair loss, spasms in my chest that affect breathing, sleep disorders. | I started taking Topamax (75 mg) six months ago after being diagnosed with complex migraine disorder (hemiplegic migraines with one-sided facial numbness/paralysis and cluster headaches).If you absolutely HAVE to take medication for a migraine disorder like I do, this is the best I have found. My neuro helped me to address some of them with the following tips...Take the medication at night with VITAMINS to minimize the hair loss and nutritional issues. I stopped the vitamins and I can tell you that the side effects came back full force. Multi-vit, folic acid and potassium were suggested by my neuro and pharmacist. Try taking the medication in the pm versus the am. If your side effects are more severe right after taking the meds (like mine are) you will sleep through the worst of it and preserve your job/friends/family life. I started to sleep walk/talk, slur my speech, etc. That doesn't work well at the office. If your hands/feet tingle don't mow the lawn. Don't drink Diet Coke, eat apples or purple jelly beans. Trust me on this. They are the only things that I can taste at all and they taste horrific now. About the weight loss? Tremendous. I shop in the teen section now - at the age of 40 (I'm at a size 2 and dropping). I eat, but it's difficult when everything tastes like...nothing. Maybe the cat and I will share a can of her Purina Pro Plan. Maybe not. | F | 40 | 6 months | 9/24/2009 | 3 | Migraine | At 200mg I became angry and aggressive all the time. I lost weight which I could not afford to do. | Topamax worked very well for 7 weeks to stop my intractable migraines, which I have been having for atleast 15 days a month for about 4 years. However, after that it stopped working and I started getting intractable 10 day attacks which did not respond to my usual triptans. When my neurologist increased my dosage from 150mg to 250mg a day I became very angry all the time. I started getting aggressive to everyone around me and people said that they did not recognize me anymore. I have now come off the drug and am trying sodium valproate once again. | M | 43 | 6 months | 7/16/2008 | 3 | Migraines | Nausea, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, coke and pepsi taste flat, my spelling could be better,severe gastrointestinal issues, almost to the point where I thought I would be better of dead. | My neurologist started me off at 25 mg and built me up to 250 mg BID, I have spent the past three weeks in bed, unable to move, unable to leave the house. | M | 46 | 6 months | 5/2/2009 | 3 | Bi-Polar | Hands/Feet Tingling, immediate disorientation (w/in 15 mins), very good sleep | The tingling was helped by taking a multi-vitamin, pre-natal vitamins and also **flax seed oil**, when I ran out of flax pills, the tingling became shooting pain in my heels and fingers. I have to take this med at night as I will become really confused if I stay awake. | F | 32 | 6 months | 9/12/2008 | 3 | Pseudotumor Cerebri | I had all the standard side effects, especially the moodiness. Topimax is really turning me into a person that family doesn't know. I am moody, irritable, do not want to be around any one. I have a hard time typing and spelling and thinking of words. I find myself misusing works a lot. It interfers with my birth controls which is making my endometriosis worse. | On a brighter note... my headaches have gone away, however, I toying with the idea of going off the medicine. I apprciate the feedback on this website, it help validate some of my concerns. | F | 27 | 6 months | 3/13/2008 | 2 | migraines | numbness and tingling go away after a few weeks. decrease in thought process, bad stomach aches. did relieve back pain, restless legs.just felt numb. | I couldnt think staight, spell, had to use directions to drive to numerous places I had been to before, increased anxiety, bad moods swings. made me feel as i was in a fog.took me several times to read something in order to process it. not worth it!!! | F | 37 | 6 months | 1/28/2008 | 2 | seizures | Did not help prevent seizures. Lost 50 lbs! Made me very hyper & nervous | F | 50 | 6 months | 8/16/2008 | 2 | Migraines | Nervousness, Anxiety, Abdominal Pain, Weight Loss, Insomnia | Did not work for me | F | 24 | 6 months | 9/26/2009 | 2 | Migraines | full body numbness, tingling in hands/feet, light sensitivity, loss of appetite, ringing in ears, moodiness, memory loss, feeling like an idiot all the time | 50 mg. It's probably not directly responsible for the moodiness; that may merely be a result of feeling like an idiot all the time, which is caused by the memory loss. I struggle to remember the most basic words, dropping off in the middle of a conversation and sounding like a complete moron when I can't remember my own phone number. There are random days when I almost feel like I'm stoned, really out of it and completely confused by everything. I can no longer drive/open my eyes at night, as the contrast of bright lights with darkness completely blinds me; there also seem to be rippling lines coming off lights, completely blurring my vision. I weigh 100 pounds at 5'7", no longer require numbing medication at the dentist, and can barely hear conversations over the ringing in my ears. Drinking alcohol makes all of this ten times worse... and to top it off, my head still hurts. Thanks, topamax. | F | 17 | 6 months | 11/1/2009 | 2 | Nightmares | Did not help with nightmares Smoked weed and tripped/had a seizure. Never happened before taking topamax or after stopping | F | 22 | 6 months 25 1X day | 1/22/2023 | 2 | migraines | Gastroenteritis, severe stomach problems but Dr. never found anything. Started having severe anxiety attacks 5 months after I started taking it. Now off Topamax and dealing with crippling anxiety attacks monthly. Worst medicine on the market. Not worth the weight loss. | Never had anxiety attacks in my life. Now my husband has to deal with my extreme fears and constant thought that I feel like I'm going to die. Lost 20lbs too fast. Gained it back and am trying to become healthy without any medicine | F | 30 | 6 months | 5/8/2007 | 2 | bad headaches, migrain family | saddness, not suicidal but loss of interest in life, crying, loss of appetite, loss of volcabulary, tingling arms and feet, severe muscle pain all over body, and HAIR LOSS! | started at lower dose that helped with headaches but did not eliminate, raised to higher dose. Relieved headaches but the side effects are too much to take. I will slowly decrease the dosage and see if I can live with the headaches. I have no emotion left but sadness, (and I have a wonderful life). | F | 59 | 6 months 60 mg 1X day | 5/31/2010 | 2 | migraines | tingling fingers at first, sleep well, forgetfulness, inablity to complete a sentence, | Topomax worked great for my migraines but it made me stupid. I would look at words that were mispelled and not be able to reason what was wrong. My memory was depleted. I could not form a coherent sentence. I could not remember names, places, etc. -things I had always known. I would misprounce words and not be able to figure out how to say a word. It rather scared me until I discovered it was the medicine. I am a teacher and it was becoming a huge problem for me. I was on 25mg a night. I decided it wasn't worth the side effects so I am trying something else. | F | 33 | 6 months | 11/2/2005 | 2 | severe headaches | I developed continuous severe headaches after a complicated neck surgery. After two years of trying every remedy with no relieve, the neurologist started me on 25mg of topamax and gradually increasing it to 75mg. On 50mg, I experienced daily diarrhea, word finding difficulties, fatique, concentration problems but it did hold off the headaches until late afternoon. So after two months the neurologist had me take 25 mg in AM and 50 mg in PM. After two weeks on this dosage, my right arm, hand, shoulder became increasing painful and numb. Soon I had developed a frozen shoulder because the nerves in my arm and finger were paralyzed. After two months, on this dosage I could not move my right arm and fingers, my right side of my head was numb, and my shoulder was frozen. I could not write or sleep the pain was so excruciating. I was clear of headaches but the right side of my upper body was paralyzed. I had a myleogram because my doctor thought for sure I had another herniated disc in | My headaches have not returned yet so I can only hope the Topamax did stop them permanently. I would be very cautious of this medication and try not to take it for the long term. Know the side effects and recognize any problems in your system. | F | 56 | 6 months | 11/10/2005 | 2 | severe headaches | I developed continuous severe headaches after a complicated neck surgery. After two years of trying every remedy with no relieve, the neurologist started me on 25mg of topamax and gradually increasing it to 75mg. On 50mg, I experienced daily diarrhea, word finding difficulties, fatique, concentration problems but it did hold off the headaches until late afternoon. So after two months the neurologist had me take 25 mg in AM and 50 mg in PM. After two weeks on this dosage, my right arm, hand, shoulder became increasing painful and numb. Soon I had developed a frozen shoulder because the nerves in my arm and finger were paralyzed. After two months, on this dosage I could not move my right arm and fingers, my right side of my head was numb, and my shoulder was frozen. I could not write or sleep the pain was so excruciating. I was clear of headaches but the right side of my upper body was paralyzed. | I had a myelogram because my doctor thought I had another herniated disc, but that was not the case. Neurologists at Mayo Clinic examined me and concluded that my right arm, hands and right side of head had severe nerve damage and a frozen shoulder. I suspicious of the Topamax and mentioned this but neurologists had never heard of this happening with this drug. On my own, I gradually took myself off of this medication and my arm, shoulder and head are almost pain free. My headaches have not returned yet so I can only hope the Topamax did stop them permanently. I would be very cautious of this medication and try not to take it for the long term. Know the side effects and recognize any problems in your system. | F | 56 | 6 months | 11/10/2005 | 1 | headaches | numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, my brain went into a fog, I didn't remember what had happened-short term memory was horrible. became very confused. | My doctor didn't believe me when tried to explain what was happening even when she witnessed it in her own office. I stopped it gradually since I had started gradually. I hope these side effects go away soon and I can get my life back. | F | 40 | 6 months 75mg 2X day | 3/12/2013 |