TOPAMAX Reviews (TOPIRAMATE)

Average Rating: 3.0 (1824 Ratings)

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 ANTICONVULSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

TOPAMAX  (TOPIRAMATE):  Topiramate is used alone or with other medications to prevent and control seizures (epilepsy). This medication is also used to prevent migraine headaches and decrease how often you get them. Topiramate will not treat a migraine headache once it occurs. If you get a migraine headache, treat it as directed by your doctor (such as by taking pain medication, lying down in a dark room). Topiramate is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug.   FDA Approval Date: 1996-12-24 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

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Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR TOPAMAXCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 2  migraines loss for words, decreased libido, hair loss, thirst sexual satisfaction has returned. Thirst normal. Hair loss still occurring. Off of topamax about 6 weeks. Didn't really help my migraines enough to endure side effects. F 60 1 years
7/16/2008
 2  Severe Status Migraines Feelings of "craziness", anxiety, paranoia, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, constipation, confusion, blurred vision, crying spells, fits of anger I was taking this drug 25 mg morning and night. I did not have any migraines during the week of use, but I felt so horrible by this morning that I actually felt that I'd be better off dead than on Topamax. F 25 1 weeks
7/15/2008
 4  migraines tingly hands, mostly left, and feet, diarrhea the first few days, feels a bit like a hangover when I wake up in the a.m. absolutley no appetite and when I do eat I am full very quickly, very thirsty, slight nausea, slow thought process, a bit grumpy, a bit sleepy, makes pop taste funny, like metal. It has lessened my headaches quite a bit I am happy to report. So far the side effects, though a bit of a bother are not as bad as being confined to my bed w/ a migraine. I have been getting them for 15 years and am excited to imagine a life without worrying about missing some event or having to endure it while having a migraine! I know 2 other people who have experienced positive results from taking Topamax as well. I am titrating my dose started at 25mg/day now at 50mg working up to 100mg/daily after a month per my doc. I have had kidney stones before w/no relation to this drug and pray that I don't make that a habit! Best of luck. F 34 10 days
7/14/2008
 2  seizure Irritability, zoned out, impatient, felt sleep-deprived. Bit of weight loss. Nursed while taking it and baby was agitiated and woke up 2 hrs. earlier each day. I did not have any seizures, but the side effects were awful. I feared I had lost my personality. Drove my wonderful husband crazy feeling nobody could do anything right. F 43 30 days
7/13/2008
 1  Epilepsy Weight loss,cognitive and speech problems,mood swings,depression,short term memory loss I was diagnosed with epilepsy in August or 2007. I was given Topamax to help control my seizures. At firt for about 2 weeks I felt great I had a ton of energy and so forth. After that I started noticing I was having trouble writing (i'd write things over and over again by mistake or even write things backwards and I couldn't spell worth anything.) I became very depressed and even suidcidal at one point this drug completley changed me I became VERY distant from my family, friends, and boyfriend. Worst of all at 400mg my seizures still were not controlled infact they were worse. The only upside to the medication was that it curved my appetite so much I lost 50 pounds. F 20 5 months
7/13/2008
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 4  migraines tingling/numbness of feet (especially the heel of my right foot) to the point where its painful...worst at night and in the morning. sometimes i feel like im extremly wide eyed and high. weight loss, loss of appetite, i took topamax in the past at a (much) higher dose for bipolar with the same side effects. when taken with other prescription meds it can have an extremly sedative effect (hence the nickname "dopamax". I learned this the hard way after being prescribed topamax and abilify at the same time. it does wonders for my migraines though. you get used to the tingling of the feet. i've found that applying strong pressure on the painful site can help. Weight loss of about 7 lbs. Makes my ambien kick in within a matter of minutes...when i took the ambien alone it would take 40 mins - 1 hr before i could fall asleep. All and all topamax has been helpful F 21 2 months
7/12/2008
 4  Migraine weight loss, 30 lbs, loss of sex drive, I have zero interest in sex , fatigue at first with some confusion. Stopped the migraines mostly though after 2 years I am having to go in to get adjusted since they are coming back. Fear I might be forcing my husband into having a purely sexual affair. He told me six months ago to either find a way to get some drive back or find a new medication so that he can feel he is loved and have the affection he needs. He's been very, very patient so you need to be aware that the lose of sex drive is zero. Talked with my doctor and he really didn't offer any advice other than it the migraines are gone, then the loss of sex drive is the cost. F 41 2 years
7/10/2008
 4  Anxiety loss of vision, weight loss, hair loss, forget things easily (mostly short-term memory), don't want to go to sleep at night (tired, but not "ready" to go to bed), soda tasted flat but that went away eventually, can eat pretty much anything I wanted and still lose weight (but there's nothing wrong with that!) I'm considering going off of the medication solely due to the vision side effects -- several sites have said that this medicine can lead to blindness and that scares me. I can live with everything else, especially the weight loss. This medication did EXACTLY what I needed it to do which was to calm my anxiety and nothing else does that without making me a zombie or putting me to sleep. I am only on 25mg, though, and many of the comments I've read on this site where people felt like a zombie were at much higher doses. Wish it didn't have the vision side effects or else I'd likely say it was my miracle drug that I'd stay on forever. F 43 3 months
7/10/2008
 2  Headaches Slight numbness around lips, nose, cheeks. Headaches still. Awful Insomnia for the first week then it gradually got better. Very tired all day. Decided to discontinue because I'd rather have headaches than be tired when I'm not actually tired. I know it works for other people. M 31 14 days
7/10/2008
 1  Migraines Weight loss, Loss of Memory, Confusion, Insomnia for 4 days...put me in the hospital...was diagnosed bipolar because the insomnia caused Mania. I have never had a depressive episode. I believe the topamax caused mania. Since my manic episode I take seroquel for bipolar. I'm too afraid to stop taking it if I am actually really bipolar. Will never take topamax again! F 29 2 months
7/10/2008
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 1  Migraine, constant headache With just 25mg on the 1st day, rotten soap taste in my mouth, blurred vision (sort of, more like shaky vision), headache, muscle aches, weakness, tightening of chest, ears ringing louder than ever before, general feeling of unpleasantness and I can't remember a word I want to put in here (it was patent, I had to ask my girlfriend, I had an IQ of 130 before I took this drug). I'm an engineer, no way I can work on this stuff... I'd rather have a migraine than take this. Yet another drug that hit it's patent limit and tried to find another use so they could re-up their patent. Of course the drug pushers, er, doctors push it to us knowing of all these side effects and they don't tell us about them. I'm so disgusted with our "wonderful" medical system. Have a problem, here's a boatload legal drugs that will not help in the slightest! M 38 1 days
7/10/2008
 5  Bipolar Tingling, hard time finding words, speaking gibberish and trouble spelling would not stop taking this medication for anything I was put on for Bipolar disorder but it has also stopped the majority of my migraines. Even though the side effects can be bothersome at times and spell check has become my new best friend, I am very grateful for this med. F 51 2 years
7/7/2008
 1  MOOD SWINGS My wife was on it for 7 months. Changed her completely. We are now very close to divorce. has any one experienced this drastic change? My wife has been off topamax for 2.5 months but the side effects seem to still be in control. i dont know if I should divorce or be patient. She is moody, indecisive about everything, just someone different all together. It all started right after she was on topamax. since she has been off it, she has calmed down , but she is still a different person. I have asked her to get her hormones checked out. Help anyone? F 34 6 months
7/5/2008
 4  Migraines Severe tingling in feet, insomnia, coke tastes real bad, hives, swelling of lips and tongue, rapid weight loss and this was all after taking 50 mg. My doctor started me off on 25mg/day for one week and increased my dose to 50mg. The first day I was on the 50mg, I ended up in the emergency room from hives, swollen lips and tongue and I had difficulty breathing. I was put on steroids for one week and received a steroid shot while I was there. They decreased my dose back to the original 25mg for an additional 2 weeks. I have been on Topamax for 2 months and I am now back up to 50mg and I feel great. I have suffered from migraines for over 10 years and this has really helped. Sometimes you have to take the bad effects to get the positive effects in the long run. If you are taking Topamax and experiencing some less serious side effects, don't give up. Check with your doctor to see if you can decrease your dose for a little while. When I started taking Topamax I weighed 149 pounds. Not too bad for my height at 5'10. I am currently at 129 pounds. You really have to make yourself eat. Some people say you have to be on a higher dose to lose weight but that's really not true. I think it's just because you lose your taste for everything. I have started taking vitamin supplements and doing some weight training because I have no muscle tone left in my body. I have been accused of being anorexic for the first time in my life. F 37 2 months
7/4/2008
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 1  Complex Partial Seizures Where do I begin! I was unable to leave my home for the 2 months I was on the drug. I was so confused and would forget what was saying in the middle of a sentence. I couldn't remember names or words. I got disoriented when I was driving. SOme of this could have been just needing to get the CPS's under control, but I am much clearer now that I am not taking Topomax anymore. My Neurologist prescribed it, but I couldn't get in to see him when I finally realized htat the drug was ruining my life so I went to my internist. Luckily, she had been on the drug for headaches, and when I told her about the side effects she said, "Topomax? I call that drug Dopomax!" She said that she couldn't work while she was on Topomax because she couldn't think and lost words. I felt so vindicated. When I discontinued the drug I was much better. F 56 2 months
7/4/2008
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 2  complex migraine tingling in hands and feet, dry mouth, frequent urination, unable to focus, constant fatigue Topamax helped my migraines immediately, I felt some relief at 25mg but after increasing the dose to 50mg the foginess and drowsiness made it impossible to function and not worth it. I am debating right now whether to go back to 25 and take the less frequent migraines or just stop this drug all together. F 30 12 days
7/1/2008
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 1  Bipolar About half an hour after taking it (sometimes at other times) I would have a feeling like I'd been suddenly hit over the head with a baseball bat accompanied with VERY bad confusion. Terrible anxiety. Felt like I was always about to tip over (not dizziness, just an unsteady feeling). I slowly started losing my mind on this drug. Forgot my mom's phone number, would be working and all of a sudden have this bizarre blackout-but-still-awake thing happen to where I forgot where I was and what I was doing and how to do it. Almost forgot how to drive. This garbage should be outlawed, and it's the first (congratulations to you, Topamax!) drug I went off of against my doctor's recommendation. DOPE-A-MAX did not do a thing for me. Oh yes- I lost 5 pounds. Yay. F 40 3 months
7/1/2008
 3  Migraines Weight loss - 15lbs in 3 weeks, memory loss - forgot my own phone number, feel constantly in a fog, nausea, blurred vision Has decreased my migraines M 52 4 weeks
6/27/2008
 4  Depression difficulty finding words, tingling in hands & lips, forgetfulness, weight loss The Topamax was prescribed for me as an 'off-label' drug to help with depression, specifically for its weight loss side effects--- one of the things causing my depression. I've since heard it described by some users as Stup-A-Max due to it's ability to allow your brain to shut down mid-sentence leaving you hanging for your next word or thought. This does happen often. However, in my case it has helped tremendously with the depression. A year ago I was in a place emotionally I hope to never go back to, and although I had tried many other anti-depressants over several years, none seemed to be helping any longer. My doctor prescribed the Topamax in conjunction with Wellbutrin and that has been doing wonders for my mental health and well being. I now tolerate the side effects; the tingling went away after about six months, and I've learned to laugh at myself for losing my train of thought, I take stock in the fact I can now fit into those size 4 jeans, and most importantly I feel good F 41 13 months
6/26/2008
 2  daily migraines hair loss, diarrhea, some depression, some lethargy Even though I am taking 50 mg twice a day, I continue to struggle with daily migraines which require imitrex. I have decided to wean off topamax before I lose more hair and before I experience any further stomach upset. F 59 12 months
6/25/2008

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