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
 
 4  migraine Sleepiness and irritability, easily overwhelmed. Stomachaches w/o gas. Side effects eased after I had taken it for a few months, but in the beginning, while adjusting the dose, I almost lost some friends because of the extreme irritability because I was SO sleepy all day. F 44 4 months
12/3/2004
 3  Migraines I started Topamax at 25 mg a week then worked my way to 100. I did not get one headache for the entire month. I also cried everyday, I was really moody and didnt even feel like myself.I let it go because I wasnt getting the headaches and thought the feelings would go away. I then lost 6 lbs ( not that I was upset about that). I had no desire to eat. My crying and mood swings were interfering with my everyday life with my family and they were seeing a change. I am an avid runner and couldnt even walk up the stairs without a shortness of breath. I again thought this would go away. I had this really weird feeling about me, I would drive my kids to school and feel like I had been driving all day. I had to go off. My doctor now wants to put me on Zonegran. Does anyone have any suggestions? Will I get the same side effects? I am afraid. I think I would rather have the headaches, than to be so sad all the time. F 34 30 days
11/30/2004
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 4  Migraines tingling in fingers, difficulty verbalizing thoughts (very frustrating but getting less frequent the longer I was on the med), have nightime trailing of lights especially when very tired which is totally new since taking this and, most frustratingly, the inability to reach orgasm. Initially started taking 25 mg od and gradually increased dose until I am now at 150 mg od. Am currently decreasing dosage to try to get my sex life back to normal. Has significantly helped my headaches: has eliminated almost all of them with the exception of my menstrual ones and the other, F 39 4 days
11/24/2004
 4  migraines Feeling I tried it before but did not give it a chance. I am taking 75mg a day and am working my way to 200mg a day. It has helped my migraines a great deal. I was taking maxalt and relpax as if they were m&m's. Have'nt needed any since starting topamax. tylenol has been helping. I think I will stick the side effects out. F 34 30 days
11/19/2004
 1  persistent migraine r/t endo visual hallucinations, extreme confusion, aphasia, terrible memory problems, depersonalization, sadness, eye twitching I had surgery for endometriosis this summer, and went on lupron therapy to slow the progress of the disease, but lupron gave me constant migraines. when I stopped the lupron, the migraines stayed- and I blazed through every immitrex derivative on the market. I ended up seeing a neurologist, and he prescribed topamax. i was only taking 40 mg, but my side effects were absolutely horrid- I would be driving in the car, and forget where I was going- not once but EVERY time i drove. I'm a full time nursing student, and also work full time at a hospital, so this was extremely scary, both academically and professionally. I had no ability to remember anything- especially numbers- and I've always had a fantastic short-term memory. I started failing quizzes, and I was incapacitated when speaking- I could barely form sentences. The last straw with this drug was when I was talking to one of my instructors, and watched his eyes float right out of his head and hover in front of it. the neuro pulled me off the drug the next day. I was also taking vicodin 60 mg/day for pain, also from the endo, so perhaps I had some bad drug interactions. I'm now taking methadone 15 mg/day for the endo pain, and nortryptiline 20 mg at night for the migraines- the pain in my body is almost gone, and the headaches are starting to subside. the topamax never got my headaches down below a 5/10 on a 1-10 scale, and the minute i discontinued, the pain shot back up. Of course, my mind cleared, too, so I was happy to stop taking it. F 32 6 weeks
11/17/2004
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 3  migrains Extreme tingling in hands and feet also numbness. Dizzy. Carbonated beverages tasted awful. Weight loss. Eye problems. I started out at 100mg and found out later that you weren't supposed to start that high and a different doctor lowered my dosage to 50mg to reduce numbness and tingling. After being on it for 6 months I still experience side effects and have been reduced to taking 25mg in am and 25mg in pm, but does not seem effective, migrains have returned and I still experience extreme side effects. I had 20 20 vision before being on topamax and now I have to wear glasses at all times. I've been on every other kind of migrain medicine and this has been the only thing that has worked but the side effects have been horrible and almost unbearable. F 20 6 months
11/10/2004
 5  RSD Tingling hands feet Have to take in morning because it keeps me awake. The only med that I have found to to take care of my severe nerve pain. I take 75mg once a day F 36 1 months
11/7/2004
 5  migraines tingling in extremities, trouble finding right words to use, slurring of speech, excitable, questionable if it caused some insomnia, 20 pound weight loss, diahrea, food has lost all taste and even consistency is weird I also take 1 mg of Klonopin daily for anxiety. I found that if I split that up into .5 mg twice a day, early in the morning and evening, it helped with the speech and language stuff and the excitablitity, I would take any and all these side effects compared to the migraines I had, got rid of them almost completely and I had them 90% of the time F 30 2 months
11/6/2004
 4  Migraine Prevention tingling in fingers/toes, dry mouth, couldn't drink any beers b/c tasted funny (like others are describing pop, but I don't drink pop) Started at 25/mg a day x 1wk, then 50mg x2wks, then 75mg x3wks and now am at 100mg. Was having migraines about 95% of the time, usually mild in severity and peaking to severe about 3x/wk. Immediately migraines decreased to only having a moderate to severe migraine 1-2x/wk with nothing lingering in between. However, for the last few weeks have had a presistent mild migraine, so am considering increasing dosage. F 24 13 weeks
11/3/2004
 1  mood swing stabilizer tingly fingers, feet,lips. extreme fatigue. much difficulty concentrating. no taste for soda. Lots of uncontrollable crying. itchy body and eyes. strange and blurred vision at times. no motivation. felt like i was in a stupor. eyes glazed over. Felt extremely spaced for a period of time. was desperately hoping for the weight loss and there was none. F 45 2 days
10/31/2004
 1  migraine diarhea, fatigue, upset stomach, felt sick most of the time. Had 3 weeks after starting that were migraine free. Thought I had found the cure. starting with 4th week pattern of almost daily pain returned. Increased doses did nothing. Side effects became so problematic that I had to stop taking it. M 34 4 months
10/21/2004
 5  alcoholism & migraines A not unpleasant tingling in the feet, and difficulty comprehending simple concepts, which went away when I lowered the dosage and spread it out, and a kind of spacey feeling that also diminished when I lowered the dosage. Also some loss of sexual desire. As far as alcohol goes I find with the topomax I have really lost all desire for it. A long time ago I cut out a clipping about a study done using it w/some alcoholics & how they either quit or cut back dramatically. This is what a boozer loves to hear because he wants nothing more than to have his cake and eat it too. Thank God that so far I haven't had any severe side effects. I lost count of how many times I went on the wagon and wound up drinking again. Seven years ago I passed out at the top of the stairs and landed at the bottom w/out even putting my arms out to break my fall, so, yeah, I got daily migraines, & although not 100% perfectly the topomax has helped me with that too. M 54 30 days
10/20/2004
 1  Epilepsy Depression, near suicidal. Tingling in hands and feet. Anger. Rage. Unable to concentrate. Didn't stop the seizures. F 47 2 months
10/19/2004
 5  Mood Stablizer and Weight Loss Tingling in the hands, Some slight memory loss in the first few weeks, but it went away. Lost 45lbs in the first three months, taking 175mg/day. Was much better than Zoloft, Effexor or Paxil, Didn't have the side effects of nausia and diarea Like the other medications. M 31 2 years
10/14/2004
 4  migraines HAIR LOSS! tingling, loss of appetite, memory problems, sleepiness, eye pain, leg pain, hot flushes, constipation, nausea, rosacea Helps migraines except for menstrual ones. Also eliminates tension headaches. I have to keep increasing every few months, I think. All side effects are worth it! F 44 8 months
10/13/2004
 3  Migraine Tingling in hands and feet, Sodas tasted awful as well as any sweets. Felt spacey and speech has been affected. Have loss of words and short term memory. Have lost weight and hair. Very expensive but no headaches! F 34 7 days
10/11/2004
 1  Seizures Horrible depression, anger, tingling fingers and toes. Didn't stop the seizures, didn't even decrease the number. F 47
10/9/2004
 5  seizure control hair loss, weight loss, sleep loss, moodiness After losing 35 pounds (I'm 5'2, that's a lot of weight for a small girl) and thinking this was a miracle drug, my hair began falling out and I couldn't sleep through the night. If my day became overly stressful I felt insane. AND I was only on 25 mg of Topamax a day. I'm not even on this drug to keep from having seizures, I'm on it for maintanence...thus the reason for such a low dosage. Now I'm afraid if I go off it I'll gain the weight back and to be honest, I just don't know what it feels like be normal anymore. But, I keep losing weight, never have an appetite and am worried that all of my hair will fall out. I feel great other than the fact that I can't sleep half the time. I'm motivated and alert, but when I'm high, I'm really high and when I'm low, I'm so low I think there's no coming back up. F 25 1 years
10/5/2004
 5  mood stabilization I know my 'side effects' are what others may be RX'd for, but FYI... It suppresses my appetite (which is FINE with me) and I haven't experienced a migraine since I've taken it, which -- apparently because I am peri-menopausal -- was beginning to be a monthly occurrence. I assumed that my mental fuzziness and occasional slurred speech was a function of aging and 15 years of hard drinking, but I now realize that the increase in the last year may have been due to the Topamax. F 50 1.5 years
10/5/2004
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 5  Depression & Weight Loss Cannot drink carbonated soft drinks. They taste awful. All I can really drink is water. Nothing else really tastes right. Dry mouth. For the first couple of weeks I felt kind of spaced out all of the time. This did go away. It has decreased my appetite. I am currently taking 50mg of Topamax in the afternoon and 50mg at bedtime. I am also on 75mg of Effexor per day. F 29 1 months
10/4/2004

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