Topamax (topiramate) makes me smell funny?

[Guest Shaken Not Stirred]

Hi all,

I've got epilepsy and little more than 2 months ago added Topamax to my current combo of 275mg Lamictal and 20mg Clobazam (mild benzodiazepene). I'm up to 125mg now, target dose is 200mg. I've noticed the strangest thing lately though - sometime in the last 2 weeks my body odour's changed? I think my sweat (and urine) have started to smell almost a little bit sweet? It's not a huge change, and no one else has said anything, but I'm sure of it. It's definitely disconcerting, though I feel fine.

Haven't changed my diet lately at all (vegetarian for +10 years). I have lost some weight and had some of the commoner side effects for topamax (drowsiness, tingling in hands, feet & lower lip, muscle pain in neck & shoulders).

Probably sounds like a weird thing to be worrying so much over but I would appreciate any advice.

[Guest FrannyNZooey]

Ok shaken this is going to sound even weider, but after being on Topomax for while I noticed, couple weeks, the light discharge water fluid right before period, had that sugary sweet odor.

So, chemistry does change, and guess in all different ways, places for all of us.

Aly

[Libby]

Mosquitoes never bite me, but since I've been taking Seroquel, I attract mosquitoes, and they bite me like crazy! I figure my skin must smell different. Very annoying!!!!

[wifezilla]

When my husband is over-the-top manic, his scent changes. None of his meds seems to make a difference, but BOY can I tell when he is getting wacky. So, your comment doesn't surprise me one bit. Very weird.

[Guest FrannyNZooey]

Mosquitoes never bite me, but since I've been taking Seroquel, I attract mosquitoes, and they bite me like crazy! I figure my skin must smell different. Very annoying!!!!

Libby I so get bitten by mosquitoes and ouch it is annoying, so swollen and itchy for weeks!

Aly

[crazynotstupid]

I'm going to hazard a guess--it may be something to do with your kidneys, as Topamax gets processed through them.

My basis for this is that, as a diabetic, I occasionally have a higher blood sugar than I ought to. When it's been high for long enough, my body starts to get rid of the sugar any way it can--basically, it tries to pump it out of my body through the kidneys. It ends up either in the urine or being sweated out. Actually what is pumped out is ketones. And, believe you me, these smell bad.

So my rough guess is that possibly the topamax is either A: causing some sort of chemical change and the results of this change come out through urine and sweat (and I don't mean sweating buckets; hell, maybe even not sweating at all, but just having it sit there in the sweat glands) or B: because you need to drink lots of water to wash out the Topamax, you may not be drinking enough, and some other chemical is backing up and getting excreted through the sweat and urine.

I wish I could have worded that all better, but anyway that's what I see as a couple of *possible* explanations. ZHowever, I might just be talking out my ass, and maybe you're just a really sweet person. (Damn... should I have put a "bad pun" trigger in front of that? )

[Guest ShakenNotStirred]

Yeah, I came across ketoacidosis when I did a Google search on my symptoms. But I'm not diabetic, and it's been 2 weeks and I haven't gone into a coma yet so I don't think that's it. I've quite a sensitive nose so for instance I notice my "coffee sweat" in the early morning. It's probably not a pronounced odour and it's not really unpleasant - it's a bit like I'm sweating Gatorade (not one of the fruity ones).

Good advice on drinking more water, I'm very bad with that. I'll get in the habit of filling up my water bottle at the beginning of the day and at lunch and making sure to drink it up.

I have lost a lot of weight pretty quickly in the year since changing meds - first to Lamictal from Tegretol, now again since adding Topamax (I posted on the side effects board) - don't know if that could be tough on your kidneys? My neuro doesn't seem concerned.

[Guest ShakenNotStirred]

Just wanted to add - thanks guys for hearing me out and for your advice. My neuro's almost impossible to get a hold of between appointments (don't see him until July). His receptionist tells me to make an appt with my GP, she faxes his office and he never answers her. Asshole.