Anyone tried Topamax?

[Dahlia]

I've been taking Lithium for my Bipolar II for about four months now. I'm happy to say that I feel really good. I was very hesitant to start taking medication, but I am glad I finally decided to. I only found the guts to start the Lithium through the outpouring of input, advice, and support I found here on crazyboards.org. With that being said, I am here again for some input and advice. While I feel stable and more well-adjusted than probably I've ever felt before on the Lithium, I have gained a considerable amount of weight. As you can imagine, gaining this weight has been quite upsetting for me. I wasn't thin to begin with, but I'd say I've put on between 15 - 20 pounds in just the past 3 months or so! Yikes, and it seems like it might be continuing.

I have spoken to my psychiatrist about it and he is very understanding. He has suggested that perhaps I try taking Topamax instead. It's a mood stabilizer also prescribed for Bipolar, but it's known to have weight LOSS as a side effect. At first, I didn't really consider it much since I feel so good and stable on Lithium. Now, that my pants are getting tighter and I can't fit into some of my clothes, I'm starting to think more about Topamax.

So, have any of you taken Topamax before? If so, what was your experience with it like?

[daisy]

I honestly didn't lose a pound on Topamax. I did have some intense cognitive effects, though.

[Velvet Elvis]

Topamax doesn't have a great reputation as a primary mood stabilizer for most people. There are some people for whom it is a really good drug but they are kinda rare. I take it and it helps with a lot of stuff, anxiety, tics, impulse control, some OCD, but not really mood.

[crazydiamond]

Is lithium the first drug you've tried? If so, how about lamictal? It's my pdoc's first choice because it is weight-neutral. And her second choice is trileptal, at least for me (also BP II). Topamax is waaaay down her list, only because she thinks it works best when combined with another mood stabilizer, not really by itself.

I can say that while I've never tried Topamax myself, I've heard it can produce similar effects to Depakote. I'm on Depakote now and can tell you the cognitive deficits are real. I lose my train of thought all the time, words are always on the tip of my tongue, and overall I just think slower.

[Velvet Elvis]

Based on what we've heard reported here about Topamax side effects, they are really varied. One person might have really bad side effect at 25 milligrams and another no side effects at 600 mgs. I'm on 200 and other than some word finding problems I've had virtually no side effects.

[gizmo]

I take 300 mg of topamax (generic) as a migraine preventative. I have issues finding lost words (I like to point at stuff and 15 seconds later remember the word) and my short term memory is in the crapper. Well, my long term memory isn't so hot either.

HOWEVER, the doctors are undecided if the memory issues (rather severe, I lose whole evenings) is the meds, or just the cumulative effect of having so many untreated manic episodes... kindling.

For a rare person, topamax works as a mood stabilizer, but most of the time that's not what it's made for. And it has just too many side effects to take in the off chance you might lose weight (which is a highly overrated possible side effect). I consider it a migraine preventative alone.

[Marla Singer]

I have been taking 300mg Topamax for a few years now as an adjunct med to other mood stabilizers like Lamictal and ap's, etc. I didn't notice horrible cognitive side effects (I pawned them off on the adhd), and as soon as I was dx'd ADHD and rx'd a stimulant my cognitive was fairly back on track. I have gained and lost weight while *on* Topamax, as I gained 40lbs in 2 months on Lithium, and prior to that had weighed less than 100lbs. When I don't take Topamax I appear to become a manic villiage idiot. Good luck on your journey with it. It's an important part of my cocktail.

[nalgas]

As has already been mentioned, Topamax can be very hit or miss. It works great for some people and is terrible for others, especially as a mood stabilizer. It does very well for mood for some people, but for many more it's not a ton of use. Also, only something like 10% of people lose a significant amount of weight on it. You're unlikely to gain much on it, but you won't necessarily lose any, either, and that's not a very good reason to choose a med in the first place when it can have so many other side effects and there are a lot of other options that are more likely to work, too.

[Stickler]

I seem to be doubly lucky...helping mood, weight loss. The weight loss was in progress, but seems to have accelerated a bit. Mood effects seem to be...not as good as when med was initiated, but still good.

And I was having migraines semi-regularly and was told not to take 800 milligrams of Ibuprofen, or Excedrin Migraine, or anything but Tylenol, which is like waving a dead chicken at the migraine.

[fluffybirdie]

I'm not bipolar but depressive with a great deal of anxiety and agitation, so I was put on it as a mood stabilizer and I love it! It is by far the best kind of stabilizing and calming type drug I've been on. I'm an unusual case because I can't tolerate SSRI's so we had to get creative with the whole depression/anxiety thing. But my mood feels very even. It takes a lot to shake me up. And if something does, I can contain it and think through it, rather than act afool. I realize that I am in the vast minority on this. I read all the time for most it does nothing. And most have side effects like cognitive dulling, etc. I'm not bothered by any side effects at all but I take a low dose (50 mgs, 2x day). I did lose my appetite at first when I started with it and dropped a couple of pounds, but my appetite came back and my weight stabilized. I wasn't trying to lose any though.

I will add that this was not my first stab at a stabilizer (tried Lamictal first with bad side effects), and I've been on a few things for anxiety before as well. I also still have another pill for occasion spikes in anxiety.

[sirwriter]

I started with Topomax prescribed by a neurologist when I was having tests in a sleep clinic. Having no success, but increasing dosage per the neurologist, I began feeling sort of out of things, like in a fog. (That's why it is called Dopomax). I began seeing a pdoc and was tested and finally diagnosed bi-polar. The pdoc was very cooperative and when I would read about different meds online, and people's experiences, side effects, etc, she would let me try them.

We discovered SSRIs did NOT work for me, and she was insistent upon finding a good mood stabilizer for me. Tried Lithium with no success. Tried Depokote, dopey again. sleepy, nauseous. Switched to Lamictal and after slowly increasing the dosage, it worked well for me! Then, after a little over a year, it just stopped working. We moved to Trileptal 5 years ago and it keeps me on a pretty even keel. I have no side effects from it. I take 1800 mgs daily. I no longer use any SSRIs, and use 450 mg of Wellbutrin XL for depression, along with 1mg Klonopin 3x daily which controls anxiety and panic attacks. In addition I take 60 mgs of Adderall XR per day, which helps me focus. Without it, my mind is on 25 topics at one time, and I get nothing done. I've been on this cocktail about 3 years now, and feel more "normal" than forever. I also take meds for high blood pressure, thyroid dysfunction,

From time to time, I try a new med for my pdoc, sort of as a guinea pig, lol, but this cocktail does the job for me. I will say this: I started with a low dose of Trileptal and it didn't appear to do much. It was only at the higher dosage levels that it kicked in and things leveled out. I have a friend who takes 2400 mgs per day to stabilize him. One thing I've learned in 8 years of trying to find the right cocktail: the meds don't work overnight, and sometimes require a while to build up in your body. Sometimes you have to increase the level you take (under your pdocs advise) until you know whether or not it works. I never make any kind of change without her approval. And last month she moved to California!! It will be really hard to find another like her.

Sirwriter