ahalo Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Who has been on topamax? Good and bad can you put it out there? Im having some unexpected anxiety over this med - for headaches - and am hoping knowing what I'm getting into possibly will help aleviate the anxiety. Generally knowing what to expect even if it could be bad does help my anxiety. All comments appreciated ps This is what my dr recd for me with pdocs input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llama44 Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I am on 200mg of topamax to control weight and for mood stabilization. It does seem to help me some. At first I got some tingly feelings in my fingers and feet. But that went away in like a week or so. I didn't get the "stupids" or "dopamax" feeling like tons of people complain about. Overall it's been a good med for me. Especially since I've re-started Zyprexa. It's alleviated some of the weight gain anxiety I've had. I don't get headaches either. I hope it works well for you too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 I can't use it. I used Zonegran, which has a Topomax metabolite, and it damaged my kidneys. Again, this is Zonegran, but I also had the stupids, and a lot of constipation and gut discomfort. I am envious of the people it works for, because it really does seem to help people a LOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 This is my next med to try, if i end up having to take statins. I've always avoided it as it really is a 3rd line mood stabilizer. But you aren't taking it for that. I did try zonogran which gave me instant dementia. shortest med trial ever, sigh. And I usually do NOT get the stupids from any AC, ever. I was like, "I will conquer zonegran!" so not the case. That being said, I agree with going very slowly as you titrate the dose to mitigate side effects and to find the dose that works for you. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nin Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I am on Topomax (generic) for the 4th time for mood stabilization, bulimia/binge eating, ADHD. It took a couple of weeks to kick in but I do feel better. I do also forget words, names, people... it's very frustrating because I had avery good memory and when I went off this or a few months, my memory didn't come back. It's almost like it caused alzheimers. But I would rather be spacey than the crazy craving monster of obsession I often am... so I am spacey. The downside is the suicidal ideation and creepy thoughts. I have to have a not-super-high dose. Oh, and my hair falls out. But there's nothing like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearhead Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 My pdoc gave me Topamax in the hopes it would work as a mood stabilizer and help with my migraines. Nada on the mood front: no help at all. But it helped my migraines from the start, and so I put up with the side effects, which were awful for the first two months. At first, my pdoc wanted me to take 50 mgs at bedtime and another 25 mgs at lunchtime. That proved impossible because that 25 mg lunchtime dose ruined my afternoon. It turned me into an idiot, a spaced-out useless zombie. The worst part was the GI issues. My stomach hurt constantly for two straight months. I sure did lose weight. I was nauseated every second and I couldn't eat more than a few bites of whatever was on my plate. I spent a lot of time feeling as if I had motion sickness. I drank a lot of ginger ale, which helped some. I don't remember things tasting funny, but I gather the main culprits in that arena are soda pop and beer, neither of which I drink: soda not ever, and beer so rarely it would've been a long time before I noticed. I will say that I used to like Blue Moon and now I wouldn't drink it if you put a gun to my head. But I digress. After two months, the GI issues just went away on their own. I got word-related stupids in a big way from the first and I became very clumsy. The word problem got better with time and mostly only showed up when I was trying to type. Mostly. The clumsiness did not improve until I started Lamictal, which cleared it up from the very first, from 25 mgs a day. Sounds charming, I hear you thinking. But here's the thing: I don't get migraines anymore. Maybe once or twice a year. That's down from a peak of four or five a month. So it looks to me like Topamax and I are going to be together for a long time, and I'm just going to be Spell Check dependent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostgirl Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I tried topamax, however I never made it to the "optimal" dose my pdoc talked about. I stopped seeing pdoc so there went that. I totally agree with everyone who told you to increase your dose slowly. I didn't and got a raging case of the stupids. Never had tummy troubles on it, soda tasted like ass and gave me serious heartburn. But once I cut the soda out everything was good on that front. I actually am thinking about asking for it again since it didn't get a fair shake on the mood end and it helped tremendously for my daily and almost daily headaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anodyne Oblivion Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I've heard good things, but unfortunately, it didn't work for me (for migraines/mood). I had total flattening of emotions, which, according to the prescribing doctor, was definitely not one of the listed side effects. Might of been due to different meds interacting with the Topamax in my brain, or I might just be "special". It wouldn't be the first time... If the FoA hadn't happened, my only complaint would've been feeling dumb. Bets of luck. Hope it works for you!! Migraines are the pits. I'm scheduled for botox in 2 weeks myself....... That reminds me...*searches migraine forum for botox* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Topamax, first off, is an AC. It has also been shown to be good with migraines. It has shown some promise with disorders such as bulimia and binge eating, for reasons that I can't quite recal (hey, don't blame me, I'm taking topamax!) The particular reason topamax doesn't always work well as a mood stabilizer is that it is geared towards a particular part of the brain (not particularly backing up with studies here). It works best on people, I guess, having had discussions over the years, with left temporal lobe issues--basically, like me, if you really want to kick ass all the time, it quiets that down a lot. Sure works with me. Has also cut my drinking down by about 75% and my intelligencer somewhat (though when starting I did forget my name at one point, where I lived, where I parked my car at WalMart...) I was worried enough about this med, my first med, to research, which led me to this board's precursor, but hell, I needed something. Anyways, I started at 50 mg and jumped up by that every week to 200 mg and then up to 400 mg sometime later. The other two times I had to restart I did the same thing. Sure those were tough but they passed. Slower titration does allevite se's. Better for those who have a life, unlike me, who had no job at the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahalo Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Im titrating up slowly and currently on 45 mg day. When i went up to 30mg notice numbing in my face. This went away after a week and did not come back when i went up to 45. Tonight i go up to 60. So far thats my only side effect. Lucky to this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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