TOPAMAX - DOPAMAX
This medication DID eventually help with the miagrains, and I lost about 20lbs. BUT I started loosing congnitive skills. I lost my ability to process thoughts, complete sentences, spell simple words and was even being lost in the place I lived for 35 years. These conditions continued to worsen. It was very scarey. My mind was so cloudy all the time. The Dr. thought I was possibilily having a break down due to stress. I was put in a crisis hospital for mental evaluation. At this same time I had been battling continual Uninary Tract Infections. The Dr. there immediately took me off of this drug and almost immediately the symptoms started going awayl! I was told this is a VERY common side effect and eventually I would probably have had kidney stones also. It was a HORRIBLE experience! Yes, I have a fear of what's going to happen if and when the mairgrains re-appear, I hope there's another drug that can help because I was non-functioning on this one!

I have taken Topamax since I was 12, I am now 20. I have been through panic attacks, seizures, and etc, but my seizures were never under control until I had brain surgery for it. My stomach had always given me trouble, I could always feel a seizure coming on before I had one. It seemed that my food would never digest no matter what, every time I would eat I would get pains and right after feel like a seizure was coming on. It would always come from my stomach, I thought since I had been on medication since I was 8 years old that there could of been something wrong with my liver or gall bladder. Your liver is what helps your gall bladder and your gall bladder is what produces bile that helps you break down food so that was the first thing I thought of. But when I went to get an ultrasound done there was nothing wrong with either one of them, there was just something irritating my stomach. So it had to of been something I was eating that was causing problems. So I got on the internet and started looking up some things, I ran across celiac disease and I had every side effect. So I went on a gluten free diet, I haven't eaten anything with gluten for a year now and my stomach is doing so much better. Before I couldn't hardly do anything and felt so horrible, I can jump up and down I feel so much better. I am even getting off of one of my medicines and doing just fine, it has been two months now since I have been off carbemazepine and I have not had one seizure yet. A year ago before I went on the diet I tried to see if I could go without it and it wasn't two days before I had a seizure, there is such a dramatic change. You wouldn't think it would be in something you're eating everyday but that changed everything. The doctors didn't ever seem to want to help, I would get irritation ever time I would eat something and it would cause gas. All the doctor would do is write me a prescription for gas-x and send me on my way. All doctors do any more is pull out that damn prescription pad to make sure you get your prescription, people are getting too dependent on drugs. Do you think that Indians had them when they got sick, they found ways to help themselves without having to take them all. If you get a headache why not go get a massage, headaches are mainly caused from tension in your neck muscle called the sternocleidomastoid. It can cause headaches when it is tight because it is over the carotid artery which is the blood flow to the brain. So little things like that you don't need to take drugs just get a massage, or stretch because relieving tension can help a lot of things. People don't realize that you don't need to go to the doctor for everything. There is no telling what the United States would turn into if we had Socialized Medicine. My father lives in a nursing home and they have him on so many medications that is so unnecessary it is ridiculous. He has been on them for so long that if he gets off of them his body could shut down because they are immune to them and need them now. But they keep people so drugged up that it is just sad, just imagine how the country would be if the government was controlling our health care. Our rights are stripped enough as it is so just imagine the government in there taking over. But I think people should think twice before they start taking drugs because there is a side effect to all of them that causes serious problems. I thought I had a urinary tract infection because I have trouble going to the bathroom all the time and had swollen lymph nodes. But I started taking vinegar water and baking soda every morning, along with drinking cranberry juice everyday for a month, since then my lymph nodes and infection have gone down tremendously. So I would try to find a way to help yourself without having to go to the doctor to have them write you out a drug. That is all they seem to know how to do, some doctors seem to care, but others you wouldn't think so seeming as they just write you a prescription and send you on your way. I remember being 10 years old telling the doctor that my stomach was hurting and him (Dr Ronald Schlabach from Little Rock, Ar) telling me that it was all in my head. I had always had trouble with being angry and had attitude problems because every time my stomach would start hurting I would just get in a bad mood. All the doctor ever did for me was diagnose me as being bipolar, but ever since I have changed my diet I am better then ever and it wasn't those damn doctors who helped me. I think the only doctor who ever really seemed like she cared was Dr. Margaret Tremwell, she actually listens to her patients and won't make you believe it is all in your head. My whole life I believed that my stomach problems were normal, I was so young hearing the doctor telling me that I thought it was normal to feel that way. Now I haven't had a seizure in over a year and am working slowly on my intestines healing so that I can eventually eat dairy products again. Because when you have Celiac Disease it can eat away the lining of your intestines causing you to have problems breaking down dairy. So it will be a while before I will be healed and can eat it again. But it is getting better every day, and as long as I watch what I eat then I'll be doing just fine. But I would rather live without those drugs and doctors any day.

sincerely,
Amanda Henson

I have been getting severe migraines since I was 8 most days of the week. Yes, 4 or 5 days a week. With topamax the frequency and severity has reduced to 1 or 2 managable headaches per week. This is life altering for me. Now, I have been on Topamax for nearly 2 years and you don't get something for nothing. It took me nearly 4 months to adjust to the side effects(very difficult adjustment!)-weight loss, stomach pain, insomnia, stuttering, hypoglycemia, tingling, the list goes on. I am on 75mg per day (50mg-morning and 25 at night). I was taking only 50mg with a small piece of amitryptyline but I developed an irregular heart beat so I stopped (not sure if it was the meds). Nearly two years in and most of the side effects have gone away except one and that is memory retention and word finding. I sometimes have difficulty remembering some of the most vivid memories that happened in my recent past. I also have difficulty putting new words together and articulating myself. This sucks because I am a graduate student and people do not understand or know about what I am going through. I have tried going off topamax but the migraines immediately return. So for you migraine sufferers out there, you need to decide, pain free life vs the chance that your brain may not always work the same as it used to. Don't get me wrong, I am no Jack Nicholson in one flew over the coo coo's nest, I just have to work 10X harder and really have to plan out what I am going to say during oral presentations or else it will just be a bunch of gobbly goop.

I was prescribed Topamax as a Preventive Migraine Control. 100 Mg per day, twice daily. After taking this for a month, I became confused (mentally), couldn't find the words to say in my mind, panic attacks were increased by ten fold, unable to write sentences correctly, i.e Numbers were all backwards. Irritable, Weight Loss, Mental Confusion, Depressed. Although the Migraines did diminish, I was left a shell of my former self. I will not take Topamax ever again. The side effects to Liver and Kidneys are also very significant.

topamax is great for head aches and weight loss i started out 50 mg for one week then 100 mg for one month then 150 mg for 2 months ive lost 35 lbs greeeeat !!!!i needed it i am 5"6 and was @ 164 lbs now 5"6 @ 130 i feel great eating rite feel better

I was on Topamax for 5 months to lose weight.I did lose weight of 30# and also had a heart attack,got severe anemia,blurred vision,severe migranes when I never had them before Topamax.

CHECK OUT THE BAD SIDE EFFECTS! I was given Topamax for migraines. I took it gradually as it is prescribed from late August 2004 til the first of November 2004. I have to say October 2004 was the worst month of my life! True...my migraines never appeared HOWEVER...my speech was impaired like my tongue was swollen at times, my cognitive functions impaired, my reaction time was slowed (I couldn't stop quick enough in my car twice!), My arms feel asleep all the time and I was miserable. My symptoms were so severe that I was suspected of having Multiple Sclerosis and sent to Sheperd Spinal Hospital in Atlanta to see an MS specialist. It scared the hell out of my husband and me. The specialist their, Dr Ben Thrower,(God Bless Him!) immediately started weening me off Topamax. Within three days I was getting much better. I don't have MS. He suggested taking Naproxen the week before your period to ease the migraines and it worked for me! I know there are those who swear by Topamax and I'm not bashing the drug...in fact I'm happy if it works for you. Just know that it is not for everyone and you should pay attention to the side effects I described.

At first this drug did help me greatly with migraines and vertigo. I didn't lose weight but developed terrible side effects over the two years I was on the drug which almost killed me. First, my mental functions became impaired: short term memory loss, word finding difficulties, stuttering. Second, I developed tremors. With an increase in Topamax the more my tremors increased. Finally, recurrent pnemonias. 4 pnemonias in 2 years. The last pnemonia put me in the hospital for 10 days and I almost died. Two local doctors and all the doctors at Mayo Clinic & Hospital told me these symptoms were a result of Topamax. It can be a good drug, but better as a short term drug. Beware!

I have been taking Topamax for about 10 months. It was intended for my headaches and seizures. Since I started it, I have lost 26 lbs, I had alot of tingling in my feet and hands, memory loss, and was unable to "get the right words out." My Neurologist said that Topamax was also known as "Dopamax" because these side effects are common. My dosages have gone from as little as 75 mgs to 200 mgs. I'm currently at 150mgs. I think that once you hit the right mg, you'll be fine.

You might think I'm crazy for not rating this a 5, since I just started taking it 6 days ago and I've already lost 8 pounds. Considering that I started out at 139 anyway, that's pretty good. However, the reason I've lost so much is the thought of food grosses me out. I'm nauseated all the time. I can't read, which I used to love doing, because I can't focus on the words on the page. It's hard for me to hold a conversation. I'm always tired. I find myself wondering, How did I get here? Where am I? What am I doing? Why are my windshield wipers on? Stuff like that. I feel like a stupid zombie, and I move slower than molasses. I would rather be fat, I think.

I take topamax as a mood stabilizer, for bipolar disorder, and it's doing a great job. While it helped me with weight loss at first, that side effect tapered off after a bit. I take 400 mgs a day. Also at first, a major side effect was short term memory loss, which thankfully also went away.

Topamax is exactly what I needed. October of 2002, I started at 50mg/day now I'm up to 400mg/day and I've lost 99lbs. and still counting.I have a thyroid disease that was very hard to get under control. once I found the right doctor I found a "miracle". Topamax has been an answer to my prayers!

Topamax really isn't all that it's cracked up to be....at least not for me. I am up to 600mg/day now and haven't lost a pound. I am kind of depressed about this, but isn't this medication supposed to keep me from feeling this way? I have done some reasearch about this medication and have read about the results of other people and they were amazing....rapid weight loss and immediate mood alteration. This sounds like the miracle drug that all depressed people are waiting for (including myself). Maybe it has something to do with my metabolism or my body chemistry, who knows...all I know is that I have wasted a lot of time and spent a lot of money on a drug that hasn't done a cotten picken thing for me. <sniff> The only thing it hasn't done is killed me.