Generic Name: Topiramate
Brand Name: Topamax
Topamax Drug and Medication User Reviews
I have been on Topamax for bipolar disorder for about 3-4 years now and I love it. Originally I was taking 100 mg twice a day, my doctor upped it to three times a day though a couple months ago. The only side effects I really experience is the tingling in my feet and the speech issues, but I also have ADHD so my brain may just be trying to go faster than my mouth. My taste buds do change every so often though, but I'm not complaining because it helps me lose weight. Soda tastes like salt water, so that's both a positive and a negative, but mostly a positive. I can't really enjoy hot dogs or pizza rolls anymore because it hurts my stomach, but it's ok. I definitely recommend at least trying it, and if it doesn't work, maybe increase or lower the dose. It's been wonderful to me, and I thought all bipolar meds would only make me gain weight. Honestly Topamax has helped me be me again and I'm thankful for it.
I have had migraines since college (no aura, but severe nausea). I have taken this as a preventative, 100mg daily, for many years now. It is effective and drastically reduced the number of migraines I get. That said, I do experience some of the cognitive side effects -- feeling slower, forgetting words or names of things, trouble articulating sometimes -- which never used to happen. It certainly helps keep appetite down. If I could guarantee something else would work as well I would probably switch due to the cognitive impacts but always just accepted it since it is very effective.
My migraine with aura( zig zag vision) became worse. Three times more episodes than normal. Weight gain on 20 lbs. I felt out of it most of the time I took the drug.
Taken for migraine with aura. Made me get them more frequently and with greater intensity of aura.
Dangerous medication that was taken for a summary of things including headaches, weight stability & depression. Ended up developing severe night time panic attacks that led to insomnia that at its worse had me awake for 11 days with 20 minute gaps of passing out in between, didn’t know it was possible to not sleep that long until this ruined my brain chemistry. Developed severe psychosis and hallucinations that still occur if I don’t take sleeping medication as I no longer can fall asleep without some sort of medicinal aid and the more tired I am the more prone I am to a psychosis episode. I also nearly had a heart attack as I wasn’t informed how severe the danger (or at all) mixing it with my adhd medication would be and nearly was sent to hospital as I believed I was dying. Took multiple days of a high dose of sereqouel to remotely calm my heart beat and begin sleeping again.
I’ve been taking this for about 3 months now. It’s honestly been life changing. Rarely ever get a headache and not one migraine with an aura. Also I’ve lost about 20 pounds so far. No cognitive side effects. All I’ve gotten is that soda tastes bad (which is a win, I just want to drink water) and my hands and feet gets pins and needles. My doctor says that is if I haven’t eaten enough potassium so I eat a banana and it’s better. That has worn off in the past month too. I sleep better too. I take 100mg at night.
Well s***, I have to agree/admit with/to everyone else! Didn't realize how serious the side effects were until I began reading the reviews. I'm going cold turkey after taking it for 6 days. New to me, I was looking up for another reason. My headaches are gone which I've been grateful for. My symptoms have been medium and I don't want them to get worse.
Did nothing for headaches. The dosage I was told to take 25 mg pm and then week 2 am/pm and week 2 50 mg pm 5 mg am, week 4 50 mg am and pm By the time I got to week 3 I was suicidal PLEASE take precautions Far too many people have these side effects
Do not take this medicine no matter what your doctor says do not take it it will make you lose your mind it will make you crazy forgetful do not take it do not take it I saw it in myself and 2 other people do not take it
Worked great for weight loss. I lost 20lbs within 3 months and have been able to keep it off (1 year). However, I stopped taking because of the side effects. Medication made me depressed and not have joy in life. Didn’t realize it was the medication for a few weeks. Worked great at making me feel disgusted and physically sick when even thinking about fast food. Could not stomach the thought. However, because of that, i rarely eat fast food anymore! Most days, I started off drinking a protein shake and ate some fruit. I felt so full and never hungry ever. It was lucky if I ever ate. Medication also made carbonated beverages flat and tasteless (to the point where, 1 year later, I will not drink carbonated beverages). Plus, being a college student, it made my brain “fuzzy” and was hard to focus in class. For the classes i took during the time i took this medication, i still can’t remember clearly what i learned. It’s all a blur. Overall, great at weight loss, but watch out for symptoms like depression.
My migraines are gone. The cognitive effects are profound. I am an all A student who started failing tests in nursing school. I am experiencing word finding issues, slow processing, slow cognition, and impaired recall. I lose thoughts mid sentence. I feel like I’m high all day- numb and zombie like. The second o stop taking it the migraines return but I’m about to fail school so I have to stop this.
My body feels very weak, all I wanna do is sleep, I have been very depressed, my feet and hands are tingly, and my migraines are still there. I am going off this medicine immediately. It’s not worth it. All I want to do is sleep. Even simple chores make me feel like I am exhausted, the weakness is insane.
My wife takes this medication. But I am not happy with it. I wish she could stop it . It should be other medicine. I am tired to hear her talking and talking . She has all the side effects of this medicine. I just feel like run away from home
STAY AWAY FROM THIS "MEDICATION." IT WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE I suffer from constant migraines. Paired with PTSD and racing thought. This was what I thought would help that not worsen them and cause extreme overall NEW TRAUMA not only for myself, but for my loved ones surrounding me when I completely lost my mind. Everything was fine for the first month, but my fiance said he noticed changes in my mood then to. Fast forward to week 7-8 on 200mg and the EXTREME paranoia set in. I literally thought I was being stalked and would watch my front door camera all day and night. It got to the point of thinking my fiance was a secret agent sent to take over my mind and chip me for mind control then somehow get paid via a cashapp once done. I even found different Facebook pages and somehow linked them back to him to prove he was doing it? I ended up going to the er twice within two days. Once for a severe panic attack and feeling like my head was going to explode. Then my heart started getting hard in my chest. After coming home the schizophrenia episode just went on and on. I went screaming around to my neighbors completely embarrassing myself looking like a psycho. We didn't know at the time this was the med so I'm looking like a complete schizophrenic. Thinking my chest-heart-head were going to explode at any min and wanting them to validate it. It was terrifying. The police were at my place 4 times before finally taking me and having me admitted to a mental hospital on a EDO 72 hour hold. In my psychosis I called CPS and had them remove my daughter for her dad to come take so she could live with him. I didn't know what was going on or what would happen next and I completely lost it infront of her. I can only imagine what I was saying to her or on the phone with CPS infront of her. I had to wait at the police station until the cps worker came to pick her up and I thought the whole time my head would explode. Then after getting dropped off I went off on my fiance again and the police came for the final time. I spent three days in the Ward...I still feel out of it but back in my right mind enough to realize all the damage I had done. Then putting two and two together after coming here and seeing other's experiences. This drug completely ruined every aspect of my life. I had been having what I thought were PTSD flashbacks leading up until this huge blow up within the first 4-6 weeks of me taking it but I see now those were also crazy mental breakdowns due to this med. My fiance has never seen me this way in the entire time we've been together, and I've never been through anything like that. Then comes in Topomax. My life is in pieces and I've lost my daughter in this mental psychosis brought on by this drug from hell. Please please do not take it!
used for migraines, felt dizzy and my head felt like a water balloon, on the 3rd day my nose started going numb, felt like a hole in my face, very strange. I asked my HCP and was told that wasn't a side effect, but weaned off after several weeks, wasn't helping and strange symptoms. The numbness isn't coming and going anymore in my nose...never happened before and hasn't happened again after being completely off of it for 2 months.
I started this for several reasons 1) almost daily sinus headaches, 2) daily alcohol intake, 3) need for weight loss. This has been my miracle medication. I VERY RARELY have headaches anymore. Where I used to I have a headache every 2-3 days, I’m now down to about 1 per month. I also used to drink 2 beers/day; now I maybe have 2/month. I also was borderline obese and ended up loosing 50lbs in 6 months. Downsides: I have noticed myself having slower thinking and being more tired in the afternoons. Other than that,I highly recommend!!
Originally my pain management Dr gave me this medicine for hip pain. At first it was ok but I started getting forgetful and more recently started having very strange dreams. I made an appointment with her for her to help me get off this stuff immediately. I'd rather deal with the hip pain
WHAT ABOUT 1980'S USE FOR ONE TIME CURE FOR PLAQUE WHICH COULD LEAD TO STROKE? HMMM?
After taking this medication for some time for losing weight I notice I could not remember things. I would mean to say one word but yet said something different. Thought I would see something move but yet it didn't. Really thought something was wrong w/my head. After speaking to my doctor about this a couple of times I read up on all my medications and discovered that this particular drug could be causing the problems. I stopped taking it cold turkey. I was taking 100mg twice a day. Been a few months now and my memory is much better along w/talking. Not back the way before taking this drug but much better.
I was given Topomax about 2 months ago for recurring migraines; it did not keep my migraines away, and had side effects that were far worse than migraines themselves. It started with losing my appetite; I could go over a day without eating and not notice. Quickly following loss of appetite came the nausea; even thinking about food made me vomit. After that the psychological effects started, and for me, these side effects were debilitating. I become extremely anxious, paranoid, and depressed; I had panic attacks daily, and would cry for hours every night. The anxiety and depression got worse and worse the longer I was on Topomax, I wanted to end my life just to make the side effects stop. Next came the hallucinations; I would see things moving all the time and I would hear voices multiple times a day that made it impossible for me to focus, sleep, or do anything but sit in fear. I almost admitted myself into a psych ward because I legitimately thought I was losing my mind. I’m still not back to the way I was before Topomax; I fully regret ever taking it.