Does anyone take Topamax? If so.....?

Question

my doc prescribed Topamax to help get the weight off that I put on from all of my other depression meds. I have read conflicting articles about possible side effects...do you have any experiences, bad or good with Topamax for weight loss?

Answer 1

Topamax's Cons: If you don't have a temporal lobe dysfunction or problems with other parts of your brain that Topamax hits, or you're at the wrong dosage, it will make you dumber than a box of rocks. The kidney stones aren't much fun. Because it was newly approved for migraines and can work at a low dosage without all the sucky side effects of Depakote (Who cares if you're stupid as long as you're not fat and don't need blood work?) the pharmaceutical reps are pressuring the doctors to prescribe it to anyone and everyone with bad head pain, even if it's not appropriate. New Approval Syndrome can thus screw people by prescribing them the wrong drug for their migraines. Worse yet when they may not even have migraines, and perhaps have trigeminal neuralgia, for which Tegretol is more appropriate.



Topamax's Typical Side Effects: The usual for anticonvulsants. A pins & needles effect that usually goes away after no more than a week or two. Weight loss and appetite suppression - but please note that not everyone gets this side effect. Sodas and other carbonated beverages will utterly taste like ***, so you may as well give them up now if you're considering Topamax. Memory loss, aphasia (weird words coming out in place of what you meant to say or write), word find problems (not being able to recall the names of people, things or concepts), and a general cognitive impairment that has earned this drug the nicknames "Stupamax" and "Dopamax." As Topamax typically makes you really sleepy and has a long enough half-life, you can usually get away with taking it all at bedtime.

For tips on how to cope with these side effects, please see our side effects page.
These aren't all the side effects possible, just the most popular ones.

Topamax's Not So Common Side Effects: Dry and/or itchy eyes along with assorted vision problems. Topamax also has a warning for rare forms of myopia and glaucoma, so if you get any sort of visual weirdness, have your eyes checked immediately! Fortunately discontinuing Topamax usually takes care of these issues, but you can't let your doctor just blow it off as an eye thing. You may find yourself not able to drink coffee any more, so be prepared to quit the bean. Because it does hit the temporal lobes so hard you can get a zombification effect that is typically experienced only with antipsychotics. Unlike the antipsychotics it's not such a sure thing it will go away in a matter of a couple of weeks. And since the olfactory bulb is wedged in that neighborhood, food in general, and not just carbonated beverages, may not taste quite the same. If you were experiencing frequent, intense déjà vu or jamais vu you might experience the other as the damaged temporal lobe starts working correctly.
These may or may not happen to you don't, so don't be surprised one way or the other.



Topamax's Freaky Rare Side Effects: Tongue paralysis. Combine that with not being able to get the right words out and you're all set to apply for the position of village idiot. There have also been a couple of men who started lactating after taking Topamax.
You aren't going to get these. I promise.

Interesting Stuff Your Doctor Probably Won't Tell You: Topamax is the worst when it comes to birth control pills. If you're taking The Pill for any reason at all and you start Topamax you need to contact your OB-GYN immediately, as you may need a new prescription. It depends on the type and strength of oral contraceptive you're taking. It's all spelled out in the PI sheet. What's not in the PI sheets of either Topamax or various oral contraceptives is that combining the two often produces wacky hormonal effects that will make you feel like you're a teenager again. The most common of which is acute acne.


Topamax may encourage you to stop smoking. Maybe not as well as Zyban (bupropion), but it certainly made me lose my taste for cigars, for about two years at any rate. I'm now a sometimes daily pipe smoker. But, hey, it was something. I smoke one bowl of pipe tobacco a day and every once in a great while have a cigar, so it certainly moderated my tobacco use. I will occasionally stop smoking, and when I do it's no big deal. I quit and I just don't care one way or the other.

Answer 2

I have never heard of Topamax being prescribed for weight loss. Topamax is a seizure medication. I am taking it for severe chronic migraines, but my EEG/EKG patterns indicate that I have seizue issues. Topamax is a great medication for my headaches and other problems, but I have been extremely thin my whole life and the Topamax is making me look sickly. Also, when I still had periods, one of the side effects for women is that Topamax makes you BLEED like a stuck pig. I surgically got rid of mine last year, so I don't have that problem any more, but before that my periods went on for weeks and weeks.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I am on topomax I have not heard anything about it making you loose weight. I sure haven't LOL So good luck and if anything try iced tea. its a naturan diuretic which helps you loose water weight.