Anyone have any experience of Topamax as a mood stabiliser for Bipolar Disorder?

Question

I am thinking about asking my specialist to prescribe me Topamax as a mood stabiliser, does anyone have any experience of taking this drug as a mood stabiliser, did it work and did you have any side effects?

I am thinking about asking my specialist to prescribe me Topamax as a mood stabiliser for my bipolar disorder. Does anyone have any experience of taking this drug as a mood stabiliser, did it work and did you have any side effects?

Answer 1

Hi.

I took topomax with lithium in order to help decrease my appetite and hopefully help conteract the effects of weight gain from the lithium.

It did not help with my weight gain or my hunger.

I have also read that it is not as good as a mood stabilizer and should not be used alone. It is almost always prescribed with another mood stabilizer like lithium, lamictal, or depakote. It is just not as strong.

Answer 2

Hello Muddyblackcat, my name is Melissa and I have been taking Topamax since a week before this past Christmas. I love the way it makes me feel. I am more happier. I lost 16 pounds and I don't even exercise. The only thing is, it does make you feel a little high. Also, it makes you feel a little stupid. Like, it is hard for me to type this note to you. I keep hitting the back space. I usually don't do that. And also, If you don't eat something small with it, you will throw up. If you are very thin and don't want to loose weight. I highly suggest you don't take this medicine. It will take your appetite away. The first week you will feel drowsy, but that is because your body is just trying to get adjusted. I take Topamax 150 mg, Lithium 900 mg, Wellbutrin SR 300 mg, Celexa 40mg. Good Luck.

Answer 3

I am waiting for a official diagnoses, but I take 200 mg of tomapax and it has helped me with my moods. The side effects were pretty bad the first week or two, but my doctor was dumb and started me at full dose which was wrong. It did decrease my hunger a lot, almost too much. Some people call topamax "dope-a-max." The cognitive slowdown goes away the longer you are on the drug. Here is a website that may help you better.

Answer 4

My doctor started me on Topamax as sort of an "aid" to the Lamictal that I currently take to treat my bipolar 2. She thought the Topamax would help with my depression and also help me lose weight. I started out at a low dose (25mg) and was told that I could take 2 pills (50mg) to adjust as needed. So the first NIGHT that I took this, I started having racing thoughts as I was trying to go to sleep. Odd, I thought, as I hadn't had that in a while. The second night it got worse. I figured it was the Topamax, but decided to wait it out. Then I started to get really agitated and irritable during the day (like I get when I go into a hypomanic phase) and couldn't fall asleep at night due to the constant racing thoughts. I tried to bear with it, hoping I would adjust. After a week of taking it, I started having dizzy spells. Not the kind where you stand up too fast and get the rush and everything sort of whooshes around for a second. No. I got the kind where, as I'm laying in bed and I'd move my head slightly, the whole world would spin dramatically for at least 10 seconds. Okay, so I was getting bad vertigo at night (I'd wake up from it even!) and was hypomanic during the day. My husband supported with me as it wasn't easy adjusting to the Lamictal either (although I didn't have any of these symptoms with the Lamictal). I continued to get worse. After 3 weeks I felt like I was going crazy all the time. I was impulsive, irrational, irritable, anxious, angry and felt like I wanted to crawl out of my skin whenever I was awake. At night, I was plagued by the vertigo (odd that it didn't really occur during the day though). After a month of these symptoms with no sign of getting better, I decided to stop taking the medication (and just so you know, I NEVER took anything above 25mg). TWO DAYS after stopping the medication I felt normal again! My mood stabilized that the vertigo stopped completely. I don't know why I had such a bad reaction to it, but it certainly wasn't for me!

Answer 5

Hi there, I'm currently taking both medications. The lamictal is a great mood stabilizer-for me with no side effects-the abilify is to control some break through mania that occasionally pops up. I do have some side effects from the abilify-headache and weight gain. Compared with the anger and anxiety I get from a manic attack I guess it's worth it.

Answer 6

I took this and many drugs for what my doctor thought was "bipolar disorder" and it turned out i just had a bit of a breakdown due to extreme stress, now i am fine, get a second opinion on your diagnosis before you let a doctor use you for a drug experiment.

Answer 7

Topomax can have some nasty side effects, look it up on webmd. If your specialist thinks the benefits outweigh the risks, they may prescribe it - it also depends on what other meds you're taking, there can be interactions.