User Reviews for topiramate oral

I have been on Topamax for 22 years for Atypical absence seizures and it has worked great. I have experienced the pins and needles feeling for those 22 years and drinking Coke is awful as the medicine has made certain acidic drinks gross. I never had the crazy weight loss like some experience, although I do experience a lack of appetite. This medication does cause brain fog something crazy the longer you take it. I wish I knew what came next though....vision issues, kidney or liver issues? What other side effects will come up the longer I take it? Read More Read Less

Was put on it to help with weight loss started experiencing fog on the brain always tired. Had trouble breathing was angry and tingling in my feet and hands. Was not told about any side effects at all would not recommend this to anyone.

Worked well for my sound sensitivity disorder caused by brain injury, the only thing to help. But the side effects were too much to be worth it. Destroyed my mental health. Had extreme anxiety and paranoia episodes, mental breakdowns and crying fits for no reason. Could barely think, concentrate, or process information, felt like I lost IQ points. They call it "dope-amax" for a very good reason. My cognition and drive has not returned to normal. Yes, you will lose weight, but when your body gets used to it or you get off, you'll gain it all back and then some as your metabolism yo-yos back. Lost 10 lbs on the drug only to gain 20 back getting off it, and my metabolism slowed so much I can't lose a pound.Read More Read Less

Took for migraines. Did nothing. I have been off it for the better part of a decade, and STILL have problems with memory and word recall or whatever the term for that is...not ironically I might add

Works great, only side effects is dry mouth but that just makes me drink more water so win win right. My anxiety has decreased and so has my pain. So for me this has been a miracle drug

I was taking this for clomped partial seizure but also for migraines. NEVER AGAIN will I take this, in fact it’s in my list of allergies because after only a week my mood was as low as I’ve ever been, I then began to look at ways in which I could end my life. I’ve never been suicidal, ever, but was on topiramate. I was hospitalized so I could they could keep an eye on me until the drug effects had left my body and my mood recovered. The most scared I’ve ever been in my life! BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS DRUG! Read More Read Less

I have a lot of regrets in my life, but none even come close to the amount of regret I feel for ever taking topamax. If only I could turn back time.. When I started initially got the tingling sensation in hands and feet, but I was prepared for this. It is very annoying, don't get me wrong, but so are the headaches, so it was acceptable. When I upped the dosage I started getting very depressed. I'm prone to depression but this was nothing like I've ever experienced before. It seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone told me I wasn't myself and that my eyes were empty. I was just so deep down that I became selfish: I felt so bad that there was no room for the pain of others. I became very suicidal, every object I saw I just thought of a way I could kill myself with it. To deal with this I would use needles and knives to hurt myself. I started thinking I was related to the devil, when I don't even believe in the devil. A guy I have always loved asked me to be his girlfriend and I stupidly said yes, too weak to say I didn't want to because I didn't have the energy for it. I knew from the start we had to break up and because I felt so horrible it didn't even make me sad that I would lose him forever. Just before I broke up with him I cheated on him, something I would NEVER do but nothing mattered to me anymore. I didn't even necessarily want to I just didn't have the strength to prevent it from happening. I broke up with my boyfriend and that's when my family intervened because they were getting too worried. I stopped taking topamax and within like 3/4 days I finally felt like myself again. I started talking again to my, by then ex-boyfriend and we got back together. The cheating had dissappeared to the back of my mind but finally I felt so guilty that i had to tell him. He is so hurt and does not want to be with me anymore, the love of my life. Looking back at my period with topamax makes me cry because I can't understand how I could have been so different. I don't recognize myself when I look back in the things I've done and it's so scary. On top of that i am grieving the loss of my boyfriend who has been nothing but nice to me and I've hurt him because on topamax I just didn't care. Everything feels horrible. Please save yourself from all this pain and don't take topamax.Read More Read Less

I have been on this medication for 5 year's for migraines. I didn't have any of the side effects at all other then losing weight, which I welcomed. I started seeing a different Neurologist, and he took me off of them and put me on two new medications. I hated the way I felt being off of it, I was tired all the time, waking up with a headache every morning (just a headache not a migraine) and some weight gain, and just sleeping all day. I saw him back today and asked if he could put me back on it. I have chronic migraines now, and am on three preventives, and one for when I get them. I'm hoping I can get back to how I used to feel when I was on it.I hate that so many people have had such a hard time with it. I have a sister and my best friend has also been on it fro years with no problems. I don't want to ever be taking off my Topiramate. the best of luck to anyone starting it, hopefully you can have good results. I really think with all the new medicaitons he put me on plus the Toprimate again, I should finally start getting some relieve. Good luck to all the people that reads this! Read More Read Less

It definitely worked for my tension headaches but replaced the feeling of them with an empty dullness I couldn’t quite get past. Sweating lessened and lost weight but that slowed. Made anxiety’s paranoia, my depression, all worse and even a little suicidality at times. My headaches were 3 times a week so I’ll just take ibuprofen/tylenol from now on. Your experience may differ however. Cognition slowing is the most common side effect. It affects AMPA receptors which mediates most of the excitatory transmission in the brain and Kainate which mediate the synaptic charge, so, slowed lessened electrical brain activity all around. Which sometimes helps with anxiety, and other mental disorders. Take care.Read More Read Less

This review is going to be long, because this medication is a nightmare. It's hard to put into words just how awful the experience was, mostly because I was in such a fog that I can't remember most of that period of my life. I was given this medication after being diagnosed with epilepsy and struggling with migraines for many years. Within the first week, I felt like a different person. I would zone out, burst into tears, and had horrible intrusive thoughts about hurting myself. I had toddler-level meltdowns at the age of 20, and I felt absolutely helpless to stop it. Past the fog came genuine memory problems. I got lost in the backwoods of Michigan because I forgot where I was going and couldn't comprehend the directions my GPS was giving me. They make the numbing of hands and feet sound like a minor side effect, but it's awful. I would wake up at night to this constant buzzing. Falling asleep on your hand feels weird, but this medication feels like it's conquering your body and hurting it in every way it can. It's also physically hard to speak on this medication. I would get to the end of sentences and forget how they began. It would take me an entire day to remember the word "washing machine" (I still have a hard time with that, by the way. This medication doesn't stop tormenting you once you're off of it.) I felt like I was going crazy, like my body wasn't mine. I have never hated myself or my conditions more than when I was on this medication. No day was a good day. Did I have seizures? No. Did I have migraines? I can't remember! I warn everybody in my life about this medication. I cannot believe it is legal to prescribe this stuff. I didn't know what I was getting into when I got on it, and I am still struggling with the memory problems it caused me three years later. Do yourself a favor and never take this medication. There are others out there. There are combinations that will work. This is not worth it. Read More Read Less

When you started Topiramate I had been admitted to hospital following a migraine which caused an inability to speak and a very strange feeling in my face and down my arm - the initially thought I had a stroke. Since being on a maintenance dose of 25mg BD (1 year) I have only had 1 migraine (previously was having at least 1 a week). The bonus is it helps with my weight loss. The down side is my hair is falling out, fake ponytails are the way forward!

Migraine sufferer for over 20 years and for the last 7/8 years I have taken this medication off and on and I have so much relief. My migraines are so horrible that I’m down for 2 days sometimes more and they affect my vision as well. This medication was an absolute life changer for me. Good and bad. I have over half the side affects. The memory fog, speech and language issues, the tingling in my feet, bone pain, loss of sex drive, the low energy and exhaustion and more. The memory fog and low energy is horrible. I’ve seen someone say they drove passed their home before and I can relate. If I could take something else that worked I would but nothing else works and honestly I’d rather not be in pain everyday. Yeah I’m tired and most days I don’t want to do things but I push myself anyways. I basically rely on this medicine to live a life with no migraine. I take a low dose of 25mg but I do think it is about to go up to 50mg so we will see how I feel about the side affects then. If you suffer from severe migraines like me then yes I would suggest this but with the caution of the side affects. Sometimes a life with no migraines out weigh the side affects. Do your own research. Read More Read Less

My mother started taking this after her doctor prescribed it for migraines. After taking it, she can't stand the thought of going to bed because she doesn't want to be alone, she bursts into tears multiple times a day, and I cannot calm her down. She says she no longer feels like herself. I can't get her to eat when she had a healthy appetite before. She is miserable and I am scared. Her doctor told her she could quit the medication, but I'm worried she'll keep experiencing these symptoms after reading that so many have dealt with the same thing. She still had headaches with the medication as well. I strongly suggest not taking this medicine. Read More Read Less

My experiences will not be everyone’s. This is NOT repeat NOT for weight loss, it is an anti seizure medication that can be used to control migraines in very low doses. It has an effect on your brain chemistry, hormones etc. it took my PCP 15 months to find a stable dose. These meds affect moods, hormones, sensory input, & the side effects can get weird. However the improvement in my life is night and day. I feel like someone lifted the fog off my head. I take a low dose twice a day. I find I have MORE side effects not less when I’m NOT at theroputic levels. The meds don’t say take with food — but you really should. I can’t describe the importance of both patients & flexibility when on these meds. Don’t be afraid to ask for a change in dosing if the meds are helping but it could be better. It took several changes in dosing to find the right dose for me, but now I am doing more than I ever thought possible. I am VERY greatful for my PCP. Read More Read Less

Brain fog, confusion, blurred vision, anxiety, memory problems, numbness, tingling, not breathing properly when sleeping, paranoia

I have been on this medication for about 20 years on 600mg daily. Yes, I get the side affects (moodiness/depression/lack of sleep/anxiety/clumsy/forgetfulness/etc.) I do have an AVM so this medication has worked best for me among others.

I was prescribed this medication for weight loss. I was so excited to try a new type of weight loss pills. So, the first week I've used it, I lost my cell phone twice. Once at a restaurant with my whole family. We were already home when I realized I don't have my cellphone with me. I remembered that I placed my cellphone on top of the towel dispenser in the bathroom at the restaurant, so me and my husband went back. Luckily, it was still there. The next day, I once again couldn't find my cellphone anywhere, looked everywhere and finally remembered I left it on a lawn chair in the garage. Then the next week, I have numbness in both my hands while I was doing dishes. A few days later, my eyes started to twitch all the time. I'm constantly confused and couldn't concentrate on my work which in not good. Then the last straw was last night when I was trying to buy something from a gas station. The Gas station attendant told me it's going to be $19.00 for my purchase, and I was looking at the bills I'm holding (I have 2 $10's and 1 $5 ) and somehow I was just so confused...I couldn't COUNT!!! That was it for me. I'm going to stop cold turkey. Hoping that I don't end up having any seizures. Read More Read Less

People, please stop giving people advice based on your own biology! I was prescribed this for hot flashes. It's been great: although I still get some, they're less frequent or severe. As a person who also has a mild seizure disorder, I've also seen some improvement, and it's helped with my appetite, so I'm happy with it. It works with my physiology. I don't pretend to have the training to predict how it will work for someone else, and neither do you.

I’m a 53 year old woman who was struggling losing weight. Otherwise healthy. I walk a lot and am very active. My doctor prescribed topimax thinking it may be what I needed to help. Normally, my family would say I’m a little ADHD, but this stuff dulled me way down. On the second week when I increased the dose I immediately began to have diarrhea every time I ate. This happened for a solid week. My brain was foggy, my feet hurt, a little sad and just…. Down. For me, this is an absolute no. After reading what can happen if I continued, I immediately contacted my doctor who said that even though it’s only been two weeks(in which I’ve gained a pound while netting 1200-1330 cal/day) I have to wean! Yeah— nope! If I were to give advice it would be if you don’t NEED this, stay FAR AWAY!Read More Read Less

I thought maybe I had a brain tumor to be honest. I could not think straight. AT ALL. I kept trying to play it off but it scared me so bad. I could t finish a sentence, I kept getting notices my bills weren’t paid, I drove past my own home one night and at the cash wash I turned my car off once I got inside…things I would never do. The depression hit me so hard it was paralyzing and I was so confused I didn’t put two and two together that it was the stupid medicine. I switched to this from gabapentin for nerve pain just because I heard it could help with weight loss…what a huge, stupid mistake on part! I lost like 6 pounds but I also lost feeling in my hands and feet (severe tingling) my eyes are all messed up. Half the time they are blurry or watery or just plain can’t focus! This was a nightmare and I’m just this week beginning to slowly stop the medication and hopefully get my life back. Do your research. I wish I had. :(Read More Read Less