Topamax-losing weight rapidly...

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Replies

  • col443
    col443 Posts: 17
    Careful with this medicine. Just be sure to keep an eye out for side effects. I was on it about 10 yrs ago. My husband called it stupidmax. I had all kinds of problems with trying to find words to form a sentence. I also had fog moments when I could not remember things. I called my husband one day crying because I could not remember how to get home. I was 5 blocks away from our house that we had lived at for years. That was when I stopped taking it.

    If it is working for you without the bad side effects great, just keep a watch out for them.

    Edited to add: I was on it for an off label use. I was taking it for nerve pain after a spinal surgery.
  • CactusF1ower
    CactusF1ower Posts: 174 Member
    Bump. What scary side effects!
  • RamblinRose1962
    RamblinRose1962 Posts: 21 Member
    This would explain why my driving habits have become dangerous. I've always been a safe, cautious driver, but in 2012 I pulled out in front of a car without looking, didn't put my car into first gear when parked on a sloped driveway and despite the e-brake being on, my car still rolled into the back of a truck, then I backed into someone as I was pulling out of a space, but that was more circumstantial - I was creeping out behind a huge SUV and a guy just zipped by an obviously din't see me. I wasn't going very fast. But still. My fault. And a few weeks ago I backed into a truck that had some strange apparatus on the front hood that I couldn't see from behind me or my mirrors. Just yesterday I cut a guy off that I didn't even see. This is completely bizarre behavior for me.

    I take 50mg of Topomax every morning along with Wellbutrin 150mg, Lamictal 500mg through the course of the day and Concerta for ADD and a thyroid med (Im BiPolar2). I never lost any weight or had any of the awful side effects so many of you did, aside from the cognitive ones, which are very dangerous now that I'm putting 2 and 2 together. I will definitely talk to my Psychiatrist about this an the necessity of this medication.

    There have been many times I felt like I shouldn't be driving while on that drug! I told that to my therapist. The first thing I started to notice...not realizing it was the meds...was when I would try to look over my shoulder to back up, I would get so dizzy I felt like I could throw up. I WENT FOR AN MRI thinking I had a brain tumor and the doctor let me! I was up to 100 mg twice a day, with no weight loss, but am so lucky I didn't lose my mind with everything else going on! I just hope I will go back to normal...whatever that may be LOL OK...MY normal.

    PLEASE DO CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR!
  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
    My old neurologist pressured me for a year to go on this drug for my migraines. I refused to go on it because every internet search led me to substantially more horror stories about memory loss and rage than testimonies from people who it worked for with no serious side effects. I thought "maybe only people with bad things to say are posting online" so I started asking everyone I know who has or knows someone who has migraines, including pharmacists. Most of them had either tried this drug or had a personal connection who had and THEY all had horror stories to. My doctor continually downplayed these side effects and pushed the weight loss side effect. Finally, after a year of insisting he come up with an alternative treatment plan, he said "Fine! But don't come crying to me this summer when you can't fit into a bikini and your boyfriend breaks up with you." Needless to say, that was the last time I ever saw that doctor.
  • sally_jeffswife
    sally_jeffswife Posts: 766 Member
    I was on Gabapentin for Electric Shock like migraines where I would get a shock by my temple then it would go numb to touch there and all around the bk of my head. I gained like 45 lbs in 3 months on Gabapentin. I was worried about it so my Dr tried me on Topomax and I was excited cuz I have heard it was common to lose weight with that one but I got the rash and I was throwing up alot and sick from it so I coudn't take that one. Now I am taking Verapamil which is actually like a heart medication for blood pressure but amazingly its pretty much wiped out my migraines and doesn't cause weight gain or loss and I have way more energy cuz it doesn't make you feel all tired and sleepy like the gabapentin did. And I actually can tolerate more caffeine with my headaches then I could on the other med cuz this one is a blood pressure type med so that's great I can have my morning coffee which I love alot of times.
  • kae_blah
    kae_blah Posts: 180 Member
    I was put on this for migraines. At the time I was was at the low end of healthy weight.

    Within a could of weeks I:
    * lost 3 kgs
    * had a warning at work for speaking to a workmate too aggressively and raising my voice
    * felt disoriented and stupid

    I can't remember if it helped the migraines at all but I demanded to be moved to something else.

    I was very unhappy I was not warned about the weight loss side effect as back then I had spent years struggling to gain and maintain a healthy weight.

    As always - talk to your doctor about your concerns and never just stop taking medication cold turkey regardless of the side effects.
  • jenns1964
    jenns1964 Posts: 384 Member
    I was prescribed Topomax & phentermine 2 years ago for weight loss. I had great success. The initial side effects were immediate dislike of sweets and carbs, and I was dumbed down for a couple of weeks. The pins & needles feeling are easily controlled with drinking plenty of water at all times. Good luck. If you go off the drug please taper down-do not go cold turkey.
  • Cakelady92
    Cakelady92 Posts: 37
    It has now been 9 days and I have lost 16 pounds......this is crazy!
  • theeidkid
    theeidkid Posts: 8 Member
    Go to this website, http://www.topamax.com/how-topamax-may-help--what-to-expect.html, it will explain why you are having weight loss.:happy:
  • jenns1964
    jenns1964 Posts: 384 Member
    Also, be very careful when exercising because it prevents you from sweating and you can overheat very quickly!
  • HappyElizabeth
    HappyElizabeth Posts: 231 Member
    I was prescribed Topamax for migraines a few years ago, and it made me literally stop eating. It's weird, because I wasn't jittery at all, I just had absolutely positively no interest in food. I stopped taking it because there were other weird side effects, and I preferred migraines over hating food, having tingly feet and being very forgetful.
  • CaddieMay
    CaddieMay Posts: 356 Member
    I also lost weight on Topamax. The rest of the side effect went away after a few months. Be sure to drink plenty of water to counteract the possibility of kidney stones.
  • Cakelady92
    Cakelady92 Posts: 37
    I don't seem to be having issues sweating, fortunately. I'm just surprised I'm losing so much weight on only 15mg and now 30 mg.
  • MrsPong
    MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
    I was given Topamx for mood disorder. It worked and I loved it. It is a drug for other conditions but CAN be used for mood disorder/bipolar. It's not their first choice of drug but it's used.
  • Lunarokra
    Lunarokra Posts: 855 Member
    For those who immediately denigrate "alternative medicine" please just move on...

    I used to suffer from migraines, not nearly as bad as some of you seem to, nor as badly as my mother who used to take a self-injection of her migraine meds to knock her out. I forget the med, but she did wake up without the migraine. However, my psychiatrist at the time also studied TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Three, count them THREE, acupuncture treatments and my headaches were gone. 10-15 years later I still get the occasional baby-migraine but, as I am now IN China... treatment is readily available.

    I started as a skeptic... now I'm a skeptic with no migraines.


    I also was prescribed Topiramate a few years ago because of Migraines I took them and didn't continue taking them. I also took acupuncture sessions and am a believer that this helped alleviate my migraines. I am not migraine free but they aren't as often as before.

    I love acupuncture and will always recommend it to anyone.

    Also, my mother suffered a ruptured Aneurysm and I believe she is on anti seizure meds for the long term. I am not sure what the name of it is, but with the genetic factor and the risk of re occurrence i think she HAS to take them.
  • coniconstance
    coniconstance Posts: 321 Member
    I was prescribed Topamax off-label just FOR WEIGHT-LOSS. It has been proven to have results in many people. BUT as many of these posts have reflected, there are a lot of side affects.

    I'm glad I took it. It did a lot of good for me and broke a lot of bad patterns, but I ended up having to stop taking it about 90 days into it. I became a walking idiot. I couldn't remember ANYTHING. I think on one of the last days I was work, I answered the phone like I usually do.. except the phone had never rung.

    I wish you luck. It is a very personal decision. There is a LOT on Topamax and weight-loss on the web and how it works. It is changing the frontal lobe in your brain. Just start googling is what I did.. but in the end I'm happy I took it, happy to be off of it!
  • Thesarahmonster
    Thesarahmonster Posts: 44 Member
    Dang...this is some crazy stuff reading through here...

    Good luck, and I hope you don't have to deal with all these nasty side effects.
  • clydethecat
    clydethecat Posts: 1,087 Member
    glad i stumbled on to this thread. i take a host of medications for my bi polar disorder including seroquoel which supports weight gain. add that to the other meds i take that do not support weight loss and i gained 25 lbs in 6mos. i had been on topomax before and it didnt seem to do much. i was on different meds then and i chalked up the side effects to those medications. it was supposed to help with my migraines but nothing seems to help my migraines.

    i started topomax again about a month ago, just to try it out again, see if the weight loss side effect would help. i have not noticed a huge weight loss from it. only a few pounds over the last month. as far as feeling slow from the other meds i take i already feel a little stupid, and i lose my words constantly mid sentence. but the suicidal thoughts give me pause. i'm bipolar 1, mixed episode with suicidal ideation. i'll have to watch that.

    thanks everyone for your insight. i now have some thinking to do.
  • cuterbee
    cuterbee Posts: 545
    Many years ago, when I worked in psychiatry research, we did a study for bipolar with Topamax. It works well as a mood stabilizer for *some* people with bipolar disorder, and *some* people lost weight on it. At that time, it didn't look like it had enough of an effect for enough people to do more studies to get the indication (not cost efffective to go through the process when it's already available anyway)...and then I went to oncology and lost touch with what's going on in psychiatry long ago. We're not supposed to talk about the studies that we do, but it's been long enough that anything that was going to be written up has already been done, I'm sure.

    It was pretty easy to tell who had the real drug in that study because they all complained that carbonated beverages tasted odd (including things like beer and dr pepper). I always thought that perhaps people were losing weight because they'd stopped drinking that stuff due to that side effect.
  • CrystalSCline
    CrystalSCline Posts: 8 Member
    Topamax is commonly used for Bi-Polar patients. Alot of seizure medications are used.....Dilantin is a common one also. They work along the same neuro pathways. However Topamax has some nasty side effects......bad taste in mouth, forgetfullness, memory loss......
  • perfekta
    perfekta Posts: 331 Member
    For those who immediately denigrate "alternative medicine" please just move on...

    I used to suffer from migraines, not nearly as bad as some of you seem to, nor as badly as my mother who used to take a self-injection of her migraine meds to knock her out. I forget the med, but she did wake up without the migraine. However, my psychiatrist at the time also studied TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Three, count them THREE, acupuncture treatments and my headaches were gone. 10-15 years later I still get the occasional baby-migraine but, as I am now IN China... treatment is readily available.

    I started as a skeptic... now I'm a skeptic with no migraines.


    I also was prescribed Topiramate a few years ago because of Migraines I took them and didn't continue taking them. I also took acupuncture sessions and am a believer that this helped alleviate my migraines. I am not migraine free but they aren't as often as before.

    I love acupuncture and will always recommend it to anyone.

    Also, my mother suffered a ruptured Aneurysm and I believe she is on anti seizure meds for the long term. I am not sure what the name of it is, but with the genetic factor and the risk of re occurrence i think she HAS to take them.

    I want to try this. I'm all for natural remedies, but the ones I've tried for migraines so far haven't touched it.

    Being off the Dopamax is great, my brain is coming back, but I've been getting headaches almost every day. I hate it.
  • orange_you_glad
    orange_you_glad Posts: 38 Member
    Count me as another person who is not a fan of Topamax.

    It was very effective for what I used it for -- treating panic attacks -- and I was on it for about a year. Yes, I DID lose weight on it -- about 30lbs (from 205-175), which is the lowest I've ever gotten since high school. Once I got off of it, I gained it all right back, over the course of a few months.

    The side effects, though, were awful:
    1. Food was totally uninteresting. I LOVE to cook and I love good food, so this was really disheartening.
    2. Because food was uninteresting, I wasn't eating enough, and had terrible blood sugar crashes that would leave me angry at everyone.
    3. I couldn't exercise without getting terrible, terrible headaches.
    4. The continual pins and needles in my hands sometimes made it difficult to sleep.
    5. I couldn't remember the words for stupid things like, "keys" or "restaurant".
    6. I just generally felt sluggish and gross.

    When I got off of it, I decided that I would rather be chubby and happy and active, than thin and inactive and miserable. The drug did what I needed it to do, but ugh, the side effects were the worst.
  • raegan1215
    raegan1215 Posts: 89
    i took it for migraines for a while as well and had all the same wacky cognitive side effects - couldn't figure out which way to turn my steering wheel to make my car turn around a corner, not being able to come up with specific words, not knowing how to spell my own name, being confused by a keyboard's letters not being in alphabetical order etc. same thing with no interest in food too - lost a few pounds but was exhausted and angry from the lack of nutrition. in the end, acupuncture, a clean diet, reduced stress and lots of yoga have stopped 90% of my migraines and i'll take that over being in bizarroworld any day.

    my husband and i still laugh at some of the side effects now years later...but seriously, when you think about that you're taking a pill that makes you forget how to spell your own name...???
  • dylansmom87
    dylansmom87 Posts: 16 Member
    Everyone is different and for alot of people this drug cause allow you drop some weight ( without trying) however just be very carefull of the side effects. I was put on this and my mood swings were so severe,my depression got way worse and I actually gained weight ( alot) so i finally went off. Just please be careful of any side effects.Lithium in combomation with an anti depressant is the norm now for bi-polar and mood disorders.
    Good luck with what ev er you go on
  • Cakelady92
    Cakelady92 Posts: 37
    I feel like my fat is just disappearing. It's kinda awesome.
  • MoRaeNew
    MoRaeNew Posts: 35 Member
    My youngest daughter's neurologist gave her this for migraines

    I took this briefly for migraine headaches, but I couldn't take the side effects as much as it helped with my migraines and my appetite. My face was tingly a lot.
  • RamblinRose1962
    RamblinRose1962 Posts: 21 Member
    i took it for migraines for a while as well and had all the same wacky cognitive side effects - couldn't figure out which way to turn my steering wheel to make my car turn around a corner, not being able to come up with specific words, not knowing how to spell my own name, being confused by a keyboard's letters not being in alphabetical order etc. same thing with no interest in food too - lost a few pounds but was exhausted and angry from the lack of nutrition. in the end, acupuncture, a clean diet, reduced stress and lots of yoga have stopped 90% of my migraines and i'll take that over being in bizarroworld any day.

    my husband and i still laugh at some of the side effects now years later...but seriously, when you think about that you're taking a pill that makes you forget how to spell your own name...???


    This is a VERY SERIOUS subject...believe me I know! But I have to say your term BIZARROWORLD made me LOL, literally! It is the truth and I am so glad to be slowly moving out of BIZARROWORLD right now. Having to ween yourself off the medication and then wait for it to get out of your body is the worst, when all you want is to be off of it! I just keep hoping that I will go back to MY normal self. This is really scary to say the least! And of course the migaines are back....I have one now....................
  • Cakelady92
    Cakelady92 Posts: 37
    Here's what 10 days of this medicine plus eating right and exercise did for me!

    http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm93/deafrocker/20poundloss_zps5d806051.jpg

    ^ put that in your address bar.

    From left to right I've lost 20 pounds
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I am seeing a psychiatrist. Topamax was prescribed as a last resort because all other antidepressants, etc I have been on caused me to gain 80 pounds in a year and a half. I started at 15mg for a week and tonight I go up to 30 mg. After one week I have already lost 10 pounds. I am occasionally dizzy and I get the "tingles" now and then but so far nothing unbearable. Maybe because I am on such a low dose. Thanks everyone for your input!

    oddly, Topamax didn't help my migraines & too many side effects, so my doctor wanted to prescribe antidepressants for my migraines. I declined.
  • dperich1968
    dperich1968 Posts: 235 Member
    I was on Topamax for almost 5yrs, to control migraines. I will agree with everyone else that has advised of the HORRIBLE side effects. Food tasted different, numbness, STUPIDITY, loss for words. The list goes on and on. I switched doctors (because I moved) and my new doctor worked to get me off the horrible medication. I still get an occasionaly migraine, but all side effects are gone and I have my brain and taste buds back.

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