Anyone take Topamax?

  • My doctor just prescribed it to me last week.
    I'd appreciate any feedback!
  • I'm sorry I don't have any feedback for you (yet) as I am waiting for my dr's appt. on Monday to get the Rx for this. I am having ALOT of trouble losing weight and doc feels it may be due to combination of meds I am on. I take Effexor XR, Lamictal and Methylin ER. I work out 6 days a week for min. of hour and a half and am on a low fat/ low cal. diet. Other possible health issues have been ruled out.

    I've been working on losing since the beginning of the year and have only lost about 8 pounds but even with all the workouts and eating right, I keep gaining and losing between 2-3 lbs and never get any lower on the scale. Nothing is coming off!!! And I have quite a bit to lose so you'd think something would, right?
    So we'll wait and see if Topamax helps aid in getting the scale moving agian.
    Added bonus it will also help with bipolar issues.
    Will let you know what happens. I haven't met anyone either that's been on this so I am anxious to see if it works!
  • hi Danielle
    My doctor says it will help,
    she says shes prescribed it to people just for weight loss..
    i've been on it a week...i take it before bed .it helps me sleep
    i don't feel as hungry...i've lost 4 pounds, you do feel a little different throughout the day but nothing major...i would recommend you take it right before bed, because it doesn't take long..before i get spacey like where i can't remember all the words to a prayer or a nurserie ryhme. Good luck..Keep in touch...another thing...the doctor didn't mention but i found in my research that this medicine can cause kidney stones so drink lots of water, and anyways...we should do that for weight loss too.....
    take care
  • I'm so glad you are finding success with it so quickly. This give me hope!
    My dr seemed alittle hesitant to Rx it to me, probably because I'm on so many other meds. Who knows. I've been very vocal from the beginning however about not wanting any meds for my treatment that would cause me to gain or stop me from losing so it's been no secret to her. Luckily I've convinced her that I am truly committed to losing the weight and she sees how much i want this.
    I was relieved to hear that there was something out there that could be given to specifically help people taking other AD's and having issues with weightgain.

    Oh I don't need medication to get spacey or loopy. No seriously tho, I have also heard that it's best to take the T at night.

    Are you on any other medications? Is it something that has caused you to gain and that's the reason for the Topamax? Just curious.

    You take care and keep me posted on your progress!!!

    ♥danielle
  • I took it for a while for my migraines. I lost 15 pounds on it. You have to be really careful. It took me about 3 months to adjust to it. I had to slowly increase my dose. It made me moody, (horribly so... I cried like a baby over the dumbest things and I am not a cryer), and I so forgetful. I had trouble finding words... common words. I had to put a dry erase board on my fridge so I could write down when I took my meds so I didn't double them or forget them. The other issue was the tingling. It drove me crazy. Potassiam helped me with my symptoms. Once I leveled out, it worked wonders for my migraines. The weight loss effect works wonders for some, but not for others. Oh... and yes, it causes kidney stones. Most medications are processed through the liver, but Topamax is processed through the kidneys. So it is so important to drink water like a fish to keep your kidneys flushed. The forgetfulness does ease a bit... but it does take a few months. And don't just stop taking it... you have to be weaned off of it. For me that caused some of the symptoms to come back, but not as intense. There is a website... a support group... for people on Topamax for various reasons. there is a lot of good information there. It is called the topamaxtrip. Not sure if I can post the link or not, so just google the topamax trip and it should come up for you. Even just googling topamax you get hundreds of sites for support and information. Best of luck to all of you!
  • My 14 yr old son takes this for migraines, he also has metabolic syndrome. His weight has held steady for the last year. Which is good, you gotta remember he's 14 and still can grow into his weight! He takes 100mg am and again in the evening. His doses have been very slowly increased over the last year, but he only complains of tingling for a while after they have increased the dose.
  • Hi there. I was given Topamax to help with weight loss and migraines. I did very well on it except for the weight gain. My psyc could not believe that I actually gained weight on it. He said that it was very rare for that to happen. I had a friend who was taking it at the same time, I took 300mg a day and she took 25mg. She lost 50 pounds and I gained 15 pounds. I did have a raging migraine for the first three days of the meds. I couldn't drink pop anymore and I went through caffiene withdrawl. The only drink I could stand was Orange Kool-Aid.
    I hope you have better luck than I did.