Hated it. It made me stupid and I couldn't do my job as well, not to mention I was tired all the time. I think I was on 75 mg/(25 mg a day). Also had metallic taste any time I drank carbonated beverages. Didn't lose any weight. I guess it wasn't for me, but whatever works for you!

I don't know if there is any point putting in my experience since this was posted a month ago but I thought I would go ahead.

I have been on it for approx. 2 years. I was put on it because of cluster headaches and the mood stabilizing effects. I heard it is supposed to have weight loss effects but it never happened to me. I started on 25mg and titrated up to 100 mg. At first I had the problem with the bad taste of the carbonated beverages but I don't know if it was because I switched to generic or if I just got used to it because it doesn't bother me now. I had the tingling in the hands and feet but that too eventually went away. Now we come to the problem that developed over time...the "stupids". They actually have a nick name for the pill" dopamax. Several times a day I will be talking and forget the simplest words. If my friend is with me she will usually fill the word in for me if not I usually try to make up some excuse as to why I am fumbling and pick a word to fill in and hope I don't sound like too much of an idiot. I remember when I first started it I read about a girl who said she was asking her husband to get her husband to get her a hamburger and she could not remember the word for hamburger so she had to describe it to him. I thought she had to be exaggerating. Now I completely believe it.

haha yes! I too am on dopamax and have the case of the stupids. I am so glad i don't work or i'd probably be fired because of howm stupid these pills make me. It's a wonder i can still walk straight. Oh wait, having issues with that now too. I originally went on it to counteract the side effect of resperdal for weight gain... kinda even it out. Now I'm not so sure if I want to keep on dealing with the stupids...

missed this thread too...been taking topamax for about 2 months for migranes. i worked up from 25mg to 100mg daily. i get the tingling in the fingers and toes, soda and other carbonated beverages taste nasty (but thats ok, i don't drink soda often anyway), and i occasionally forget if i did something- like did i take my keys, my pills, did i call this person back etc- i don't forget words or anything like that. i tend to tolerate medication well though.

I was on it in high school. I don't remember the exact dosage, but it was ridiculously high. especially for a kid.

I lost a lot of weight, but I think that had more to do with my eating disorder than the actual drug. Since that's the most popularly discussed side effect...I used it as a coverup for not eating. So nobody was worried about me, they just figured it was because of the drug, not because I had a problem.

I don't know if this is the case with any other people who've been on it, but yeah. I took it for over a year, and finally couldn't take it anymore. It just made me so tuned out and depressed. All I wanted to do was sleep, and it didn't even cure the migraines or seizures!!!

My mom has been on 100 mg for a year or so, and lost a LOT of weight. I don't know how many pounds, but I always go through her closet when I go home and she's gone from a size 16-18 to a 6-8. I don't think she works out, so I'm guessing it's all been through diet, and she attributes most of it to the Topomax.

I have been taking Effexor XR for over a year now. The side effects I have read and had a friend tell me about are insane. Some people say it feels like your brain is getting zapped. I have been reading about people literally opening the capsules and taking 3 grains of the meds out a day to ween themselves off with less side effects. Now when I went off Prozac to Effexor I came off quickly... to quickly. I remember at one point passing around my kitchen talking to myself about how crazy I was and doing these weird hand movements. Took a couple days to have it go away. When they say always consult a physician before stopping meds... they mean it! I have an apt Tues to start coming off mine. I have found that all the side effects that were in the way like drowsiness and what not went away after a week. Good luck but please be safe.

My mom was put on it about a month ago for weight loss. She pretty quickly became so confused and unable to form thoughts and to get any kind of coherent sentence that any of us could understand. She constantly couldn't find the word she wanted or she'd go off some strange tangent only she understood. She was just taken off it and she's getting better with the "stupids" but we'll see.

When I was fourteen years old, I started high school and my doctor started me on Vyvanse for my ADD. A couple months later, I had a little accident and hit my head and suffered from various things that were really not that pleasant. With a combination of the accident, my ADD, and other complaints of my moodiness, sleepiness, and "depression," my doctor thought it was best to put me on Topamax. I started on with 25 mg in the morning and 25 mg in the evening regiment but I never would remember the evening one. Eventually we bumped the 25s to 50s, still never remembered the evening regiment. I don't remember feeling very many bad days. I lost a great deal of weight, going from a size 12 to a size 8-7, and gaining a lot of confidence. I eventually stopped taking the medication because a boyfriend had me convinced that medication "wasn't natural." I did not ever feel any severe withdrawal from the medication.
I stopped taking it when I was about sixteen. Now that I'm closer to eighteen years old and up to a size 16-18, my doctor and I decided that it was in my best interest to start me on these medications again. However, instead of adjusting me to them, I was added to 70 mg of Vyvanse (which I adjusted to quite nicely) and 50 mg of topamax 2x daily. Evidently, I am a little more responsible now and I remember to take it in the evening. However, I also now, for the first time, notice a lot more of the side effects hitting me harder and for longer than I previously remember. It's only been a week, so I'm giving my body and the medicine the benefit of the doubt.
We'll see where this all goes in a few month's time.

I know this is old but I was searching and if anyone has taken it recently I'd like to hear more as I started last week. I do get a little spacey but not bad. No tingles or anything horrible. All I can say is I've been working out 5x a week and eating healthy and I put on 50+ lbs due to antipsychotics so my doc prescribed Topamax. Before Topamax I was losing 1 pound A MONTH. Literally. This last WEEK I lost 2 pounds like a normal person. I'm so excited. I am also taking Biotin to help the hair loss just in case!