Hi shelia,
i just read your post. You didn't mention any weight loss in the month and half that you have been taking topomax. Have you noticed any weight loss yet? I'm on this site investigating the weight loss aspect of this drug.
Thank you,
annaleelobes

I was on topamax for a little over a year. My doc. Took me off of it because it was completely ruining my life..I didn't want to do anything, couldn't remember much & was just flat out tired. I also had a sinus disease & this medicine made it so much worse. I wouldn't recomend anybody to take it, it's very bad for you. But then again everyone has different side effects. I'm on a new medicine & it takes my headaches away and I feel a lot better, most of the time. If it's ruining your life then talk to your doctor like I did and tell him/her that it is. My whole family had noticed a change in me, I was depressed from it. I don't want to live my life like that and i'm sure you don't either!

Hi,
you asked about weight loss....When I learned of that side effect, I was thrilled. I have noticed a decreased appetite. But I think my survivor mode has kicked in because I havent noticed a loss at all although I feel i've skipped meals and have eaten less. My first 37 days on topa brought me a reduction in headaches by 1/3!! I had only 12 headaches compared to the normal 37! That was on the graduating dose up to 100mg daily. I've upped the dosage to 150mg daily for the last 7 days and have been headache free. No headache at all for 7 days. I'm thrilled. My fingers tingle occassionally, it doesnt last long. I'm 44 yrs old so I was forgetting words anyway, I havent noticed a change there. I have not been as energetic, but i'll make excuses....I run a business, I have alot on my plate....I'm up at 4:30 every morning, I started thyroid medicine at the same time as the topamax so I cant be honest about if the topamax has caused all my feelings or the sluggish thyroid has helped. I honestly think the topa has helped me, I had a headache every day of my life. I feel pretty darn good right now. There is a trade off I guess. I'm willing to go with this a little longer, I think its all in finding the right dose. I've heard about some scarier side effects, forgotten time and such. I think like all meds, they effect different people, different ways.

Just wanted to share my experiences as a new topomax user. I'm fifty years old and have had migraines since a child. My headaches were not diagnosed as migraines until I was in my mid-30's. My doctor prescribed fioricet, which helped a lot. Then I was prescribed maxalt, then frova. Even with these meds, I had at least one or more migraines a week for the last fifteen years. The headaches were becoming increasingly more frequent. For the past year, I was getting them from one to four times every single week. For the past several months, I had an average of three migraines per week. The frova would work on a 50% basis, but I was having to take so much of it, and it is very expensive -even with insurance coverage. A couple of weeks ago, my doctor started me on topomax. I have only had one mild migraine that went away quickly with one frova since I began the topomax!! I cannot even remember a time that I went an entire week without a migraine, but I have since beginning the topomax, and i'm only taking 25 miligrams per day!! I consider the topomax a miracle in my life! The only side effects that I have encountered are mild tingling in my hands for about 1 - 2 hours after a hot shower, mild loss of appetite (i need to lose 15 pds. Anyway!) and mild nausea - i'm hoping these side effects will go away in time. They are are annoying, but I can at least function in my daily life, which I could not with the debilitating migraines. I have a quality to my life now that I haven't had in a very long time. It's great to play with my three youngest granddaughters, and to do things with my teen-age granddaughter - without having to tell them I have a migraine. I see there are some of you who have not had good experiences with this medication and I am so sorry for that - I certainly hope you find something that will give you the relief you need. Certainly, I can sympathize with the pain and torment of migraines. May god bless each of you~~~

I am curious to find out how much weight loss people have had who have been on this medication. A friend of mine is currently taking the medication and has had significant weightloss and appetitie loss. I want to know what has been the average or normal weight loss on this medication?

Do you reach a stabilization point with the weight loss?

hi there,

since I haven't been on the topomax for even quite three weeks, i'm not really qualified to answer your question. I don't feel i've lost any weight, but i'm at an extremely low dosage. I do have decreased appetite, but am making up for it by eating the sweets that I had been cutting out - but I have to stop doing that! :)

hope someone can help you out with your question. Many people say they have very significant weight loss with the topomax.

Take care :)

Been on 100 mg. Topomax since july 05. Not really helping much. But one thing that helps the tingling in the feet and hands is the potassium in orange juice and bananas. I was getting alot of tingling and a couple glasses of oj and a banana a day pretty much stopped it. Just make sure that these aren't triggers for your headaches.

For emerald: if you stop taking it all together, make sure you taper down the dosage very gradually. I lowered mine from 100 to 50mg. (with my dr's approval) and the third night on the 50, I was twitching in bed like crazy. So I upped it to 75. Then i'll try to lower it to 50 again after 2 weeks in my effort to get off of it totally.

Hope you do well.

Hi guys,
the miracle drug - no headaches and lose weight too! Jeez, how could we be so lucky. I've been on for 2 months now and have lost about 5-7 lbs. Its simply decreased appetite and skipped meals that does it. But you find yourself thinking...Oh, I missed lunch so let me snack on something else to make up for it. You know, survival mode. Heaven forbide, we skip food. The first 2 weeks I was starving all the time, not sure why. But migrainers usually get headaches if they skip meals so its not a good idea to do that either. I'm a constant headacher, and have found relief at 200mg per day. Sounds like a big dose but I had a headache every moment of every day and until I reached this dosage I didnt get the relief I needed. Surprisingly, the side effects have pretty much diminished. There is a little tingling, not too bothersome. Thats about all that remains really. Maybe a little memory issues, not much more than what you'd find for a normal 44 yr old female!!! I think topamax is a wonderful med!

Hey guys,
i'm really new to this drug just 2 days. And after reading all of this i'm really unsure of it all. I have constant headaches, some turn into migraines and some just linger and make me feel like very unfocus. My main question would be how soon would you have side effects from this drug? I guess with the way that I have been feeling over the past with my headaches doesn't sound much different than these side effects. My eye site has been rather fuzzy and funny since I had my hysterectomy in sept. And how soon can I expect to feel results....No headaches, no pain, no dizziness. My doctor has given maxalt for the headaches, but it doesn't seem to work yet. At least reading this I know now that i'm not alone.

I look at it this way topomax is just like any other medication, almost all medications do have side effects and topomax is just like any other prescription medication, it is not for everyone. What works for some, does not work for others. Heck, even some of the herbs have some side effects, I haave learned. I even heard that one lady quit taking it because her hair was falling out maybe it is possible but it calso could be from other things too. I have a lot of medical problems and some days it helps me some and other days it does not, I have lost weight but I was loosing before the topomax but I needed to anyway.
Good luck to you all!

It didnt help mine at all... :(

Hi everyone,
i am new to topomax, 4 days. I've suffered from migraines my whole life. I went to a new neurologist and he wants me to try topomax. He has started me on 25 mg a day. I really don't feel anything yet. The only thing is that I was taking excedrin almost every day. My doctor wants me to really try not taking it and let the topomax set in. I'm a little nervous about it, but i'm going to give it a try. I have hypertension, so I can't take imitrex or any of the other migraine meds. If anyone has any advice, i'll gladly take it!
It's good to hear from other people who are in the same boat!!!
Thanks...

hi and thanks for the great post about topamax. I started taking it yesterday after many years of severe migraines and trying all sorts of remedies like all of you. My migraines have become worse after having children but it is good to know people like you are getting relief with this drug. I must say the weight loss thing appeals to me too and I hope I shed a few kilos. Do you find topa reacts with pain meds you still take for headaches - codeine/ibuprophen? I take imigran for migraine and hope it doesn't react with the topamax. My neurologist doesn't seem too worried. I am only on 25mg then increasing to 50 next week. I am 37 and after 10 years of chronic pain am loving the sound of this drug. I realise it's not for everyone, but hope it's for me!!

hi bella,

i am a new topa user like you. Day 2! I am quite excited about the prospect of this being the super-drug for me - although I am aware it isn't for every one. I just recently tried amitriptane and didn't make any difference to my headache fequency and migraines. I went to work today and found I was a bit tongue-tied and stupid but that can happen on any day maybe i'm just more aware of it because it's one of the side effects of topamax. I feel a bit like I do when I take imigran (sumatriptan) - spaced out and tingly - but am pretty used to that as i've taken imigran for so long. Would be interested to know how you feel and others with these dreaded migraines. Thanks

I was seeing a Dr. For adhd who put me on adderall. I was also taking topomax at the time for migraine prevention. This Dr. Almost killed me by uping my dose of adderal to 3xs the maximum daily requirement. When I started acting "weird", he labeled me as bipolar (never giving any thought to any other possibilities). He then upped my dose of topomax (to be used as a "mood disorder" drug), from 150 mg/day, to 300 mg/day. This may not be too much for some people, but for me, it was toxic! I was losing weight soooo fast, bruising like crazy, having severe muscle weakness, etc. - all the symptoms of folic acid deficiency anemia. When I approached my internists, he immediately tapered me off of this and I started to get better (as far as those symptoms were concerned). I started to see another dr for the adhd who immediately began lowering my adderall and I instantly started feeling better. This is just a very short part of the horror I experience from this doctor. I'm still in recovery from the damage he did to me. As far as the topomax is concerned, I would rather experience what side effects I got than the migraines. Everybody is different and will have to decide for themselves (with their Dr.) what is most beneficial for them.
God bless you!

:cry:

ok I went to the nuerologist today because migraines are ruining my life and was put on topomax - gee I can handle some mild side effects and I would do that for the weight loss possiblity alone! If this help with weight loss and reduces my migraines - if it is tolerable it will be a miracle drug! Day 1 so we shall see!

I have impression that main reason for most topomax users to stay on it or try it is - despite nasty side effects - weight loss factor...
I was on topomax for 1.5 years.
After about a year my migraines start coming back, I felt pressure in my right eye and on top of it I was acting like 'dumb blond' mostly because I start loosing my cognitive abilities and memory but also because I was constantly happy and overoptymistic....
After getting off topomax I stopped having migraines for about 3 months.
Now they are back with a vengeance, but i'm not going to go back to this drug.
Is there anybody out there who benefited from something a little bit less lethal ?

Update...Been on topamax since december for constant headaches and occassional migraines. My earlier posts indicate how "wonderful" I think/thought (i'm not sure) this drug is. At 200mg I developed an awful asthmatic type cough. It was near debilitating. I dropped down to 100mg daily and it diminished. I've lost 19 lbs. Lately, (since april 5) the daily headaches are back way more often than normal with topamax. Has the topamax quit working or is the lowered dose to blame? I hadn't really gotten much more relief at 200 than at 100 originally anyway, so it doesnt make sense. :?: topamax had originally decreased me to having headaches 25% of the time instead of the usual 100%. Does anyone have experience with it working then not working any longer? Thanks

Hi,
i have been on topomax for 8 months. My migraines have been helped immensely! However, since taking the meds, I have no motivation, I awake unmotivated, I am tired during the day and cannot do my shopping. I feel depressed. I have noticed that I am stumbling and I have tingling in my arms. I am just not me. I am getting pain in my eye a few times (a coinicidence). I am going to stop the topomax and see if I can go w/o the med or if there is something like it w/o the side effects that I have from it. The h/a's are very bad but the depression is horrible. .. I will let you know. :d

Emerald,

i agree with sheila,
with medications you have to stick them out for a little bit because it takes your body a while to get used to the effects. But at the same time, if these symptoms carry on too long it is not good for your over-all health and well being. Inform your doctor of your side effects immediately and that way it is on file so you too can monitor the effects together (really important). Feel better!

Just started topomax myself. On a really low dose. Already noticed, tingling in the hands, loss of apetite, nausea and difficulty concentrating. Headaches have not decreasing, but I have been studying pretty hard with my neck in awkward positions (may be contributing to the headaches). Im nervous about the lack of concentration as I cannot afford that in my program. Im kind of surprised my doctor put me on this medication first, as it does seem to have pretty bad side effects and people have written that it seems to be the drug of last resort!!! Might have to look into that a little more!! Any other ideas of medications people have taken for chronic daily headaches with intermittent (1-2 month) migraines?