Hello - new here, with questions!

[Chefgirl30]

Hello, hope everyone had a good Easter!

I've been taking Tegretol for about 10 years, and it doesn't seem to be working anymore - getting random auras, had a seizure about a month ago. It also appears to have too much of a downer effect on my thyroid, which would be nice to avoid if at all possible. Anyway, I've been weaning myself very slowly onto Topamax for three weeks, still have at least nine weeks to go.

I'm curious if there are any other hypothyroid folks here. It's just so hard to know what's a side effect of seizure meds and what's a thyroid symptom, and what's an effect of a seizure med on my thyroid, what might go away if I give it time, what is worth giving it time, etc.

Even if you're not hypothyroid, if you've taken Topamax an idea of what the side effects should be would help. I've always felt like my own little petri dish trying new meds.

As you might guess, the Dopamax is making me scatterbrained. Does that get better? Ugh, I can't even tell if this post made sense! I swear I usually am a pretty logical person, but I'm a tax preparer, it's April 13, and I have been taking Topamax now for three weeks.

[skillefer]

Hi chefgirl! Yes, there are others here with hypothyroid. I'm one of them. I took depakote for...heck over 10 years, when I found out I had an underactive thyroid. The thyroid was coming up normal on the screenings they did, but I knew something was wrong...so a dietician had me do a temperature test everyday for a week. Basically, before I got out of bed in the morning, I was to take my temp at my armpit. I wrote down the temps and reported them back to the dietician...it turned out I had borderline hypothyroid problems...not enough for the screening to pick it up, but low enough for the lack to cause symptoms. As for whether the thyroid issue is med related or thyroid related...I wouldn't know. I don't take Topamax. Anyway, I hope this helped. And welcome to the site.