So any good stories about Topamax?

[Rickster8]

Hi, my son Kaden has been on Topamax for about a month now.

Has this drug helped any of you or your children? Please list some good points and bad points that you noticed.... Also what dosage where y'all on???

Thanx,

Rickster

 

[Nakamova]

I haven't tried Topamax myself, but you might be able to find comments about it using the "Search" tab in the bar at the top. The link below may be useful too:
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20505&name=TOPAMAX

 

[Belinda1961]

Topamax was one of three meds that actually worked on me to control my seizures.
After 3 weeks I the only side effect really of it was some *bitchiness.
It eventually went away it just kills Libido.
Belinda

 

[Sheripark]

I'm on topomax only 50mg a day. Naturally on this dose I've been having seizures. The side effects that were really annoying was that it made many foods taste like metal (drinks too) including water. This did go away after about three months though. Topomax can also overheat your body. With children you should be aware of this. This was my main reason for lowering from 150mg a day down to only 50mg a day, it overheated me significantly. Also, this is one of the few drugs that causes weight loss. I'm little to begin with so I continued to eat healthy and my weight stayed the same (106). Heavier people may experience significant weight loss however. With children, you want them to eat and be healthy so keep an eye on his weight. Also, people like to call topomax dopomax because it can make you "dopey". I think any anti elliptic drug can do this and topomax certainly can too. There is a certain clarity I feel I lack. Good luck!

 

[dontmindbea]

I'm on Topamax, 425mg 2 times a day, just updosed to 425 3 weeks ago, was on 400mg 2 times a day. To me it seems like the med only takes about 3 weeks to get used to when updosing, and the worst bits are the fact that I literally have to force myself to eat (I have seriously gone a day and a half and forgotten to eat before)- so remember to watch his eating habits! They'll change pretty drastically... and the foggyness that you get at the higher doses (at least it seems this way to me, I do have short term memory loss though- so it could be that it's gotten worse? but some days I feel like an Alzeimers patient haha) so, if he's in school, maybe give him some leniency on grades for a while and get a tutor? but overall, if it's the drug that works, I do recommend it, because, like any drug...they all have crappy side effects, you just have to pick which ones you're going to live with and which ones you can't =P Oh...and recently another thing that bugs me about it- just because it's winter though- I'm like a permanent ac- my body seems to run cooler than everybody else, so I bundle up really well, and don't stay out in the cold too long (my Dr told me that it's a side effect of the Topamax that I freeze my a** off everyday- but hey- in the summer, it's nice!)

good points : less seizures... less frequent headaches... less meds overall needed =)

 

[SeizetheNight]

I was on keppra for over a year, with no noticeable results (unless you count the anger...) So, after being on the maximum dose of that and still having a seizure, my neurologist switched me to topamax, and I went seizure free for almost a year and half with very minor side effects. That was on 100mg, twice a day. Now I am moving up to 150mg twice a day. I do feel a bit slower than I used to, and strange at times... But I think it is quite a bit better than keppra, and it seems to work.