topiramate/topamax ??

[doihaveepilepsy]

how long is it before topiramate.topamax starts to control seizures and at what dosages. I have recently started on it and am currently on an incresing dose and alrey experiencing side effects.

[haird18]

I take Topamax and just finished the increasing it to where my doctor wanted it. Every two weeks my doctor added 25mg until we got to where good tolerable level. It caused me to have blurred eyes for awhile and he may change it. Just remember side effects might sub side and if not for sure tell your dr. Take care
David Hair

[Loudmouth]

i have been on topamax for 6 weeks,at a dose of 25mg twice a day,and in those 6 weeks due to loss of appetite (and everything tasting of metal),i have lost over a stone. The BIG problem though,is that since starting on the topamax,my eyesight has CHANGED. I no longer need my reading glasses for my slight short sightedness...but now I have to wear glasses ALL the time,as my distance sight is,well,RUBBISH!!My optician said it is almost definately due to the medication and has alerted my doctor. She told me that at 27,i have the eyesight of someone in their 40's now.my eyesight is degenerating already!! Day after my birthday as well!!And as if that wasn't bad enough,to add insult to injury,my NHS voucher only covers £40 of the cost of the glasses,the price of which is £ 129, so I am going to have to find £89 to pay for my glasses, and after looking around,thats the cheapest i can get them! I am now on 6 monthly eye checks,so to anyone on topamax/topirimate... GET YOUR EYES CHECKED EVERY 6 MONTHS!!!yet more expense !! delights of having E,finding ANOTHER hidden expense...

[doihaveepilepsy]

haird18 what dosage are you on now?? i am currently only taking 50 mg but still got to increase it until i reach my target dosage where i am seizure free i think. they make me feel spaced out and weird.

[hawke86]

I use to take topamax. I don't take it anymore cause my body became immune to it.

[bbbecki78]

my ten month old son started on topomaxwhen he was four months. He started on 30mg a day and is now up to 90 mg a day. He takes the sprinkle tablet. I have read that it can take up to two months for it to take full effect. My son is developmentally delayed and it is hard to know if it is related to the cause of his seizures or if his seizure meds are contributing to the delays. He is also on phenobarb.

[Mandy]

Hello, I took Topamax for 4 months and had terrible side effects from it. I lost over 20lbs, had memory problems,couldn't finish sentences and lost my appetite. Just be careful while taking it. Take Care!

[Meetz1064]

I'm on 200 mg of Topamax, and I WISH I could say I'd lost some weight or my appetite for that matter! HA! Not my luck!

So far, so good for me on this med. I've been on it for 11 months now. No major side effects. I was loopy for the first month or so......but I expected that. I usually do that whenever I switch meds.......

[Loudmouth]

been on it for 8 weeks now...lost 2 stone, word placement is a big problem as is the fact that i appear to have mis-placed my memory...I am on 75mg/day now, complex partial's down to 5/6 a day from 11/20, so its helping but the SE's are horrid. think I'm going bald from the hair loss...am allergic to it so have to take it in conjunction with piriton(anti-histimine)...sleeping so much I am late getting up & getting my kids to school as i am sleeping through my (VERY LOUD) alarm...it's damaging my eyesight badly to the point where my optician has had to alert my GP... BUT...IT's the ONLY anti-epileptic drug that has EVER had ANY impact on lessening the amount of complex partial seizures I have....WHAT DO I DO? my quality of life is awful now, just in a different way to when I was having more szs. Anyone got any suggestions? (I also take 1200mg/day Gabapentin for my other seizures)The only other anti-epileptic drug left for me to try is POSSIBLY keppra, but I am wary due to SE's and due to my history of 'depression' they are wary of giving it to me,and I am wary of taking it...HELP!!

[Bee91]

I think it just depends. Some people can have their seizures stopped at a very low dose of the meds. I am up to 600mg of Topamax and I still wasn't seizure free until they added another seizure med along with it. Even though I was having side effects every time I would change my dose. So I think it just depends on how your brain and body reacts to it.

[Birdbomb]

Loudmouth be very careful with that. Topamax caused me such severe eye pain! I went to 2 different doctors to find the cause of the pain but no one could figure it out. Then one day I got a warning from the EFA about possible eye damage and blindness caused by Topamax. I contacted my neurologist right away but he claimed not to know anything about this. We stopped the medication and the pain stopped too. I call the pharmaceutical company and filed an incident report.

[Loudmouth]

what a decision though...its REALLY the ONLY anti-epileptic drug that has helped my complex partial's in 5 years, and i am losing vision cos of em. stay on topamax, raise dose, possibly become seizure free, BUT blind....or come off them and resign myself to having 11-20 complex partial's a day again? when on 75 mg/day i'm down to 5-6 a day? what a choice! I just love the decisions we have to make when you have epilepsy!

[Belinda5000]

Topamax has been a great drug for me.
It's been one of the few that actually controls me some and I take 200MG a day.

Belinda

[Loudmouth]

Is it normal to get progresivly more aggressivly feeling and acting when your on topamax? I nearly punched someone yesterday cos she had a go at me abotu how I look after my kids and I am finding myself yellong at the kids loads the last few days and today i justwanna rip everyones head off???????

[Meetz1064]

this is an unusual side effect.....check out the link below.....

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/mono-6019...e=TOPAMAX+Oral

Call your neurologist ASAP.........