I just stumbled on this forum. It's great to read about other people's experiences. I don't know anyone else who has epilepsy let alone in my own situation.
I was diagnosed about 2 years ago at the age of 51. I've been seizure-free for a year now, but it took ever-increasing doses of Tegritol, and by the time I got up to 1100 mg, I had a lot of trouble concentrating, multi-tasking, remembering things, and was constantly fatigued. My friends and colleagues described me as "zoned out" much of the time. This made it very difficult to perform my management job, so I've been off work since spring. Oh yes, and there was that 30 pound weight gain, too. Yuck.
My neurologist has me doing a gradual switch to Topamax. I'm at 100 mg of Topamax now, and down to 400 mg of Tegritol. I feel more energetic, and alert, for sure, (I'ts nice to have my brain back!) but since dropping below 600 mg, I've started to feel the pre-seizure auras, too. I also feel jittery, with knees bouncing, fingers tapping, a lot of nervous energy, which is not my natural personality at all. I'm wondering if it might be a side effect of the Topamax. Has anyone else experienced that with Topamax, and if so, did it go away in time?
Linda,
British Columbia, Canada
I was diagnosed about 2 years ago at the age of 51. I've been seizure-free for a year now, but it took ever-increasing doses of Tegritol, and by the time I got up to 1100 mg, I had a lot of trouble concentrating, multi-tasking, remembering things, and was constantly fatigued. My friends and colleagues described me as "zoned out" much of the time. This made it very difficult to perform my management job, so I've been off work since spring. Oh yes, and there was that 30 pound weight gain, too. Yuck.
My neurologist has me doing a gradual switch to Topamax. I'm at 100 mg of Topamax now, and down to 400 mg of Tegritol. I feel more energetic, and alert, for sure, (I'ts nice to have my brain back!) but since dropping below 600 mg, I've started to feel the pre-seizure auras, too. I also feel jittery, with knees bouncing, fingers tapping, a lot of nervous energy, which is not my natural personality at all. I'm wondering if it might be a side effect of the Topamax. Has anyone else experienced that with Topamax, and if so, did it go away in time?
Linda,
British Columbia, Canada