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My up date on topamax - getting worse or better?
Thu, 06/01/2006 - 07:49Topic: Medication Issues
Hi
I have been taking topamax now for 15 days.
I'm on 50mg a day, will be on 75mg in 2 days,working up to 200mg a day.
I haven't had any weight loss or tingling. But memory has been shortened a bit. Short term things like forgetting what I was about to say or mixing my words up in a sentence or cant get my sentence out right like I used to. But i can tolerate that.
I also have a dry mouth every day now even though I'm drinking water all day, I sometimes find it hard to swallow and I get tired more easily too, harder to wake up in the morning compared to before. My moods are up and down. But when they are up, they are up! I cant stop feeling happy and even excited more than usual. It's a nice feeling.
For the first 10 days of taking topamax,I was having auras every 2nd or 3rd day and less during that day too which was an improvement for me. But for the last 5 days I have been having them every day now. I was very busy at work the past few days but I wasn't overly stressed out. And today I'm very happy and excited as I'm going away for a weekend tomorrow and looking forward to it. But I still had 4 strong auras today and I dont know if there will be more yet. It's 2pm now so it's early yet.
Can anyone who has been on topamax tell me if they think tompamax is helping me or is it too soon to say yet?
I thought it was getting better but the last few days my auras became more. Please feel free to comment. All are welcome. I am new to topamax and I am nervous of its side effects of what might happen. So far memeory loss has happened but how bad it will get I dont know?
What should I look out for to know that topamax is not for me?
How much time should should I give?
Comments
Re: Re: My up date on topamax - getting worse or better?
Submitted by quirky on Wed, 2006-06-07 - 07:17
Hi shannon
I do know some doctors are very slow and even considered as bad doctors when comes to consulting. I changed to my new doctor last November because my previous doctor was feeding me 4 types of meds a day with side effects and didn't help me a lot over the years. I am happy with my new doctor. He has his own way of doing things but his way suits me better. I'm on less drugs, less side effects, and he is trying to see if i can have surgery done eventually. It takes 2/3 years in this country to find out if eligable for surgery or not.
I hope the doctor speeds up for your son. Thanks for sharing your comments with me.
Much appreciated,
Quirky
Re: Re: My up date on topamax - getting worse or better?
Submitted by KARDSHARQUE on Sun, 2006-06-18 - 12:22
Hi, I'm not one to reply often but your story grabbed my attention. I was on Topamax 4-6 years ago. I also took 2-3 other meds. I went seizure free for a long time. I was even able to drive again. I had a problem with my controling my reactions and mood swings. I had no idea what was wrong and insisted there was nothing wrong. I had a problem with what seemed to be a pulled muscle. As time went by I realized that the pain in my leg was getting worse and figured I didn't have enough time in between work and home to let it heal. Eventually it got so bad that I couldn't walk up the stairs normally because of the pressure it put on my calf. I don't recall if I continued to go seizure free through this whole ordeal. Eventually the swelling and pain was so bad that I was shimmying around on my butt just to keep from putting pressure on it. Finally I went to the hospital. After having my leg scanned I was told I have DVT (Deep Vein Thrumbosus) which is a blood clott. I was placed on coumadin and given tight stockings to keep leg from swelling. Eventually the clot desolved. My neurologist was aware of this whole situation. I started to look up side affects of meds. Eventually I came across Topamax and read that DVT is one of the possible side affects but very rare. I brought that to my neuro's attention but the dr disagreed and kept me on the med. I then asked the pharmacist about it. The pharmacist showed me the paper that comes with the med. It was pointed out to me that one rare side affect was DVT. I then decided to stop it on my own. I mentioned it to the dr. at my next app. The dr. disagreed but left it alone and tried other meds. My story goes on but I just wanted to let you know of my experience with Topamax.
Re: My up date on topamax - getting worse or better?
Submitted by shannon1220 on Thu, 2006-06-01 - 07:59
My son has been on topamax for a little over a year now - he takes 75mg per day - we have watched his cognitive skills diminish over this time - he is 10 & in 4th grade - last yr. he was functioning very closely to the other 3rd graders - this year he has regressed to 2nd grade level in almost all subjects except reading & language. He has also gained a lot of weight, mainly in his stomach. His epilepsy dr said this was not a known side effect of topamax HOWEVER we talked to his pediatrician who went back to when he was first put on it & his weight began increasing from that point. He has gained approx. 30 lbs. and is very upset over it. I have been urging his dr to take him off of it, but as you know, some drs are very slow-going. Good Luck with your situation, maybe yours will be different.