I'm a 26 year old female and I've been on Topamax since March 200...

I tried Topamax and it did nothing for me. I didn't get yeast infections. I'm on Imitrex and I love it! Maybe you should ask your Dr to change you to that if you keep having these weird side effects. Hope you have insurance though b/c my 9 pill rx is $269.00. Thank God I have insurance now! Good Luck!!

I have been on Topamax since Nov of 2007 and I have been experiencing many of the same side effects. Since I was 13 I have migraines 3-4 times a week and it was awful I have bounced from one medication to the next: depacote, imatrex, inderol and nothing was working for me. When I started topamax my migraines started improving at really low doses. But over time I noticed that I felt like my cognitive functioning was impaired, I would go to talk to people and I would know what I wanted to say but I would blank out. It has made me feel like an idiot some times. I am also struggling with memory loss, I forget things all the time and it makes me feel real bad about myself. And I wasn't like this before the medication, I would consider myself to have been a sharp person too. I have lost about 15lbs, and I have a hard time eating too. I have had a slight increase in acne, but I have not had any problems with hair loss or yeast infections. I do know two other people who have been on the medication for a long time, one person is taking it for seizures and the other for migraines, and they are both male. They both told me that they experienced similar problems with memory but that it takes a long time (like a year) to adjust to the medication and that the side effects did get better for them. For me I couldn't live with the migraines and I have tried many of the current medications they have, and nothing worked as well as topamax. It really does suck that the medication is a double edge sword, you have to choose between being well and feeling like a idiot. I am going to stick it out and hope that over time my body will adjust and the side effects will become less severe.

Yes, I have also had the fuzzy thinking and feeling at a loss for words sometimes, searching for exactly the right word when I used to be very articulate. I know this is from the topamax. Also, forget to eat and have to force myself to eat, sometimes only consuming about 500 calories a day! Food is very unappealing. Have been on topamax for 2 years, lost about 15 lbs, but am afraid to go off it cause of getting the headaches back.

I've been off and on Topomax since 2005. I didn't notice my hair loss at first, but this second time around it's been pretty noticeable. I'll have like ten hairs come off during a shower in my hand as I wash. It's been about two weeks since I've stopped Topamax and My hair is still breaking as I brush, but not as many hairs come out during the shower (maybe one or two). But I'm so glad I can think clearly; it's like I've come out of a fog or increased my IQ by 30 points. I can speak much more clearly and don't sound like an uneducated dope. But what I'm worried about the most is the hair loss in my temples. I flat iron my hair every day, which I'm sure doesn't help, but I seems as though my hair is the thinnest at the shaft or like my follicles are wider apart in my temple area. My hair isn't so bad, and I can part it to where you don't notice, but the fact remains that i used to have a lot more hair in that area. I can't put it in a pony tail because it's very noticeable. Anyway, I'm taking B vitamins with biotin, selenium, zinc.. ugh... iron and evening primrose... all of which were said to help remedy the hair loss. The hair breakage is still happening, but I hope this stops soon. If anyone can help it, they should not choose to take this drug. I don't care how beneficial the weight loss may be.

I thought it was just me going CRAZY!!! I have been on Topamax for 2 years for migraines and it has been the best relief. The only problem is I feel like a five year old when I talk to people and can't find the right words to finish a sentence. I am trying to weigh the pro's and con's of coming off but I don't want to go back to suffering 3 times a week. Besides the forgetfulness my hair is a disaster. It has become the most coarse, brillo looking head of hair anyone has ever seen. It's awful and I don't know what to do. Any suggestions????

I have been on and off topamax since 2003. I was off of it for about 2 years and now I'm back on it because I could no longer control my migraines naturally ... but I was hesitant because of the hair loss I experienced on the medicine .. I have been using it only 25 mg for the last 8 months and I have lost a ridiculous amount of hair ... it took me so long to thicken my hair, does anyone know any remedies to keep my hair from thinning. The dopey feeling and crappy ltm (long term mem) and stm (short term mem) are somet thing that I have come to live with, it is very difficult trying to deal with it being in college but I have been trying to work through it ... I wanted to increase back to 50mg that I was on in 2003 but im nervous ... i know that my sleepyness gets out of hand, even now :-/ i have become anemic again since being on the meds ... i went back into the gym for the last month ... it helps with my energy ... but i get overheated more quickly than anyone else ...
its nice to know that I am not alone though ...

The weight loss, hair loss & acne have been really bad for me.

I am 34, normally 108, but had gotten up to 115 & am now down to 90. People ask if I am okay, I assure them that I do eat. It's just hard when food does not appeal to you.

Every night I take a shower, I have a huge clump of hair that I have to take off of te drain guard. It's enough to cause the shower to fill up a little.

My acne is horrible. I used to get a pimple every now & then, but now it looks as if I have a rash. I have all these little bumps & then get some pretty yucky white heads.

I want to get off of Topamax, but am scared to because I went thru a REALLY bad adjustment phase. What if I get off & whatever else I try, I have to go thru that again... or what if it doesn't work & I go back on Topamax & go thru that phase again? I can't do it. I take 50mg a night.

For those of you that have gone off & on, do you go thru the adjusting phase again everytime, or is your body some what familiar with the chemicals & it isn't so bad?

Yes, this happened to me too! I have been on Topamax for almost 2 years for migraines and have gone from daily headaches and 12 migraines/month to just 5 migraines/month. Topamax gave me my life back with good and bad side effects - lost 25 lbs (got to a point of too much wt loss so I tapered off the med), memory and focus loss, feet and hand tingling, and a monthly yeast infection! Now I am on the generic Toparimate at 75 mg daily and the side effects have all gone away including the incredible fat loss. While I don't have the daily headaches I am back to 12 migraines/month so the neurologist has increased my dosage of the generic to 100mg/daily to see if that takes care of the migraines without a return of the side effects. It is a balance of risk, discomfort, and how much medication you are willing to take. I am still working it out but right now I am not sure how effective the generic will be but it would nice if it is without the side effects!

I was on Topamax from 2003-2008 for headaches at a 100mg a day dosage. I was lucky and the only symptom that I faced was about 10lbs of wieght loss. I decided to go off of Topamax to see if I could handle the pain without medication. After being off of the medication for only 6 months i decided to start taking it again as it clearly had made a difference in my life.
When I began to take Topamax again I had tingling in my hands and feet regularly. I also found that my memory was not nearly as sharp as it had been. Between difficulty concentrating and the seeming lack of memory space, studying for exams was extremely difficult. I again lost apx. 10lbs. Added to all of this, I experienced frequent yeast infections. The worst symptom I experienced is without doubt kidney stones. Having suffered 2 sets of kidney stones in three days, my urologist immediately pointed the blame on Topamax.

I still question how I was able to be on Topamax for so many years nearly symptom free and yet after returning to the medication I suffered from numerous side effects. I have once again stopped taking Topamax as the side effects became too much to handle.

So glad to hear that I am not crazy in thinking that my Topamax usage is causing my yeast infections! The nurse at my GYN office basically told me "it can't be from the Topamax". Even though I was sure I had read it as a "rare" side effect! I too have suffered from just about every side effect you can get; however, have been migraine free since starting the medication 8 1/2 month ago. Just like you said, what do you do.....live with the side effects or live with the horrible headaches!?!?! What an aweful choice to have to make!!! I will say that this yeast infection situation is just about a deal breaker for me!!! UGH!!!

I have been on Topamax for over a year now and my doctors were not able to tell me why I've been getting these yeast infections so I decided to look it up. I feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only one with this problem but I've lost over 40lbs since I've been taking this medicine. I think it's time to change my meds I'm at 150mgs per day.