Topamax and back pain

oh my God I wish I had read this sooner I thought I was going crazy! it seems like the doctors just don't know about the side effects of a lot of these drugs, because I have had ALL of those symptoms- the tingling, the muscle pain, the aches, the feeling of bugs crawling, the itching, the one I have the most now is pain in my arms and legs now to the point where today I cannot lift my arms past the front of my chest or over my head. So I barely stand the shower and barely get ready for work. When I told my doctor this last week, he said, hmmm, I don't know, lets just give it a few more weeks and see. I've been on Topomax for 5 weeks. I started at 25 mgs and worked my way up to 100 mgs slowly. Each time I add more mgs I have more EXTREME fatigue, and spaciness, dizziness, etc. My legs and arm and back pain did not start until the past 2 weeks. THIS SUCKS. But having migraines sucks too. I have lost weight. But I just don't know that I can live like this. The migraines are new for me, as a result of an accident I was in on January 26th. The side effects of the Topamax outweigh the pain from my accident. I might have reconsider taking this. Although I must say, this drug is the kind of medicine that definitely takes a while to understand how it will work for you. A lot of the effects will wear off. A lot of my spaciness or "Paula Abdul" moments as I like to call them, are getting so much better. I'm sitting at 100 mgs and really don't want to raise the dosage at all. I will talk to the doctor and see what he says. That's the other thing... doctors tend to give people too much or dont know how much to prescribe. Starting people off at 50 mg is too much. I take mine around dinner time as it tends to kick in around sleepy time and if I increase I ALWAYS increase on a Friday so I can regulate over the weekend. PS. I also have blood clots in my legs so being on Coumadin doesn't help things either!
GOOD TIMES!
I'm just so glad I'm not alone!!!
Caroline

I just started taking it, i was wondering if i can still safely take vicodin for back pain? The info is unclear on what you could take with it or not.

My sister in law has been taking topamax for at least two years now for migraines, I think 50mg a day. She has developed serious issues, which she nor her doctors believe is from the drug. She has back pain, moodiness, sleeplessness, extreme muscle cramping. Most recently, her legs have become extremely swollen, larger than any pregnant woman I have ever seen. The skin on her feet is breaking open and peeling. The doctors can't find the cause, but I think it is the topamax. Has anyone else had this swelling?

After 2+ years on Topamax for migranes (25 mg am/pm) I started to have shortness of breath. Couldn't even walk a flight of stairs, and I am distance walker in great shape. After lot's of tests Dr.'s said it couldn't be a side effect since I had been on it so long. They were WRONG!. Quit and now a week later I am about back to normal. After quiting also feel no neck/back pain. Irritability gone also. I hope my migranes don't come back. So far no problem. But the side effects are worse than the migranes. Especially the SHORTNESS OF BREATH!

I passed a kidney stone about 1 month ago & was told that I have another in each kidney. Have been on 200 mg Topamax/day for 3 years. Also they found a gall stone 2.5 cm when they did CT scan at ER. Just had it removed. They had to do a larger cut at the navel so they could get it out, it was so big. I've also been on Lexapro 20 mg/day.
My husband keeps telling me my back pain is a convenience pain and all in my head. I think between a gall stone that large and kidney stones I can rest assured the pain was not all in my head. Dr. put me on topamax for weight loss.
I feel that Drs. don't care, they are much too busy, you have to educate yourself. I passed a kidney stone 4 yrs ago so this Dr should have know not to put me on it.