Topamax and estrogen

i started taking topamax because of my migraines which i would wake up with them daily. the first week i started topamax 25 mg.(once a day) i was dizzy, lightheaded, silly, "drugged" sleepy (all day), stumbled over my feet, my head was "cloudy". now is my 5th week and i am 25mg in the am and 25mg at bedtime. i don't feel silly anymore. no migraines!!! i am happy now. i get tingly fingers and toes but that is nothing compared to my head throbbing every day all day long. sometimes my chest feels tight but i don't know if thats related to the drug or not. overall, i am satisfied after i got through the initial start-up phase. i did have to stop taking my birth control pills though because they wont be as effective. :(

wow!
it sounds like everybody hates topamax from all the posts that i read... although i didnt read them all...

anyway, at first i had the memory loss thing but it seems to be ok now. i think i always had memory problems though, but it did get worse for the first couple months on topamax and then a little worse when my doc upped my dose. although now i think that my body may have gotten used to it, bc i feel a bit back to normal with my memory.

i also have the leg tingling. mainly i notice something like a slight throbbing if i put my foot down too suddenly, but it doesnt actually hurt. i notice the actual tingling in my legs/feet when i drink though, but only when i drink.

what else? oh, the hair loss. ALTHOUGH, this could also be from my dying my hair a lot... bc i have always had a hair loss problem, but i think the topamax accelerated it.

however, these side effects arent enough for me to get off the drug until my doc thinks so. i had migraines every week or more. horrible ones where i had to stop what i was doing and lie down. i missed a lot of school , missed a lot of work... sometimes they would last for more than a day. i needed help. now i only get migraines during that time of the month, and several docs have said its bc of the lack of estrogen... even when i get those migraines i only get the symptoms , not the pain. i dont even have to take anything. i have my life back... haha, i sound like a lifetime story or a commercial. anyway, i <3 my topamax and im just going to start taking a biotin supplement to prevent hair loss until i can get off this drug when it is time.