Topamax and irritability

headaches,nausea,fatigue,irritability,blurred vision,terrible loss of memory,inability to eat,depression,diarrhea

hi, i seem to have a lot of the less common side effects: hair loss, itchy, acne, back ache, frequent urination, yeast infection (started with vaginal bacterial infection when i first started and now have yeast infection around arrival of cycle each month and now doing preventative measures, but not sure of effectiveness yet), irritability, restlessness, inability to focus, sore throat, change in taste, and hot flushes, though sometimes tingling and coldness in my feet.
my dosage is low, 25mg, for migrane prevention. was supposed to work up, but will not. spoken to dr. and am now taking 25mg every other night before bed. i was very drowsey at first and had seemingly adjusted, but will only take it before bed. it does help curb my migranes, and with the relpax to kick them when i do get them things are manageable.
what i would like to know is if i finally get to the lowest possible effective dosage, does anyone know if over time will the side effects become manageable or will i continue to have them or worse get more of them. to be honest hair loss, acne, and yeast infections are not a girls best friends, then add aggression and aggitation and i am not sure if i even want to be around me, yet i have less migranes. ANY replies will be greatly appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sandy*

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 have been on Topamax since 5/2004 for depression. Currently down to 100mg/day

Negative side effects:
Memory loss
Aphasia
Weight gain (I actually began binge eating and gained 60 pounds on Topamax after having lost 120 pounds on atkins -pre topamax)
Sleep irregularity
Irritability
Leg cramps, stomach pain
Lethargy

Positive side effects
No more migraines, but I am not sure I have a brain left that can feel pain!
The depression is not crippling, but certainly not cured.

I have been taking topamax for about 5 years. I was off for about 18 mos. to have a child and nurse, and have been back on for 3 years now. I have been prescribed for bipolar II disorder. My main symptom has always been irritability, they say it is mixed episodes. I have no mania, really. My doctor believes that topamax is most effective at high doses, so I had been taking 1200 mg/day, and he only took me down when I complained about the confusion, word-finding, (general abscence of a brain), so now I am at 600 mg/day and have been for some time.

The tingling hands/feet does go away. The diarrhea does go away. Even the weight loss will stabilize. However, I have been in a severe depression for at least a year. I have incredible fatigue (I sleep 15 hours a day), I am very moody, and I have aggressive irritability. I am incredibly ditzy, and numbers confound me (can't add 2+2). I have chronic back and neck pain and have now developed chronic headaches. I sit and think, something is majorly wrong with me, I'm dying. I even have constantly plugged ears, ringing in the ears, excessive sweating (I never used to sweat and now no anti-persperant works) and body odor.

I have felt like a hypocondriac going back to my Dr. reporting these things to have him go hmmmm, I have no idea. Until I started to research Topamax and saw all of these things listed on the side effects, and realized exactly how high my dose was. Looks like I need to find a new Dr.