Topamax and pins and needles

I was on 200 mg/day of topamax for migraines. It did lessen the frequency and severity of the migraines. I lost 20 lbs and looked great. I felt horrible. I was suicidal and paranoid, cried frequently and thought that I was going to die. I was very tired, probably due to the topamax and the fact I was only eating about 500 cal per day on a good day, I was only rarely hungry and then would feel full after a few bites. I loved being thin, but was too tired to enjoy my life. I'm a nurse and couldn't remember anything, so I wrote everything down. My husband said that talking to me was like playing charades, because I couldn't remember the words for what I wanted to say. People would talk to me and my comprehension was very poor - it was like they were talking in another language that I didn't understand very well. I had always been sharp and quick witted, but on Topamax I was lost in a brain fog. I went off the drug under an MD's care. It took a while to feel like my old self, but life is now normal.

I was considering going back on it to lose the weight I put back on, but after reading all the other posts, I realize it's just not worth it. No, not everyone experiences all the awful side effects, but the side effects are not rare and some of them are horrifying. One of my friends who went on it couldn't even remember her children's names and she was on just 25 mg. I think this drug can make you feel like you are dying - just like a cancer patient at end stage. You don't want to eat, there is little enjoyment in life, your brain is foggy like you've been going through chemo and you feel incredibly sad as if you're going to die.

My advice would be to use the drug only if absolutely necessary. Try acupuncture, other migraine meds or seizure medications before this one. If you are taking it and notice that you are having extreme side effects, ask your doctor to be taken off it. If you can take it and the only side effects you get are a little pins and needles and an aversion to soda, go for it! But please note if you have strong emotional changes and try to eat healthy while on topamax.

This is my third time on Topamax...and I am weaning myself off again...The first time I loved it! I don't drink pop so I could care less about the taste issues. I suffered some tingling so I took Magnesium for that, some fatigue, low blood pressure, etc. But, due to a rapid weight loss (I was already small) and low blood pressure my doctors took me off. Then when I put some weight back on and the severe migraines persisted, I was put back on. Then, lots of tingling, dry eyes, fatigue, NO weight loss (apparently it only works the first time for loss) and weird vision disturbances and feeling dopey and not being able to talk, teach to type. So, I stopped again. Well, I can't live with the headaches, so on again. Well, it's been over 2 and a half years total now and I am just now beginning to see the real effects of this nasty medicine. I have been "sick" for over a year and no doc (10 total) can figure out what's wrong!!!! I have been researching a lot and come to the conclusion that it very well may be long-term use Topamax effects...45 lb. weight GAIN in a year and a half, constant nausea, severe fatigue, skin rashes, female infections non-stop, dry skin, lips and hair, dental issues, muscle and joint pain, pins and needles in feet, eye twitching, constant cold hands and feet, metallic smell to hands, body odor,insomnia the list goes on and on...Some of these I just noticed when my neuro (who thinks Topamax is the only cure!) upped my dosage again due to daily headaches and I started researching. I am currently weaning off of 150 mg. (100 at night and 50 in the am). I have been on up to 250 mg before. Although it used to help my headaches, the side effects are just too much to bare.

I was doing just fine taking 50 mg of Topamax but I was still having minor headaches. My doctor said to go to a neurologist because there may be a tumor to worry about. He doubled my morning dosage and added an evening dosage so now I am taking 200 mg. a day. I started the insanity on Friday. By Monday i went grocery shopping and couldn't remember what I was shopping for. Thank God i brought my husband with me...when I could remember that he was with me. And then when I remembered to ask him what we came for I needed to remember where it was. Upon returning home I offered to help my 7 year old grand daughter with her spelling homework. Do you how embarrassing it is to not remember how to spell first grade spelling words? Tuesday was Mardi Gras and we went to the movies so I was saved any further mind questions. Then along comes Wednesday and I returned to work. Well, I tried to get to work. I got lost. Here I was at Walgreen's trying to figure out what I was doing out at 6:00 in the morning. What day was it? The looks on other's faces when you ask them these question is not something funny. So, I get back in my car and aim in the direction I hope is work. Luckily, I remember where I habitually stop for breakfast. My memory comes back again and I make it to work. I am on time and all is well. Now, the day begins.

I haven't had a period since December. Here it is February. And no, I am NOT pregnant. I can't concentrate. I ate 2 chicken nuggets for lunch and am full (now that is a healthy lunch, huh?). I was addicted to Dr. Pepper and now can't even stand the smell of it. I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. I found a note that I wrote sometime yesterday that really scares me because I don't remember writing it. It says, " Headache @ 1:55 no known trigger jut sudden movement to pick up papers from bin over desk. Nausea as well. Need to go to sleep forever." Good feeling to have? Depression is kicking in.

I just called my doctor and he says decrease the medication down to 100 mg. Ummmm...How about I decrease it down to 0 mg and I take a Imitrex or 2 and a hot bath with a nap when I get home and live to see my grandchildren grow old! I think living with a migraine or 50 is far better than what I have been feeling this past week.

If anyone can tell me that it gets better in less than 2 weeks I will stay with it but 1 more week of this and I will be a patient in a mental hospital. I can't even play Nintendo with my grandson...NOW THAT IS DEPRESSING!

I have been on Topamax for a little over a year. I've had most of the side effects; tingling, numbness in the fingers, dry mouth, forgetfulness, and weight loss - love the weight loss. All the side effects have sort of slowed down as I've been on the medication longer. The weight loss has slowed and I've even began to get my appetite back- I'm afraid I'm going to start gaining weight now! I've lost about 40 pounds and I needed to lose it, so that was wonderful. I've had a very hard time losing weight all my life so this was wonderful.

I was addicted to Coca Cola and this med also helped me kick that habit because I lost my taste for the carbonation.

Does anyone know if the weight loss usually evens out after about a year or a year and a half? I need to lose about 30 more pounds and was hoping that I would continue losing weight!

Anyway, I was on the Topamax for headaches and it has completely helped that! It has truly been a God-send for me. Other than monthly hormone headaches, I don't get migraines hardly at all!

I am wondering about having my doc up my dosage for the weight loss aspect????

Hi
I have been on topamax for 5 months now. I first learned of this drug after holidaying in USA (i'm from UK!) and after suffering from horrendous migraines for years, with no relief, finally this drug has really helped. However it is certainly not without its side effects. One thing that i have noticed but no one else seems to have noted, so i'm not sure whether it is peculiar to me or not....is dry eyes??? My eyes are so dry all of the time. I am using eye drops 3 or 4 times a day and this is only since i've been on topamax. I'm interested to see if anyone else has noticed anything similar?

Also, noticed facial tingling..(pins and needles like) and feel like i have a chest infection all of the time. I also am very forgetful and where once i was incredibly articulate, my memory is definitely impaired. VERY frustrating and embarassing in business situations....BUT i rarely have a migraine and for that i am thankful!

My doctor put me on Topamax for migraines, but I can not handle the effects. I just started the 75 mg dose just as I was moving into a new college apartment with new roommates, and I felt like I was going crazy! I couldn't eat anything without feeling completely ill, I was spacing out, and I couldn't remember words.. for three whole days I couldn't remember the word 'tapestry.' I finally had to look it up in the dictionary.. not a good sign for a college student. The worst, though, was the overwhelming sense of panic that was getting worse by the day. I was no longer myself! The last straw was a panic attack, complete with hypernentilating. I have never felt so scared in my life. I actually had to go the ER to get something to calm myself down.

So, I decided to stop taking it. My parents talked to my pharmacist, and she told them that Topamax IS the type of drug you can stop "cold turkey." But after a week, I feel almost as bad as I did when I was on the drug! I still can't eat anything. Also, I wake up hours before my alarm goes off, completely sick at my stomach. I feel panicky and nervous. I have several bouts of diarrhea and this morning I almost didn't make it. I share a bathroom with three (normal!) girls, and it is getting to be embarrasing and annoying. Please, can anyone tell me.. when do the side effects go away?? I want to be a normal 19 year old again!

Taking Topamax for 2 years started out at 25 mgs 3 times a day for a mood stabalizer (bi-polar). Had tingling in hands and feet sometimes in face. Lost waight, pop tasts nasty, sleepy, short term memory loss, slurred speach. Now I take 100mg at bed time have no symptoms except I still am able to controll my eating (had a problem with over eating) no more road rage but I still felf a little depressed and did cry so I was not to stable until Citalopram 10mg at bedtime and Adderall XL 10mg in the morning was added. Now I finally feel like a totaly normal person. No more anxiety, mood swings, crying, paranoia,or any other weird stuff. I feel pretty good. Rarely I get pins and needles in my hands or feet or I forget where I put something.

Chest pains, fatigue, mood swings, pins and needles feelings in hands and feet, nausea, depression, terrible terrible medication.....do not take this medicine.. I actutally sent a letter to the FDA telling them to re-evaluate this medication.

Extreme moodiness, one day I love everybody, the next day I hate everybody, from my husband to my co-workers, even the lady at the gas station. Causes either extreme paranoia (from my husband is having an affair and Im going to get fired) to the other end of the sprectrum, TOTAL whimsical carelessness! Not me at all! Im typically very grounded, very stable, very predictable, very reliable, very easygoing, the office manager of a large corporation, with my husband for almost 14 years.

on a good note, I have lost approximately 6 pounds in 2 weeks. However, my feet, legs, fingers and hands tingle frequently to the extent that it is quite annnoying. Pins and needles annoying, at any given time. During traffic, in a meeting, its caused me to drop things.

After reading various posts, it causes concern to nerve damage. Its not worth the risk. I am going to back myself off of my prescription. If you are on topomax, and see any warning signs, Consult your physician!!

I am 34 years old, and I have been taking Topamax for the last 11 months for migraines. I used to get about 1 or 2 headaches a week, and my daily dose is 50mg. I do not have these same side effects that a lot of other people have been having. I have not been dopey, lost weight, lost hair....sometimes - rarely really - my toes do tingle (kind of the pins and needles feeling after they've fallen asleep if you've been sitting on them...) But it's nothing to make me reconsider taking this medication. I just wanted to post this in case there's someone wondering if there is *anyone* who has had a good experience....and I have. I'm so sorry that there are people who have not found the drug to be as helpful as I have. I've been able to accomplish a lot in the last 11 months that I never would have if I'd been plagued by the migraines that I used to have. It's been a lifesaver.

I too was given topamax for my seizures and migraines. First side effect was the pins and needles in my hands and feet. Then the real horror started. I lost weight because I couldn't remember to eat. Then I couldn't remember anything-I would walk into a room and not remember how to leave. After about year of mental erasure, my family begged me to get off it. My doctor kept saying it was stress-his standard response.It's been two years now and there has been some improvement but no where near what I was before I started.I take no meds now, I still have seizures but they are easier to recover from than the meds!!

I have been taking topamax for 2 weeks now, 75 mg at night. I have taken this drug before but stopped because I couldn't stand the pins and needles. I decided to give it another shot because I have gained 30 pounds since giving birth to my twins in February. I was having a problem snacking at night when I got up to feed them and it was usually sweets. I read a post on here that said to supplement with Zinc to get rid of the pins and needles and--WOW! Thank you! It has made all the difference in the world. I have lost 7 lbs and feel great. I have almost completely cut out snacking and have almost completely lost my sweet tooth. Yes, I do miss my Diet Cokes, but all that water has attibuted to my weight loss as well, I'm sure.