# Topamax - info please



## Inside (Jan 31, 2010)

My doc has brought up Topamax a few times, I just want some personal info on it. If you've taken it, how was it for you, what was the main benefit, side effects... all that.

Thanks for taking the time to read...


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## livingnsilence (Feb 4, 2008)

There only has been one very small study on the benifits of topmax for SA, and it said it might help. There is a current study that may or may not be done with trials that is larger testing topamax in SSRI resistant SA. Topamax main action is reducing glutamanergic action (through the kainate receptor) which is an excitatory neurotransmiter and it also raises GABA-A activation. 

I tried it. I was taking 25mg twice a day for a week, and then went to 50mg twice a day. However, I had to stop on day 9 because of the side effects, and 9 days wasn't enough to see if it would help SA and also wasn't a high enough dose. The side effects I had were I'd start crying a lot for no reason, I was getting parethesia (tingling in the hands and feet), had drastic changes in my food cravings (good changes I started craving healther stuff and stoped craving a lot of my favorite junk foods, this even lasted a few months after I stoped), and I'd get drunk way quicker. But the side effect that made me quit is I got the side effect of memory problems and it made studying very hard because I couldn't remember near as good, and since I'm in school I need to be able to remember what I study. I actully strangely still have some hope for this drug in a way, or at least more than any drug my psych will prescribe. I'm thinking about trying it again when school lets out for the summer.

There are also other side effects that you can get from this medicine that I didn't get including acidosis, dizziness, tiredness, anorexia, ect.


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## goldengirl (Feb 14, 2009)

Hello!

I take this drug, but it was not prescribed directly for my SA, depression, whatever you want to call it....it was prescribed for my migraines, as a preventative drug. I take 100mg a day. It is an anticonvulsant - I was told that it works on the blood vessels, as a "deconstrictor" (if that is a word), of sorts. I believe it was originally being developed for use with heart conditions, but don't quote me on that.

That said, my GP also likes it as a mood stabilizer. I do believe that it works relatively well, as my moods do not fluxuate as much from one extreme to another.

One positive side effect, for me at least, is it works as an appetite suppressant and, thus, you lose weight. Initially soda will taste flat, your hands and feet could tingle (this could go away though, my feet still tingle sometimes though). After long term use there could be some short term memory loss and a feeling of not being able to "think on your feet". I should note that I have been/am on other medications that could be contributing to this, but the weight thing is def. the Topamax 

Hope this helped some!


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## Inside (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for the replies LivingnSilence and Golden, both experiences are pretty helpful. It sounds like it could help with moods and helps with ambition so to speak with the eating stuff. The tingling is odd though, hope not a nerve thing. I'll ask her about it and see - I'm in the same boat though with memory, got to keep the honor society going, it's paying the most of the school stuff so need the memory. On the other hand, I might just try something else. It's amazing how much anxiety comes with a new regimen of drugs. 
Thanks again for your replies, both were very helpful. I'm curious about the Gaba A receptor though, any insight there would be highly appreciated.
Inside.


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## euphoria (Jan 21, 2009)

I've heard it's one of the worst anticonvulsants for side effects.


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## livingnsilence (Feb 4, 2008)

Inside said:


> Thanks again for your replies, both were very helpful. I'm curious about the Gaba A receptor though, any insight there would be highly appreciated.
> Inside.


I'm just getting this out of my top 200 drugs book. All it says about the GABA thing is "topiramate increases the frrequency of GABA-A receptor activation, and enhances the ability of GABA to induce a flux of chloride ions into neurons." So it's not really anymore insightful than what I said before.


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## Inside (Jan 31, 2010)

thanks livingnsilence, I appreciate you taking the time to look it up again and type it out. Sure didn't know we had chlorine in our brains, I took chemistry and can write the equations but didn't know it was anywhere near our receptors! Thanks again, I appreciate your time.


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## belize (Oct 2, 2010)

I've been taking Topamax, and now the generic, for social anxiety disorder for about 7 years. It was a godsend for me. I take 300 mg per day in two doses. I also take Paxil CR which I was taking before the Topamax. Before the Topamax I could barely leave the house. I was afraid of people and everything else. I really wasn't functioning very well. After starting the Topamax I could start to feel a change in just a few days. I felt the fear starting to lift. I could leave the house. I could talk to people again. I wasn't afraid when the phone rang or someone knocked on the door. I could take a job outside the home. It let me get the social anxiety under control and my life went back to normal.

I was lucky. No side effects for me. I also had migraines at the time so this medication did double duty for me. I very rarely have migraines anymore.

I went from being a shut-in to teaching a couple of years later and I credit it to the Topamax.


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