United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

i am taking topomax now and i'm thinking of going off of it. I'm taking it as a mood stabilizer. It has slowed my brain down and made me stupid. It also has made me very short tempered. My mood swings are horrible. The crying spells are terrible too. I'm going to wean myself off it. I don't like my pdoc and am going to find a new one. It's too bad it didn't work. I was really looking forward to the weightloss.
Kathi

I have been suffering from Meralgia Paresthetica now for nearly 2 years - the last 6 months have been a blur of pain, pain meds, tests, doctors, etc. to finally receive "this" diagnosis, which the "very highly recommended" neurologist I just saw 2 days ago doesn't even recognize. However, at 230lbs, I am about 90lbs overweight - he put me on Topomax to help with pain and weightloss, but the way he is doing it seems different from everything I've read here ... 25mg at bed for 2 weeks, then increase to 50mg at bed for 2 weeks, then 50mg am and 50mg at bed after that. Maybe this slow buildup will stave off some of the nasty side effects long enough for my pain to diminish and for me to lose weight and get off of it? If anyone has any other experiences with this painful condition, I would sure like to speak with them at PCyoda@protelco.net Good luck to everyone here!

You started Topomax at 100mg per day?
How can you handle the side effects?
My Dr. told me to cut the 25mg in half. That was my starting dose for 10 days.
I took a whole 25mg laast night for the first time.
I am taking Topomax and Effexor.

hi, my psychiatrist just prescriped topomax for me for an eating disorder. about three years ago, i was a restrictive eater (maybe slightly anorexic, not sure) and weighed about 95 lbs. then i developed a binge eating disorder, but never picked up purging. my doctor prescriped topomax to try to help stop the binging, and i'm really hoping to loss weight on it. i now weigh about 125 (i'm 5'4"). i'm just a little scared about the other side effects, specifically, the depression part because i have been diagnosed with depression.

I was on topomax for only 6 weeks and had to stop because it caused severe and painful acne.

Wow. I stumbled into this forum in a search for info on Topomax. I must admit (my apologies) that I do not even know what a TBP injury is. I have a repetivitve stress injury (chronic pain & swelling in my hands and forearms) that ended my career. A host of doctors told me to get used to living with the pain. My new doctor put me on Topomax-he started me out 4 weeks ago at 25 mg working me up to a goal of 100mg. I felt better than I have in 2 years (sob!) until I hit the 75 mg and started getting tingling in my extremities, sinus pain, etc. I have noticed the cognitive slowing; in my case this is a plus as it seems I may also have an undiagnosed learning disability (possibly ADD?) and the Topomax is actually increasing my reading comprehension. The more I read about everyone else's experiences ( thank you, by the way )help me to understand what is going on. I plan to tell my doctor i'm backing off to 50 mg where I am comfy. But if any of you know someone out there with injuries similar to mine, spread the word- I had given up all hope!

ok OK Whats your name? You did not put a name on your letter. When you say you have a learning disability, what do you mean? Whats is ADD? THIS IS A TBI BOARD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!spread the word !!!! I think where all to besy with our TBInjury's. thanks for asking..............Paul

First of all Paul, get over yourself. Secondly, I am merely attempting to share information with others regarding a medication we are all apparently interested in learning about. You, on the other hand, seem interested only in maintaining the exclusivity of your little group. If you do not know what ADD is, I suggest you look it up. As I admitted earlier, I did not know what a TBI injury was; well I do now ( I took 30 seconds to open a new browser window and look it up on WebMD). Unlike yourself, I seek information for personal enrichment instead of using my knowledge (or lack thereof) to blast people for participating in a worthwhile discussion. I apologize to the rest of the participants of this discussion board if I have offended any of you; I have zero tolerance for this sort of mentality. And Paul, these are postings, not letters. If I wish to post my name, I will.

I'm taking effexor and topomax also. I'm taking 37.5 mgs effexor and 50mgs. topomax (at night). I was fine until a couple of weeks ago - I had a sinus infection and took avelox (an antibiotic). Since then, I have been so fatigued I can barely function. This also seems to coincide with the increase in the topomax from 25mgs to 50mgs. Do you find it makes yo very fatigued?

This is just my opinion, but I think its good for people like angelicamb who don't have a TBI to share their information on this board. We could all learn something from others who take similar medications but for other problems.