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Hair damage and breakage from topamax/ need help

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Posted 7/26/2008 12:06 AM (GMT 0)
I have been weaning off of topamax from 400mg to 200mg a day now 75 I have severe hair damage and breakage I take biotin and all vitamins. Will the breakage stop? will my hair recover and start to grow back normal? Please help!
Posted 7/26/2008 5:08 PM (GMT 0)
I've not heard of this. I'm ramping up on Topamax right now & have been losing weight like CRAZY! I've gone from my lifelong adult weight (I'm a guy) 6'2" and 235# for most of my life and tipped the scale for the first time this morning at under 200# since I was a freshman in H.S. and I am about to turn 44 years old. It's kinda freaky. When I started Topamax I was actually a bit above 235#, closer to 245, & that was only 8 months ago, so 50# in 8 months.

I have to wonder if your hair issue is from protein deficiency primarily. I do know that I have been having a terrible time with eating. All I have to do is look at food and the mental image of...well...what food ultimately becomes...pops into my head, and suddenly I am no longer hungry. I can't explain it, but there it is. But back to your question....

If your hair issue is from protein deficiency and your appetite improves, your hair growth will surely improve. So far, my hair has not started doing anything weird, however I have been concentrating on proteins and calorically dense foods when I do eat.
Posted 7/26/2008 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
Happy to hear of your weight loss! Lucky for you hair loss is not common in men only women and I eat plenty of protein. I eat 3 meals and never gave up steak! I lost weight although I did not need to I weigh 115 topamax has serious side effects be careful

Posted 7/27/2008 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
bethann123
I have taken 500mg of Topamax a day for several years now, my hair does fluctuate between becoming very thin and thicking back up. My hair care persons wife had cancer a few years ago so he carrys Nioxin at his shop. I started using it as my shampoo and it seemed to make a differance. Just a possibity for you to try, it seemed to help with me. I also cut my hair mega short to make the thin hair look like more, it actually stimulated my hair to grow thicker. Just a couple of things you might want to try. Monte
Posted 7/28/2008 5:22 AM (GMT 0)
Can you tell me which nioxin shampoo you use? I have researched and noticed they have several different types. Also my hair has color in it. I cannot cut it all off. I want to at times I would look awful and my 5 year old son would go into shock! lol. I'm really trying to keep what I have the last trim made it worse it kept breaking off. I did not seem to have this problem at beloww 100mg the problem is I went from 200 to 400 back to 200 and now I am gradually decreasing by 25mg every 2 weeks based on what I have read. My doctor just doubled my dose in march and ever since I have been in hair hell.
Posted 7/28/2008 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
bethann123
I have been using Nioxin 1 cleanser natural hair early stages of thinning and Nioxin 3 scalp therapy chemically enhanced hair early stages of thinning conditioner. # 3 doesn't say on it that it is a conditioner but it is. Good luck. Monte
Posted 7/28/2008 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
thank you so much! have you heard of using msm for hair growth?
Posted 7/29/2008 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
I have never heard of msm . Monte
Posted 8/9/2008 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
Topamax and depakote are now recommended for my daily headaches and pulsating tinnitus. Does anyone know the actual percentages of people that have hair loss on each of these? I am already dealing with thinning and receding hair. It sounds like this plus the 20 + lb gain is a real bummer for a headache. Am I confused or are these side affects actually worth it.. I appologize if I am on the wrong thread , but this is a seizure medication dispite the fact that my nuerologist is recommending antidepressants 3yrs now zoloft, as well as starting topomax and or depakote and others if these dont work,,, are there any natural solutions?
I appologize if I am out of synch on this thread,,,
Tonyn
Posted 8/24/2008 9:02 AM (GMT 0)
Are you finding that your headaches are deceasing using the Topamax?

Posted 9/3/2008 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
My migraines have decreased a lot.  I'm currently on 200 2x daily.  My seizure control is lousy of late, and am back on Neurontin as well, 600 3x daily but still having about one seizure every 2 weeks.  I have no idea why.  I was having total control with just Neurontin and an HS diazepam for 3 years.  Still not taking the bedtime diazempam but I just can't tolerate the diazepam any more, it was ruining my life zzzz, but that's another story.  Migraine control has been fantastic, down to one or fewer a week from one every other day or MORE.  I was the Imitrex poster child.

HW

Posted 9/9/2008 6:04 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, I would like to address the hair issue with Toppamax, I was one of the first people to use the drug when it came out, I was put on a study through Mayo Clinic, I had terrible hair loss, My doctor put me on Zinc and prenatal vitamins, it seemed to really help, Be careful with the Zinc, it needs to be in the orm of Oxide, as most Glutamates in any form can cause seizure problems.good Luck!
Posted 9/9/2008 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
hi Hosewhipper, When I was first on the topamax along with the others that were on the study with me, we all were very thin, hahahaha, it was great for those of us who wanted to drop extra pounds, Sure wish it still worked, But after so long the weight thing subsides. I was down to 100 lbs and at 5'6 that is really thin!Hoope this is helpful! I had surgery in 94 and have been seizure free ever since!!!! Good luck
Posted 9/20/2008 8:29 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry to hear about your topomax side effects. It ruined my apatite for the first few weeks. I still dont get as hungry like I used to I just know when its time to eat. Topomax works good for me controling seizures. I was having them so bad it would take a couple weeks to recover. Every bone in my body would hurt.

Good luck
Tom
Posted 6/17/2013 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
I have been on Topomax for a couple years now @ 50mg 2x a day for migraines and episodes of vertigo.At first the weight loss was great.It worked great for me,except I did suffer from some memory loss at first,but that doesn't seem to be an issue now.However,I now am having severe hair breakage and thinning. I started taking a good vitamin and olive oil treatments..and I am stopping my topamax on my own slowly.50mg every other day now...till I can afford to see my doc. Don't want to lose my hair,its my best asset!I have to color it too,cause I'm going grey quickly! any suggestions??? smhair
Posted 7/13/2013 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
I recently switched from Dilantin to Topomax. There are some side effects of Topomax that aren't well documented and my neurologist did not discuss with me. I only found out about these side effects after a few months of starting the meds.

- Hair loss. Although hair loss is being reported by some people who take this medication, you probably won't find it listed as a documented side effect. But a lot of people experience hair loss with Topomax. I don't know if it's because this medication kills your appetite and you end up losing vitamins or if it's because of something else.

- Flaky nails. Bone pain. I started noticing that my nails were getting paper thin and my bones were aching. It didn't occur to me that it had anything to do with Topomax. Until I took a fall and broke and dislocated my wrist. Again, I went online and started hitting the forums. I noticed a lot of people were complaining about long term Topomax use and bone problems. Again, maybe this has to do with the fact that Topomax kills your appetite and it affects your calcium intake.

I am getting off this medication right now and staying away from it. It is NOT working for me. I had amazing long hair. I am cutting it short. I can't get it to stop falling out. The side effects are terrible. I am worried about my bones. I am worried that I'm developing some sort of calcium problem. I am going for a bunch of blood tests. The problem with these newer drugs (as opposed to say Dilantin that has been on the market much longer) is that long term side effects haven't been studied as widely. There aren't any studies that look into the less known side effects and patient complaints. So doctors know about these complaints here and there but they don't have stats.
BEWARE of the newer medications like Topomax. They work for some folks but many of the side effects haven't been adequately studied.
Posted 7/13/2013 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
I took Topamax from May 2009 until November 2009. I was taking it for back pain. It helped tremendously. I did have the no appetite side effect as well as soda tasted flat. It took 3-4 months before my hair started falling out.  I had been extremely ill June and July of that year and thought maybe that was why my hair was falling out. But after some internet searching I found lots of others having the same problem.

I don't recall the exact dosage I was on, but it was very low. I weaned myself off in late November and it took nearly 6 months for my hair to be where it was prior to the medication.  I was afraid that if I kept taking it I would end up bald, that is how much hair I was losing each day.

I know everyone is different, but hopefully after you stop taking it your hair will start to grow back in. Now when I get my haircut I have to have it thinned it, is has come back so thick.

All the best to you!

Posted 4/16/2018 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
My son started taking Topamax August 2017 and went from 393 lbs. down to 329 lbs...but had incredible hair loss and breakage; also struggles with seborrheic dermatitis on his scalp which he did have before the Topamax. He takes 100 mg in a.m. and p.m. He is almost 19 yrs. old and very upset. I am going to get him the zinc oxide and prenatal vitamins to try these to see if it helps, and up his protein. I feel so bad for him. He is a very big tall guy 6' 4" ...but should really weigh well under 300 lbs. Topamax worked great for his weight loss.
Posted 7/22/2019 10:25 PM (GMT 0)
try Zinc and Selenium !
Posted 7/22/2019 10:26 PM (GMT 0)
try Zinc and Selenium !
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