Topamax can cause seizures...?

Thank you for your condolences. You don't have to feel bad. I forgive you. I don't judge people either, as I believe in God. Its God that has been keeping me going. You know having 5 family members has been so hard on me. I didn't realize I was also taking it out on people til you spoke up. My 2 aunts and uncle whom passed away was from cancer. My grandmother, in a way was a true blessing. Gma had dementia, her hallucinations were just horrid. She would be thinking and seeing dead children's body parts everywhere. I was her sole care taker. It really made me sad for her to go through thinking the child's head was on the kitchen counter. I am sad gma is gone, but thankful as she no longer has to have those horrid effects from dementia. My step mother died suddenly, from malpractice. I don't know for sure, but I strongly think its malpractice. She went to the ER for having trouble doing bowels. They focused on everything else but her bowels til it was too late. She ended up having a massive heart attack and they couldn't save her. She was the first to pass away. Seriously, every week, and on a weekend someone passed away for 5 weeks straight. My grandmother died on a Saturday morning, one aunt died Saturday night. Two days after my grandmother passed away, my biological mother fell breaking her foot in 3 places plus dislocating and shattering her ankle. I was so wrapped up in taking care of my bio mother that 20 minutes before we had to leave for Gma's funeral I smacked myself in the head. Mom said "what is it?" I looked at her and said "Mom we forgot the flowers!" and she said "oh no" So I ran into the yard, cut some ferns, daffodils and some kind of filling. I grab a vase and put water in it and of course then its time to leave.... so I tell my brother "quick grab the bouquet of artifial flowers on the coffee table" he grabs it, and as he drives I'm making the daffodil bouquet. I wish we had time to actually go to a florist. So it was interesting. I felt bad that I forgot about the flowers though. I found out a couple weeks ago that I need chemo again. So I'm stressed with everything.

Withdrawal symptoms isn't good. You should call your doctor or start at a small like 5mg again. It is very important, esp on topamax to be weened off. I had to restart mine, but when I got off it before, I was dropping every 5mg a week so I went from 100 to 95 to 90 so on. In your case though, you should call definitely.

And then there's Lipitor.

A colleague was taking it for a brief time and was complaining about severe pain in his leg. He saw several doctors, had x-rays, etc. and they found nothing. He asked if the drug could have anything to do with it and was repeatedly told no. Several months after being off work I decided to pop in and visit some friends. My colleague told me that as soon as he stopped taking Lipitor the pain went away. I told him not to ever let a doctor tell you something's impossible just because they haven't heard of it. A year or so later, the official list of side effects includes...you guessed it...leg pain!

Clinical trials do NOT reveal all side effects of drugs. It can take years of use for them to be revealed, or the right conditions (i.e. pregnancy) or just a poor unfortunate soul who's brain doesn't mix well with it.

Post Edited (Hammond Man) : 5/1/2012 1:05:10 PM (GMT-6)

So I'm curious. Are you still having seizures? And if so are you conscious during them? Mine were originally like staring spells. I'd freeze up, couldn't move or much if at all, confused, I didn't know what I was doing but I was fully aware of my surroundings and eventually I'd just snap out of it. Then I was misdiagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Any neurologist will tell you that anti-depressants can provoke more seizures. But in my case they went from staring spells to twitching, shaking and full body convulsions. The effects are permanent. And I'm STILL conscious. It's not a pleasant experience.

A month ago one of my meds was switched from a generic to brand name. At first the seizures were under much better control. Now it's worse in some ways.

I wish I just had just decided to live with the migraines. I'd rather deal with pain than this nightmare.

Cheers!

I have been taking Topamax for over 2 1/2 years and I have noticed alot of things happening to me that I am not real sure why it is happening I am only 33 yrs old .. I used to be a great at spelling , My eye sight was slightly off but now is getting worse by the yearly exam . I went from a little over 200 lbs to 140 lbs which this will be the one and only thing i will not complain about cause I needed to loose that . Then within the last couple months something really strange has started to happen and i'm not even sure If it is what I think it is . It doesn't happen all the time or at certain times other then its when I sleep . I can be a sleep and feel like its a dream, I can't move my body, my tongue feels strange like it is shaking in my mouth and when I wake up , come to or whatever my whole body feels like i just did one heck of a workout. my muscles are sore all over but it doesn't last very long . the strange thing is this only happens in my sleep not while i'm awake . is this a seizure ? I can not answer this i never had one before to know what they feel like . it doesn't happen once a week or even once a month sometimes it is just when ever it does it . so my thought is how do i go to the doctors and them not think im a crazy women with this . can anyone give me some insight to this?  

I never had siezures before they put me on topomax. Yes it helped with my migraines but now I have to live a problem that I never had to before. It stinks! So be warned the side effects aren't worth it!

That is exactly same thing going on with me. The doctor that gave me the topamax told me it was low blood preassure. Mind you I have had low blood preassure all of my life and never had the seizures and blackouts til topamac entered mylife. Now trying to find a new doctor is a pain in the rear and I feel stuck. No more alone .since findin this website

develliott06 said...
I have been taking Topamax for over 2 1/2 years and I have noticed alot of things happening to me that I am not real sure why it is happening I am only 33 yrs old .. I used to be a great at spelling , My eye sight was slightly off but now is getting worse by the yearly exam . I went from a little over 200 lbs to 140 lbs which this will be the one and only thing i will not complain about cause I needed to loose that . Then within the last couple months something really strange has started to happen and i'm not even sure If it is what I think it is . It doesn't happen all the time or at certain times other then its when I sleep . I can be a sleep and feel like its a dream, I can't move my body, my tongue feels strange like it is shaking in my mouth and when I wake up , come to or whatever my whole body feels like i just did one heck of a workout. my muscles are sore all over but it doesn't last very long . the strange thing is this only happens in my sleep not while i'm awake . is this a seizure ? I can not answer this i never had one before to know what they feel like . it doesn't happen once a week or even once a month sometimes it is just when ever it does it . so my thought is how do i go to the doctors and them not think im a crazy women with this . can anyone give me some insight to this?  

 

My five year old is on Topamax for her seizures and her coordination is way off and her language skills are staggering. There will be times when she wonders off and her mind isn't really there. It also makes her aggitated and hostile too.

hi new to this. My daughter been taking Topamax for one and half year now on and off. She has iih which causes really bad headaches. And she had vp shunt fitted in august 2013. She has been on Topamax on and off and also the dose has been increased and decreased. She come off them Sept and back on them in nov which she fainted twice. Then she come off them in dec. And in march the nuro doctor put her back on them she then collapsed twice was taken onto the children ward and they increased her dosage than she started having seizures up to six a day. They tested her for epileptic and came back all clear. Never had seizures before. This has been going on now for four weeks and still having seizures four a day. Done a ct scan and and xray and blood test all fine. I am having to deal with myself at home with doctors don't seem to be bothered. waiting to have a tilt table test to see if its her blood pressure. But reading on here I now think it could be the Topamax. Which I did say to the doctors could be that. No help from any body. My daughter 17 And I am having to take time off work to be with 24 7 because she struggles to breathe when she comes round. Anyone else had this happen to them. Don't know if I should take her off them slowly. We have had enough of them and no help.

Well it's 2014 and the side effects of Topamax have been revised. Here's the kicker.

"Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

A symptom of overdose is worded as "the inability to respond to things around you". I experienced this side effect at the MINIMAL dose. It never went away. Of course this description resembles a partial seizure.

I was diagnosed by a psychopharmacologist with an "atypical organic-effective seizure disorder" six years ago. I recently found out about this "new" side effect and consulted my pharmacist. She agreed with the psychopharmacologist. My brain was hyper-sensitive to Topamax and therefore OD'd on the initial dose. After ceasing the drug immediately I went through withdrawal but the "seizures" never stopped. The damage is permanent (8 1/2 years and counting).

I wish I'd stuck to painkillers for my migraines. Now I have two problems to deal with.

atkin said...
hi new to this. My daughter been taking Topamax for one and half year now on and off. She has iih which causes really bad headaches. And she had vp shunt fitted in august 2013. She has been on Topamax on and off and also the dose has been increased and decreased. She come off them Sept and back on them in nov which she fainted twice. Then she come off them in dec. And in march the nuro doctor put her back on them she then collapsed twice was taken onto the children ward and they increased her dosage than she started having seizures up to six a day. They tested her for epileptic and came back all clear. Never had seizures before. This has been going on now for four weeks and still having seizures four a day. Done a ct scan and and xray and blood test all fine. I am having to deal with myself at home with doctors don't seem to be bothered. waiting to have a tilt table test to see if its her blood pressure. But reading on here I now think it could be the Topamax. Which I did say to the doctors could be that. No help from any body. My daughter 17 And I am having to take time off work to be with 24 7 because she struggles to breathe when she comes round. Anyone else had this happen to them. Don't know if I should take her off them slowly. We have had enough of them and no help.

The same thing happened to me. It's been 10 years now. I'm stuck with this for life.

Topamax nearly ruined my life.
I was the happiest person and full of life. My marriage was great and thank God I had such a huge support system.

I had a head injury, followed by a concussion, and was given Topamax to help with the headaches during my post concussion syndrome. I started getting all of the adverse effects. I was losing consciousness, staring spells, body shakes, weight loss, scattered mind worsening, memory loss worsening, terrible anxiety, and nearly every single side effect listed down to my bladder giving me issues(which she insisted I had a bladder infection). My doctor insisted I keep taking the medication. I started having these "non-epileptic seizures". They soon labeled me as having psychiatric issues and she (And other doctors) insisted that I get help for my mental state.

I continued to keep having, what they labeled as "episodes". I was in and out of the hospital bc they became so terrible. I was losing my memories, my mind, and completely out of control with my body.

If it weren't for my husband's determination in telling them how I was before the medication then I'd probably not even be alive today.

After doing research and seeing other stories similar to my own I decided that I wasn't the crazy one. It was the medication making me sick and not my brain injury. My husband researched vitamin supplements to decrease the inflammation from my head injury and I quit Topamax. It was the hardest 3 days of withdrawal.
I felt like my brain was on fire. Like an electrical storm that wouldn't stop.

After those few days I started coming back around. 2 weeks later and I was the old me again!

No one listened. They still insist that I should seek help with my mental state and people still look at me like I had a mental breakdown. It's hard to talk about bc it was a dark time. I've never been a down person and always smiling and enjoying life. It was a constant, "you must just be so stressed and depressed."
Not even close. It was discouraging to hear people's reactions.

When you forget your own kids faces and no one wants to listen or help you, and treats you like you're "crazy" you lose faith in the healthcare system all together.

It's been months and I still have issues with my memory and headaches but hopefully it's just the lingering of the concussion.

Post Edited (Heatherw88) : 8/1/2018 1:01:17 AM (GMT-6)

I have been taking Topamax for 22 years and it has been a game changer for me. It hasn't caused any adverse side effects for me at all. I take 100 mg. twice daily and it has reduced my migraines tremendously. I have heard of the bad side effects it could cause, though for some people. It's interesting how everyone reacts differently to various medications.