epilepsy and topamax
 

hello I'm new to this , I have been been misdiagnosed or undiagnosed for 40 years and have been like a lab rat being tested on numerous pills. Now I'm on about 10 pills a day, some are for cholesterol,etc... but the major ones are klonopin, and topamax. the side effects from the topamax are nasty - feel numb in the head, get head aches feel tired. very itchy scalp, I'm considered to have "myoclonic jerks" a form of epilepsy, they occur all day every day. the topamax has slowed them down quite a bit from maybe 50-60 a day to about 25-30 a day. my quality of life is next to nothing has anybody else out there experienced these effects with "dopamax" lol :(

Hi numbjerk21,

Welcome to the forum! I've taken topamax in the past for my absence (petit mal) and complex partial seizures, but the drig wasn't strong enough for me and it triggered many more seizures so I went off the drug and went on vimpat and that has really helped a lot.

I'm concerned with all the seizures that you are having that you may be having status seizures especially if the seizures are happening one right after the other. Topamax gave me a headache and I felt tired a lot of the time but I didn't get an itchy scalp. If the itchy feeling continues you should let your neuro know about it because you may be allergic to the tomapax. This happened to me when I was on tegretol, trileptal, and lamictal.

My best advice to you is to have a DNA test done to find out what drug will help you the most with the least side effects. I had this done at the Epilepsy Center I go to in Rochester,NY.
check your private messages in the top right corner. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Welcome to the epilepsy forum.
 

I'm on topamax (For PKD, not epilepsy), and I the only side effect I'm having is a slight, constant weight gain. It's really annoying, as it won't stop, no matter what I do, and it's the only medication I have left to try, and the only one with success and no major side effect.
I guess some people just react differently. I've tried loads of different antiepileptics and it's either been no effect, side effect or side effect and good effect. I'm not really that lucky when it comes to medication.

Welcome