Has anyone tried Topamax for MP?
 

I have tried Neurontin and could not tolerate it to get to a doseage that would help. I only made it to 900mg. I take ultram daily, but my md would like to try other meds as well. He has mentioned Topamax. Has anyone tried this? what were your results?
I do know that my MP comes from compression at my spine and not at the inguinal ligament which is common. Has anyone had epidural injections for MP?
Thanks for any replies.

Well--
 

--if your symptoms are actually traced to a nerve root compression, you don't technically have meralgia parasthetica--which as a term is very specific for teh compression caused to that nerve by forces in the pelvis--but you instead likely have a radiculopathy: compression of the spinal roots that lead to that nerve.

Many people have reported nerve pain relief from Topomax--and, of course, it's now being used for rmigraine headaches--but side effects, such as mental fogginess, increased intraocular pressure, and appetite loss are common and must be monitored. (Topomax is one of the few anti-epileptics that has an appetite loss, rather than appetite gain, side effect.)

I have not tried Topamax but I have had steroid injections for my mp. They injected the steriods into my groin area. Darn uncomfortable at the time and the first one didn't work. So I went back for round 2 and had another one. Low and behold it helped. MP is very painful if there is something your doctor would suggest to try, what have you got to loose? Good luck.

My family doctor sent me to see another doctor because I was complaining about my worsening short-term memory, most likely brought on by the Gabapentin I was taking at the time.

This other doctor proscribed Topamax for the memory issues, and boy, what I story I have to tell you about those 4 months I was on Topamax! He had also told us at the time that we may have some pain relief with the use of this Rx as well.

Basically, I became so "wired" that I had no personality, no interests and apparently, no change in pain. All this is according to my wife and my friends who saw/met with me during that time I was on those drugs, because, honestly, I don't remember a damned thing!

When I went back to the Pain clinic after a few months to get my other Rx's refilled, I mentioned this to my doctors there (well, my wife did...), and they all almost started laughing. They told us that they refer to Topamax as "Dope -amax" because of its tendency to really dope up the patients, and apparently, I am one of the susceptible ones to this drug. They took me off of Topamax and about 5 days later, as my wife puts it , "I was back to my "normal" self", but no change in the levels of pain in my leg.

So, I've lost 4 months of my life (literally) trying out Topamax (Dope-amax LOL), but no real success in the level of pain.

FYI, since last Feb, I have been on a trial of Methadone for pain control, and still take Lyrica - which to date has had the best results for pain control, however is not really working on the background pain as we had hoped, so this Methadone trial hopefully will help. It's been 6 months now, and no real improvement seen yet. I think I will start new thread about this topic.