Has ANYONE had success with topamax?

So I talked to IOP pdoc about dips into depression that I’ve been experiencing. Inexplicably he decided to start me on topamax instead of raising lamictal like I thought he would. So now I’m on THREE mood stabilizers. The thing is I’ve read here time and time again that topamax has done jack **** for people’s moods. Has anyone at all had success with it helping specifically with depression? I know it can make you stupid as well, oft referred to as “dope-amax”. I don’t know if I even want to take it tbh. Except that it might help with weight loss.

Oh and my insurance is screwed up because I haven’t paid for cobra yet so I had to pay out of pocket and a 15 day supply was ****ing $55. That’s ridiculous. I found it on GoodRx for like eleven. I don’t know why my regular Pharmacy charged me so much except that maybe it wasn’t written for generic.

Anyway has anyone had a good experience?

I didn't do well on it.

I haven't taken it but a friend did and they said it made them "loopy" and didn't help their mood.

I take just 25 mg. More had bad effects I don't remember. When we tried to remove it I started waking up with nightmares over and over each night

My plan (which my pdoc will have to approve) is to slowly taper off in the fall. I can't lower meds in the summer without winding up a wreck so I have to wait.

I didn’t realize it at the time—I started on it off label to lose weight. I thought it did nothing, but when I stopped I gained 20 plus pounds.

I had to stop taking it due to side effects.

The weird facial numbness eventually went away, but the gastrointestinal side effects didn’t, so I quit taking it.

You have to slowly go up on the dose due to side effects.

As for mood, I don’t know. Lithium is my magic pill that really works well for me for mood.

I definitely had fewer migraines on Topamax. That is a plus.

Hmmm. Well I’ll give it a try. Might as well. I don’t think it will work but whatever. Maybe this is just my life now.

A friend takes it and she’s been stable for almost a year !

Hope it helps you just as much

I love it! But i also had some undiagnosed epilepsy thing going on that the topamax stopped, so its like a miracle drug for me. I was up to 400 mg and yeah i was dumb and falling over, but i also lost weight, and i am hella fat so that was good. Then i decreased the dose, and life happened and i gained about half of the weight back. So i am now taking 100 mg, am just about as smart as i used to be, no epilepsy, and my hunger is better than it was before the tpoamax, and my mood is still much better than it was before also. I am also on prozac.