Topamax

Hi
I was wondering if anyone takes Topamax for BP or other reasons and if so does it cause any anxiety!
I've been on Seroquel for a month and exploded several times for little things and feel anger and rage as well.
She said if Seroquel was not working we could try Topamax
The issue is I have anxiety as well and don't want to take anything that will make it worse

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I take Topamax but for Binge Eating Disorder. It slows me down some and I haven't had any rage from it. It is working pretty well for me.

I started taking topamax for migraines. It had the added benefit of helping to level out moods for BP that I was able to come off the last med I was on for stabilization. However, I have heard mixed reviews as to whether or not it helps with BP, sometimes so, many times not. I have not had increased anxiety with it but rather it has helped reduce it. It is important to stay hydrated on it though as it can cause urinary crystals and kidney stone formation.

Best wishes in finding what works best and hope you finding the right one soon.

I was just prescribed topamax for BED specifically cuz it does not cause anxiety like other stimulant treatments for BED would. There are rare occurrences as with anything where you could have a strange side effect like that but it's more of a sedative drug.

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The dr prescribed me this for BED but I couldn't take it more than a week bc my memory was affected!!

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I've been on Topamax since April, used as a second mood stabilizer. I can't tolerate antipsychotics (Abilify, even 2.5mg, went very, VERY poorly), and upping my Lamical to 200mg induced ultradian cycling when I'm already technically considered ultra rapid cycling BPII.

It worked well for me. It personally didn't knock me out. It woke me up, strangely enough, which was annoying given it was a night med; however, I've heard it called "Dopamax" given it tends to knock you on your ***.

It didn't worsen my anxiety any. It stopped the ultradian cycling too. Sorry I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I hope you found a solution, and if you didn't start the Topamax, I'd say try it. I tolerated it pretty well, but everyone's brain chem is different. Helped a bit with the Conversion Disorder related headaches. :333

I take it for BP II also and it works great. The only thing it does is make you lose a little of your short term memory. It is often called Dopmax because of this, but you lose this this side effect soon. The long term side effect is you lose you desire to over eat and will lose weight. That is often good for those who have been on pmeds that do this to us. But you have to be on high doses to have this effect. Maybe 600 mg a day or so, otherwise nothing. It has no other side effects from people that I know who take it.

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I've been on Topamax (varying doses) for 8 years. I take it as an off-label use for depression and to manage my binge eating disorder. Years ago, I didn't respond to SSRI's very well so this was my solution. Personally, it works for me... to some degree, but I experienced some nasty side effects. More long term, so you can decide if it is worth it or not. And I'm not sure if these are reversible.

- Hair Loss
- Vision Problems
- Memory Loss (both short term and long term)
- Cognition Deterioration (I look at past school work, style of writing... and it's like a different person existed.)

* Weight Loss (at first) but your body will get used to it and you could gain your weight while on Topamax. I noticed a major appetite increase and weight gain coming off of Topamax. This all depends on your metabolism, hormones, body type, etc.

I hope this helps with your decision!

I took Topomax for a while for intracranial hypertension (high intracranial pressure). Even on a low dosage I found it made me too sleepy. My neurosurgeon and neurologist actually called it "Dopeymax". It may depend on how the medication is being used and in what dosage.

I have been on topamax for 10 years now. Treatment for Bipolar in combination with other meds. I would say it is a medication that works for me. I have taken it at high doses 300mg twice a day which I would not recommend as this gave me tremors, short term memory loss, and aphasia.

Currently I am on 75mg twice a day and I can honestly say I don't experience any side effects that I notice.