Hi everyone,
I’m new here and very grateful to have found this forum. I’m recently diagnosed with MAV (by Dr. Cherchi in Chicago) after having severe dizzy spells for the past year. I rarely have headaches and all my balance and hearing tests came back normal–my main symptom has been the dizziness.
Anyway, I just started my second week of Topamax. I upped my dose to 25mg two days ago. Wow, this drug is no joke. I’m generally quite sensitive to medications as it is, but I’m surprised at the number of side effects so far. Originally, the docs suggested I start off at 25mg for one week and then increase to 50mg after a week. Knowing my sensitivity though, I started off at 12.5 and boy am I glad I did. I have these itchy feelings, like tiny pin pricks all over my skin, my dizziness seems worse, I’m having trouble falling asleep and when I do–terrible nightmares. Really horrible stuff. And overall, I just feel totally out of it. And of course of all the possible side effects, the one I wouldn’t mind (weight loss) hasn’t materialised yet! :lol:
I know lots of people here have had widely varied experiences with Topamax, but I don’t think I’ve heard of nightmares being a common issue–has anyone else heard of this? I’m going to try to hang on for a bit longer and hope the side effects start to dissipate. But they are really giving me a ton of anxiety (which I’m prone to anyway).
Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and share a bit of my experience with the dizzies–woohoo, what a ride!