I heard that from my daughter-in-law. She is NOT a migraineur, but she had headaches and also wanted to lose weight. She said she had very little trouble getting ON Topamax, but now after many months, she is just biting her husband’s head off, ( that would be my SON!!) and yelling at the children and even the neighbors. This is one SE that I would never want to have toward my family or friends. Anyone have an experience like the described above? Please let me know, as I am thinking of getting on Topa, but would like to know ALL the possible SE, as I am med sensitive. Thanks in advance for any info and help.
Meredith
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!!!
:lol: Just kidding. I’m on 150 mg of topiramate, and now that you bring this up, I do have to wonder if this may be why I’m not very happy lately. I’m not yelling at everyone, but just not as happy with life as before, and struggling with that. But I’m also coming off Lexapro. Hard to say what may be causing my moodiness, but I definitely have it going on.
Anne,
That was pretty dang funny!!! Sorry you are not feeling that happy lately, but maybe that will lessen as you stay on the topamax?? Don’t know. I’ve heard of others having mood swings from that drug. oh boy, I really wish I could go on it, because it doesn’t cause weight gain and I’m on Nort and Paxil and THEY DO, DANG IT!! I’d love to hear how you progress on Topa. I want you to feel happy or at least happier. meredith
Meredith, if you google around (I think I just said that on someone else’s post 
Also, thought I’d mention, based on your other posts about your interest in trialling Topamax, it’s not guaranteed to cause weight loss. I have a good friend who suffers from severe migraine headaches. Topamax is one of the many drugs she’s tried over the years. While she was on it, she actually gained weight (in addition to having several other lousy side effects). It really all comes down to a combination of your metabolism and whether or not you get the “yuck, I don’t feel like eating, so I don’t eat” side effect from the Topamax or not. I totally understand your frustration with the weight gain, but as someone who’s still not got this MAV thing under control, I’d be careful about “rocking the boat” and switching meds this soon in, unless you’re putting on so much weight that it’s just plain unhealthy. (Just my 2 cents… )
Hi Ladies,
I’ve turned into the world’s biggest you know what on Topamax! So you are in good company! I’m hoping it settles down. I seem to be okay in the morning but as the day goes by I get meaner and meaner. I have zero patience.
It’s a terrible SE isn’t it!!!
Hi Erika,
I weighed 125 in Dec. when I was dx’d with MAV. I now weigh 140. That’s enough to make me feel uncomfortable, bloated, depressed about it, and just not happy about wearing my clothes. I have been advised by numerous people to stay on my shake regime for at least a month to see if I can shed any of these “medication belly fat pounds”. It’s weird, like having fat on me that I have never had before in the strange place of breasts and right below high in the stomach and hard. Just like when you were pregnant and could feel the baby bump under the breasts. I doubt I can lose it just by dieting or walking. Others have said they know just what I’m talking about. Some get it and some don’t. I thought maybe topa was going to be the answer, but I don’t want to turn into an angry troll, either. My poor son says, “don’t take it, Mom”. (guess he is getting the brunt of his wife’s topa experience) :roll:
We just never know what side effects we are going to have until we try. That really is the hard part of this. My first week I was so very deeply depressed. Thank goodness that went away. The second or third week I was very irritable. That has lessened but still there. I am losing weight from it. But who knows if that will last.
It’s hard to rock the boat when your feeling great Meredith but if you are feeling depressed about the weight gain you might want to consider having a chat with your dr and not waiting till you see Fife. Or give your body some time and talk to Dr Fife in December. He’s very good at looking at the whole body and not just the migraine. He is concerned about depression and weight. That’s what I love about him. He will give you options.
Keep us posted.
I think most of these brain-medications :shock: can affekt your mood. I am more angry on nori. I think I have it more under control now, but I am not sure my husband agrees.
This may get a bunch of topamirate-taking women angry at me (especially if green tea is a trigger), but if you are troubled that it causes weight gain low down, or at any rate down below your breasts, you might want to check this out:
Oishi green tea commercial from Thailand - YouTube)
David Shapiro, YOU are too funny!!!
Meredith I have gained the same as you. 15 pounds of pure blubber. And higher cholesterol and blood sugar. I’m positive it’s from the meds, but getting off them doesn’t seem like a possibility. I’m glad the weight gain stopped at 15 lbs, some people gain an easy 60 on some of these meds.
Sigh…
Kelley
Hi Rocky’smom, Wow, I’m so glad to hear from you!!! I started to titrate downward on the Paxil a few days ago, and tonight, after dinner, the dizzies hit me. Ccouldn’t believe it. I haven’t felt that buzzy, dizzy feeling in quite a while. I am assuming it was from going down on Paxil. I didn’t eat anything that would be a “trigger”, I don’t THINK.
How are you?? Feeling good, I hope. I am trying something, to see if I can combat this weight gain, without going off the Nort. I have a protein shake( soy) that I blend up with 4 strawberries, and a canned pear and a little pear juice, some ice and a little ( 5 oz) milk. It tastes good and fills me up. I have that at about 9 am and again about 2pm. Sometimes for dinner, I just have some cream of wheat late in the evening. ( I happen to love cream of wheat with a little maple syrup on it) only 160 calories plus the syrup, of course. If I do that kind of thing for a month, and I have not lost ANY weight, then I know that I MUST get off Nort and find something else. Just too unhappy being overweight. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Did you see that video from David Shapiro?? It was sooooo funny and I showed it to my kids and husband. They advised me to "try"it. haha!! hugs to you
Luckily I didn’t get cranky. But I got the “Dopamax” effect. I maintain that I was already experiencing perimenopausal brain fog when my MAV ordeal began anyway, so topiramate can’t be blamed for all of my mental sluggishness. Now that I’m on the “other side” and officially into the menopause years, my husband says he feels that I was definitely “sharper” before I was on this. He sees it in reaction times - mostly when we’re having discussions, be it serious or silly, and he observes that I don’t jump in as quickly with my responses (I take a beat or two more to come out with whatever I’m going to say). I see it in word-finding, though fortunately that’s fairly rare, mostly occurring with words I seldom use.
And I got constipated. Or, I should say more so - I tend toward that anyway. (Don’t you just love poo talk?) I have to take more of my fiber supplement.
And I cannot drink any carbonated drinks because they all taste awful now. I think this is the main reason I lost some weight. My appetite is affected somewhat, but I think my being a Pepsi-holic had put the weight on me before and I’ve lost Pepsi weight.
Meredith, it’s a really powerful drug - and if you read the list of possible side effects (which one could argue that you should NEVER do because if you did, you’d never take any medication), you’ll see that all sorts of things could happen and like Erika said, none of us knows WHICH of them - if any - we might end up with. Good luck with your diet plan. Migraine has really done a number on us, hasn’t it?
MaryAlice,
Well, I didn’t know topa can constipate. Seems like everything does. ( My dear Mother, who was a gentle southern lady, used to say “I don’t want any of that barnyard talk around here”) I like calling it Poo talk. ha! I have found a good solution that works for ME, but who knows if it works for anyone else. I do use prune juice ( no bad effects from it for me) morning and night ( about 5oz each times) and it’s all natural and full of fiber. I also walk 2 miles each day. I use Miralax when I need to or phyillium husk in Applesauce.
I am on the protein shake for one week. I will only weigh myself on Mondays. Today is Monday. I weighed. opps the scale did not move at all, but I did not gain anything either. I am going for week 2. If I can find a way to just lose 10lbs, then maintain, WITHOUT going off my beloved Nortriptyline, then I will be satisfied. The Nort has made me better, I can live happily after finding little tricks to help me along throughout the day. I just don’t want to become a fat lady. I will depress me and that is not good for MAV or for my hubby, who knows me as being bubbley and fun, not skulking around the house complaining. So, I need lots of will power, I need to be consistant and disciplined and maybe I can beat this belly fat curse without going off my drugs.
I wish I could do what David Shapiro’s video showed. You should look at that. It is just hilarious.!!
I did watch that video Meredith. Would that we COULD do that!!! :lol:
Miralax was already in my arsenal - the adjustment came in the amount of fiber supplement I had to add throughout the day. And I also consume a lot of fiber: whole grains, veggies, even the soy milk for my whole grain cereal has fiber (I have stopped prunes and prune juice since my interpretation of the migraine diet is that they are no-no’s).
On the list of side effects for Topamax, diarrhea appears higher up - so that’s actually more likely, if one is going to get a GI side effect at all (more Poo talk - younger people have no idea how important this issue becomes in later life…it used to be so much simpler!).
:mrgreen:
I wish you the BEST of luck with your diet. When you find a med/lifestyle combo that works, I think it’s best if you can avoid rocking the boat. Our boats rock too easily as it is!
Does Miralax work? I had no idea prunes were a bad idea for MAV. I’ve just been eating all natural dried prunes that work pretty good. I eat tons of veggies and whole grains and apples but still hav constipation issue on topamax. :x
MAV-P, Miralax WORKS. In fact, I usually don’t take a full dose, or else I get grumbling, which says to me there’s TOO much going on in there!
As for prunes, Buchholz (Heal Your Headache author) says to avoid “red plums” because they are high in tyramine, a known migraine trigger, and dried fruits “if preserved with sulfites.” I don’t know how you’d know if your prunes were RED plums or some other kind, even if you knew they weren’t preserved with sulfites.
But it’s a moot point if your migraine symptoms are under control - if you’re doing well migraine-wise, don’t eliminate them. I’m still having headache issues so I’m being more strict.
I can’t take Citrucel powder (fiber supplement drink) anymore because the citrus was bothering my reflux (I used to really enjoy the taste of that stuff) so I switched to the Citrucel tablets. You have to take a LOT of those, though, to equal 3 doses of Citrucel powder, and my understanding is that even if you take the “equivalent” they don’t really work quite as well. But with Miralax and dietary fiber and plenty of water, I’m usually OK. But I can’t slack off in any of those things or I’ll pay for it…in the end.
:oops:
MaryAlice,
I was concerned about the prune juice, too, as it says no dried fruit etc. on the Migraine diet. Dale bought some one day and so I tried it and I didn’t feel any bad effects from it. I have found one of my strongest triggers are anything citrus.
Yes, I agree that these youn’uns here on the forum have a bit to learn about “poo” talk, and how it comes into the conversation more often as we age. lol
I do think a bit of humor is so good for us and everyone. So, thanks to David S. I have laughed at that video so many times lately. Thanks for the good wishes concerning the diet. I’ll check in with you in a week or so and we’ll see if it’s possible to actually LOSE weight while on the drugs. Meredith
Ok great now I’m armed with Miralax. Maybe I better stay in today!!! : :lol:
I think Topamax definitely made me both angry/irritable AND depressed when I first started it, thought coming down off of 150mg of Nortriptyline probably had something to do with the depression as well. I feel far more normal 4 months in though, so I think things have balanced out. Like lots of meds, there is probably a “getting used to it” period of time. I don’t feel like I’m acting irrationally now, but I did snap at people for that first month or so.