I was prescribed Topamax a couple years ago for help with my Borderline thoughts and behaviors (so the doc said). Soon I realized why they call it DOPEamax - I felt stupid; that's the best way to describe it - thoughts and memories and cognitive functions were unbearably cloudy.

i was prescribed Topamax due to my migraines. It really helped a lot but the medication took away many intelligence points. It drove me nuts to i got off of it.

YEP..Pdoc's call it DOPAMAX

I forgot how to tie my shoes, shift my car, how to tell time (without really concentrating).....my mood was good..I lost some weight.

But the Dumb down , was more than I could handle

Agree dopamax is a well earned name for it. The only plus was it helped my migrains.

I take it, 50mg twice a day and I'm not sure it's doing anything for me, good or bad. I don't think I have any side effects, but I haven't noticed any thing positive, either. When I try to get pregnant later this year, I'm going to need to get off of it all together, and I'm not going to miss it. I don't think it's helping me.

I took topamax for migraines and I see why they call it Dopamax. It made me stupid, but i Lost a lot weight while being on it.

Hi, I'm new to this support group and joined specifically to post and add a comment to this Topomax post. I was diagnosed 15 years ago and have been on numerous meds. BUT Topomax screwed me up!! I was on it for about 6 months and the side effects began within the first week I was taking it. Yes cloudy thoughts walking around in a fog, nothing seemed to make sense. At that point I was a single mom of a 3 year old and I felt like I was taking excellent care of my boy. The cloudyness got better and I was able to function after a month or so. Then started in the CHRONIC yeast infections and UTI's. I was on an antibodic and the yeast infections were bad enough over the counter stuff was not working. I fought with that for months!!! Then I started having problems with my eyes, horribly blood shot (could barely see that white) VERy painful and tunnel vision bad. I did some research and found that Glaucoma is a side effect of Topomax. I went to the eye dr and sure enough after taking Topomax for 6 months I had developed Glaucoma. One eye was 80% blocked and the other was 87%. The eye dr said he had NEVER seen anything like this before. I IMMEDIATELY stopped taking the Topomax and within a week my eyes were getting better and I was feeling better all over. I know all drugs have side effects and some are very minimal, but this one was bad for me!!!!!

It may be a good drug but it was NASTY for me!!

I'm on it now... just got my dose upped like 3 weeks ago actually, and coincidentally have been feeling WAY more depressed than usual. Gonna ask doc about that... When I first started it I was super excited about the effect on my appetite.. I'm almost morbidly obese and a binger, so to have no desire to eat was a dream come true! That went away tho, and I was disappointed :( Really wanting something different, as it doesn't seem to help with moods much either. Meh.

After starting it within two weeks I got very sick on it and stopped eating..lost 15 lbs in two weeks. Went off if it started it up again a few weeks later and had the same reaction so I stopped all together...

I took it as a preventative for migraines and even just at 25mg, it made me shake so badly I could not get a glass of water to my mouth without hanging on with both hands for dear life...had to get off of that one quickly

I am taking Topamax now for my bipolar- The Doctor has just upped by dose to 50mg. I did notice that I am mixing up words when I speak. For instance, I said hat instead of test and I meant to call my son to the stair for bed and said come on, dog. I have only noticed this confusion when speaking, and not typing "thank god" cause I do online classes for my BA degree. I think with medications it all depends on the person taking it. Its works for me at only 50mgs. When I was 16 and taking it, the Doctor had me on a much higher dose and I felt very much like a Zombie. I really don't wanna try any other medication cause I am worry about weight gain and harsher side effects.

Wow, I am new here and this is my first post. I started Topamax a year ago to treat severe migraines and possible MS. I noticed immediately it helped with my OCD and moods. It does cause me some cognitive issues but I had them before the drug, so not quite sure its the drug or whatever is wrong with my brain (besides my mental issues). Maybe I am one of the lucky ones that really find alot of benefit from it., My worse side effect is the neuropathy it causes if I miss a dose or have to increase dosage.

Reneetami,
What do u mean by nueropathy if u miss a dose? And how much do u take?