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TOPAMAX - Side Effects - Taste Perversion (Soda/Soft Drinks) TRY THIS TRICK !!!

Sun, 12/20/2009 - 22:02
Having just turned 40 and recently been diagnosed with TLE seizures both Simple and Complex Partial.  I was started on Topamax which seemed like a good choice since I have also suffered with migraines for many years.  It has only been 6 weeks since I started and I am currently up to 87.5 mg daily (my Dr is having me increase by 12.5 mg each week to avoid too many side effect since I am extremely sensitive to meds) so I am not getting much help as far as the seizures yet.  As soon as I started taking the Topamax though I getting the dreaded side effect I read about regarding the soda/soft drinks tasting terrible.  Well, I have to tell you, I love my Pepsi.  I drink water and juice, but I MUST have my Pepsi and my this was truly tragic.  BUT.....as they say, where there is a will.......there's a way!    So here is a trick that you can try if you miss your soda.  First, make sure it's really cold and don't add ice cubes.  Second, use a straw, but make sure you put it in the middle of your mouth and push it against the roof of your mouth when you suck.   If you take a drink with the straw in the front of your mouth or you drink from the glass/bottle/can without the straw, I'm sure the soda will tast completely flat.  But when you put the straw in the middle of you mouth, it seems to work.   I don't really know why, all I can guess is that it probably has something to do with the fact that we have different taste buds on different parts of our tongues and not all of them are effected.  I am hoping it still works for me as my dosage goes higher.  I hope this helps someone else who just wants to have one more piece of their life back to normal.

Comments

I am so glad to see I am not

Submitted by Kittygirl on Sat, 2020-02-15 - 21:51
I am so glad to see I am not alone!!!I too thought I was losing my mind and I've been questioning my own sanity and that's very unusual for me lolI start taking this medication right before Christmas last year and that's around the time I taste buds started changing their mind on me.I did not make the connection until this very week at first I thought it was because I was getting sick and I did have the mother load up the flu let me tell you it lasted a month and a half I'm still recovering but then I thought about the timeline.I started taking this medication on boxing day I got sick on the 28th but my taste buds started rejecting carbonated drinks a day after I started taking the medication and I remember that because I always have a bottle of carbonated water at my desk at work. Carbonated water is my addiction I also have a SodaStream at home and I love Canada Dry so imagine me coming home trying to drink my soda stream and spitting the water out it tasted so sweet so disgusting I tried six other types of carbonated drinks and still tasted just as awful oddly enough even water taste sweet to me it's gross I don't understand that but after reading all of your comments I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel so I have to thank all of you for shedding the light on it for me almost two months later but better late than never My very last attempt was a couple of days ago before clued-in I tried Canada dry and it ended badly I took the bottle to my parents place with a very sad look on my faceNow I'm wondering will I ever be able to have carbonated water or Canada Dry ever again

I love Coca Cola and now it

Submitted by KSfarmgirl on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 20:30
I love Coca Cola and now it taste absolutely disgusting.  Completely flat.  It is one way to stop drinking soda but on the other hand is triggering my migraines from caffeine withdrawal.   I tried the straw trick just now.  It helped a little bit.  I'm trying to drink just a little coke to satisfy my brain till I can wean completely off and not get any caffeine migraines.   Thank you for posting the tip about how to use the straw like that!

Same here.  I've been on it

Submitted by KSfarmgirl on Mon, 2020-05-25 - 20:33
Same here.  I've been on it for few days.  Missing my Coca-Cola.   But the Topamax makes it taste so flat and disgusting I can't stand to drink it.  I try to take a few sips a day just to keep from triggering my migraines from caffeine withdrawal. 

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