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Update - Is this a topamax side effect? Or is it something else?
Thu, 07/06/2006 - 08:18Topic: Medication Issues
Hi there
I have been taking topamax now since May 20th. I am cuurently on 125mg a day. I was to go up to 200mg increasing the dosage by 25mg per week but I have been having some problems in the past few weeks and I dont know if it's the topamax or if I'm actually ill.
For those who have not read my previous forums,I had a pregnancy scare and so I stopped increasing the dosage but I also didn't not feel the best. My neurologist told me to see a GP which I did and the doctor thinks I might have a kidney infection or ovarian cyst. I am waiting on the result of the kidney infection to come through next wednesday.
What I really want to know is has anyone had problems with feeling tight in their abdominal area and full of gas as if to burp a lot and cant breathe as well as you would like to because of topamax? I have pains in abdominal area, lower back area, feel very tight all the time as if I cant eat much. If I eat it might not stay down kind of thing. I'm very uncomfortable and the doctor has told me i now have low blood pressure which I never had before, which explains why I was so dizzy now and then especially when I stood up sudenly.
Does topamax make you feel squashed that you cant breathe right? Cant sleep well anymore physically? Topamax has been great as far as seizures and auras goes, I have hardly any now. It would be a shame to stop taking it if it is a side effect of all this.
Can someone please get back to me on this and enlighten me?
I would really appreciate this.
Quirky
Comments
Hi Quirky, I know this
Submitted by loreto on Sat, 2006-12-02 - 20:43
Hi Quirky,
I know this comment is way late - and i hope that feeling is long gone by now because I've had it quite a bit and it sucks. I'm on 300mgs of topamax, and and I've found that at times of the day when I can't relate it to anything else (haven't eaten recently so it wouldn't be food-related), I experience a similar feeling. A pain will start in the bottom of my stomach and over about five minutes move up to my chest and my abdomen becomes completely stiff. Most times its simply a squashed feeling, but once I literally was breathless to the point of calling an ambulance. Obviously not sure it's Topamax..who knows. Otherwise I'm totally willing to live with the side effects for the pain relief it brings.
Best, and happy winter!
Re: Hi Quirky, I know this
Submitted by quirky on Mon, 2006-12-04 - 08:56
Hi Loreto,
Since I wrote this comment in, I no longer have the abdominal pain or squashed feeling anymore or feel like burping all the time. i dont know what happened then. I didn't have a kidney infection or an ovarion cyst!
I am now on 200mg of topamax per day and it is helping me alot :-)
It does make me feel less hungry though. I dont eat as much as I used to. I try to but it's a bit of a chore. I get full very easily but I dont want to loose any weight either because I am petite. So I have to be careful. My main side effect with topamax would be memory loss. i do forget a lot of things short term which is annoying but topamax has been the best drug for me so far so I'm not going to come off it because of that.
Thanks for getting back to me,
Quirky,
Re: Re: Re: Update - Is this a topamax side effect? Or is it som
Submitted by quirky on Wed, 2006-07-19 - 07:07
Hi Kristin I am still on 125mg a day. I take 50mg tablet in morning and 75mg in the evening (50mg tablet and a 25mg tablet). Still get nausea from time to time but it's tolerable. Still have pain now and then but doesn't feel so bad compared to the beginning though. Not sure if that's because I have got used to it or the pain is easing off. Hard to tell. It's been a while. It's more discomfort than anything else. Feel like a fat flump in the abdomin area only, especially when sitting down and slouching. I discovred the other day I lost a little weight recently but that could be because I haven't been well and not eating properly becuase of feeling unwell. Since I started topamax I have now lost 5 kilos. Not huge considering I started topamax on May 20th. I still have a chesty cough from last week. That is still there. Cant seem to get rid of it! My appetite is coming back now though so I must be on the mend. But I still feel very full after small amounts of food and bloated and full of gas very quickly even though the doctor has confirmed I dont have a stomach bug to cause any of these things. Still waiting on my date for the ultrasound. I'm glad the change on the pills have made things better for you :) Keep in touch, Quirky