topamax side effects

Just a quick heads up, that medication of Topamax is one of the start low, go slow medications. In other words, for any patient it is recommended to start the patient on a low dosage amount and do a very slow increase in the dosage amount even if the timeframe to do this takes several weeks. So with your son having quite a few side effects, his doctor may have pushed the medication into your son a bit too quickly. I would like to hear back from you, and want to ask you the details about the doctor’s orders from the very beginning of when your son started taking his first Topamax medication (pill or Sprinkles). Information such as how much of the dosage was your son started on ?; was your son ordered to take his first medication sometime in the p.m. hours ( x-mgs of Topamax at night); What was the amount of time frame (1 or more weeks ?) from when your son ended up starting his additional medication (example: x-mgs of Topamax in the morning, and then another x-mgs of Topamax at night) ?; Did the doctor request your son to go through additional increases, similar to what I've already explained to you ? And then how much is your son taking at the time and how many times per day ? The reason why I am asking you this is to find out if there is a possibility that your son’s doctor started him on too high of a dosage, and increased it too quickly. Imagine yourself in a plane with the word Topamax someplace on the side of it, out on a runway and preparing to take off. The plane starts moving slowly along the runway, building up speed little-by-little, the plane lifts off, and slowly inclines nice and smoothly. Beautiful take-off. Now let’s make a change as to where the plane is taking off. Same plane, but this time you’re in it and it is out on an aircraft carrier. In order take off on an aircraft carrier, the plane needs to be attached to what’s called a steam catapult, powers up its engines to full throttle, and then all of a sudden the plane is shot off the carrier within two seconds. OK, now picture this. Inside that plane at either one of those locations (runway or aircraft carrier) you have in your hand a nice cup right in front of you with steaming hot side effects inside it. In order for you to not spill that cup with steaming hot side effects, would you prefer to be in the plane taken off the aircraft carrier, OR out on that runway ? This is why it is important to start low, and go slow when taking topamax. With this and alot of the other anti-epileptic medications, whenever they are to be weaned off the medication, it can be much safer, with less side effects and less of a chance to have break-through seizures. Another very important subject is dealing with the patient’s THERAPEUTIC RANGE. Every person's therapeutic range is different. Some may be high, some can be low, and others might be somewhere in the middle. I'm sure that you are aware of people having to take their medication at different time links apart every day. There are people who take one pill a day, two pills a day, three pills a day, and so on. But before I get into explaining the details about therapeutic ranges, I'd like to ask you some more details about the side effects your son is having. When the time comes when your son takes his next scheduled dose of medication, and it appears that he is having side effects soon thereafter, do you happen to notice the side effects starting to wear off anywhere/anytime, within the timeframe of when he is due to take his next scheduled dose of medication ? Please let me know. And I am willing to continue communicating with you either through this community forum, and/or via email. Bruce bruce903@hotmail.com

Just read your note. In some people, regardless of dose, Topamax can lead to inadequate sweating and temperature regulation, which should be reported to his doctor right away. I have put the link here in the information section that explains this. Weight loss and changes in thinking can also be side effects of the topamax. Give the doctor a call about the lack of sweating and shortness of breath, as well as all the other issues. Hope this helps! http://www.epilepsy.com/medications/b_topamax_serious.html Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist