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Memory Loss/Side Effects - Lamictal vs. Topomax
Fri, 10/30/2009 - 20:17Hello,
I am wondering if anyone can tell me their experiences with the side effects of different medicines, particularly Lamictal and Topomax.
I have been on Lamictal for about 2 (going on 3) years now and since then I have had a lot of difficulty with my memory as well as other side effects that I didn't have when I took Tegretol XR. I take 300 mg twice a day of Lamictal.
I really have never felt controlled with Lamictal, have become fairly clumsy, am SUPER tired (moreso than when I was on the Tegretol), have migraines, and NO MEMORY. My short-term memory, especially is VERY bad. I had fogginess and tiredness with Tegretol, but I don't remember it being nearly this bad.
Now, I am having significant auras multiple times a day, every couple days, and had a breakthrough partial complex last week so my neuro and I are talking about switching meds. Apparently the Lamictal levels in my blood are too high and I am showing signs of toxicity b/c of the way I am metabolizing the meds, so increasing my dosage of Lamictal isn't an option. My neurologist suggested putting me on Topomax for control purposes and to help with my migraines which I was totally fine with until I started reading some of the posts here about Topomax.
Topomax sounds. . .scary. I am terrified of switching to a medication that will not only sustain my clumsiness, tiredness, and memory loss, but also increase depression, make my hands tingle, give me extreme weight-loss, etc., etc.! The brain-function issue and the tiredness issue are huge for me. . .I am in the middle of writing my thesis and need all the brain-power I can manage. I am so tired of being tired and like I can't function. While my friends go to work at 7, then exercise afterwards, go out to eat and to a concert all in one day (!). . .I go to work or school and am so tired that I can't do much of anything else. It's terrible. If I am already struggling with that while being on the Lamictal, will Topomax be worse? Now I feel like both medicines aren't good choices for me.
Does anyone have any advice about this? Has anyone out there ever had positive results with Topomax? Is there ANY anti-convulsant that DOESN'T cause such horrible cognitive fogginess and tiredness???
Sorry for such a long post, but any help or advice would be very much appreciated.
~JLSB
Comments
Re: Memory Loss/Side Effects - Lamictal vs. Topomax
Submitted by madalinar on Mon, 2010-08-02 - 05:12
Hi, I was wondering if anyone is taking Topamax for bipolar to control their manic? I was given it for migraines not knowing that it also helped bipolar. With research I discovered that it did.
Thanks in advance, Madalina Bucharest
Hi, I was wondering if anyone is taking Topamax for bipolar to control their manic? I was given it for migraines not knowing that it also helped bipolar. With research I discovered that it did.
Thanks in advance, Madalina Bucharest
Re: Memory Loss/Side Effects - Lamictal vs. Topomax
Submitted by m238108 on Wed, 2011-05-25 - 05:14
Hi all,
Finally I seem to have an answer to my memory loss. I had a head injury some years ago and as a result developed temporal lobe epilepsy / complex partial seizures. I tried all sorts of meds but had serious side effects, which was affecting my work and home life. Finally settled on Lamictal and all was fabulous but in the last 4 or 5 years (on lamictal for 12 years) I've noticed a serious deterioration in my memory. I would ask my wife the same question within 10 minutes of each other, not remember work related stuff and was nearly fired last year because of this. Also has anyone encountered the phenomenon of hearing what people are saying but not understanding what they are saying. This has been a major problem with me, especially when my wife says that "I don't listen" to her. Concentration is non-existent.
I'm a scientist by training so the effects of Lamictal are seriously hindering my work. Simple calculations I can no longer perform and I have to read user manuals for equipment I have used day in day out for years. Not being able to find the right words or spelling had appeared in the last year. Thankfully "spellchecker" does its job when writing reports !!
I went to see my doctor, who just said it was part of the temporal lobe epilepsy and age. What meds do people recommend ?.
Thanks.
Hi all,
Finally I seem to have an answer to my memory loss. I had a head injury some years ago and as a result developed temporal lobe epilepsy / complex partial seizures. I tried all sorts of meds but had serious side effects, which was affecting my work and home life. Finally settled on Lamictal and all was fabulous but in the last 4 or 5 years (on lamictal for 12 years) I've noticed a serious deterioration in my memory. I would ask my wife the same question within 10 minutes of each other, not remember work related stuff and was nearly fired last year because of this. Also has anyone encountered the phenomenon of hearing what people are saying but not understanding what they are saying. This has been a major problem with me, especially when my wife says that "I don't listen" to her. Concentration is non-existent.
I'm a scientist by training so the effects of Lamictal are seriously hindering my work. Simple calculations I can no longer perform and I have to read user manuals for equipment I have used day in day out for years. Not being able to find the right words or spelling had appeared in the last year. Thankfully "spellchecker" does its job when writing reports !!
I went to see my doctor, who just said it was part of the temporal lobe epilepsy and age. What meds do people recommend ?.
Thanks.
Re: Memory Loss/Side Effects - Lamictal vs. Topomax
Submitted by kap2415 on Fri, 2010-04-02 - 12:45
I am 60 years old and had a seizure, my first, two and a half years ago. It was diagnosed as epilepsy, and I was put on Topamax for three months. Then, my doctor switched me to Lamictal, 300mg per day, which I have been taking since.
This is my story:
First, I want to state that I am taking a veritable devil's brew of medications aside from lamictal-allopurinol and colchicine(for gout), eltroxin(hypothyroidism), normiten(blood pressure), and proximil(prostate). I believe that this combination may be unique and apply only to me, but the side effects I have encountered are so consistent with all the group discussions, blogs, and personal stories regarding lamictal, that I am sure that lamictal is the culprit here. Additionally, although I had been on the other medications for a few years prior to taking lamictal, my symptoms only started after I began taking it.
Memory loss: Short term memory loss is almost total and very embarrassing. It manifests itself either by not remembering someone's name after meeting them or at the beginning of a telephone call when someone says their name. I know this can be explained by lack of concentration(and I will go there later), but even when I make an effort to try and remember names, I can't. More troublesome is misplacing things-putting something down and then 5 minutes later having no idea where I put it. Again, concentration/aging, but these things started only after the lamictal ingestion.
Mid/long term memory loss is especially alarming. It goes from not having any recollection of having seen movies or television shows(mid term), to having visited numerous places all over the world and having zero recollection of having been there. Even when I see photos of myself at these places, as far as I am concerned, never been there. Venice, San Francisco, Vermont, Edinboro, Montreal, Bucharest-there is a long list.
These things have been getting worse as time goes by.
I also have been suffering from anxiety attacks, loss of coordination and balance, and lack of concentration.
Loss of vocabulary and sense of direction, hand tremors. All since I started taking Lamictal.
I am an ex-professional athlete who excelled in high school and college, and was an honor student in high school and graduated from college as an English Literature major.
The symptoms have occurred gradually over the last two years and as they proceed at a snail's pace I didn't connect them to medication but to getting older. I think now that I know better. My next step is going to my neurologist and demanding an altenative medicine because to continue this decline in my mental/physical condition is just plain stupid.
What have I learned from all this? Be aware of what is going on, and always try to stay on top of your condition.
It has been very good to unburden myself, and if I have helped anyone, even one person, I will be very
happy.
I am 60 years old and had a seizure, my first, two and a half years ago. It was diagnosed as epilepsy, and I was put on Topamax for three months. Then, my doctor switched me to Lamictal, 300mg per day, which I have been taking since.
This is my story:
First, I want to state that I am taking a veritable devil's brew of medications aside from lamictal-allopurinol and colchicine(for gout), eltroxin(hypothyroidism), normiten(blood pressure), and proximil(prostate). I believe that this combination may be unique and apply only to me, but the side effects I have encountered are so consistent with all the group discussions, blogs, and personal stories regarding lamictal, that I am sure that lamictal is the culprit here. Additionally, although I had been on the other medications for a few years prior to taking lamictal, my symptoms only started after I began taking it.
Memory loss: Short term memory loss is almost total and very embarrassing. It manifests itself either by not remembering someone's name after meeting them or at the beginning of a telephone call when someone says their name. I know this can be explained by lack of concentration(and I will go there later), but even when I make an effort to try and remember names, I can't. More troublesome is misplacing things-putting something down and then 5 minutes later having no idea where I put it. Again, concentration/aging, but these things started only after the lamictal ingestion.
Mid/long term memory loss is especially alarming. It goes from not having any recollection of having seen movies or television shows(mid term), to having visited numerous places all over the world and having zero recollection of having been there. Even when I see photos of myself at these places, as far as I am concerned, never been there. Venice, San Francisco, Vermont, Edinboro, Montreal, Bucharest-there is a long list.
These things have been getting worse as time goes by.
I also have been suffering from anxiety attacks, loss of coordination and balance, and lack of concentration.
Loss of vocabulary and sense of direction, hand tremors. All since I started taking Lamictal.
I am an ex-professional athlete who excelled in high school and college, and was an honor student in high school and graduated from college as an English Literature major.
The symptoms have occurred gradually over the last two years and as they proceed at a snail's pace I didn't connect them to medication but to getting older. I think now that I know better. My next step is going to my neurologist and demanding an altenative medicine because to continue this decline in my mental/physical condition is just plain stupid.
What have I learned from all this? Be aware of what is going on, and always try to stay on top of your condition.
It has been very good to unburden myself, and if I have helped anyone, even one person, I will be very
happy.