Memory Loss/Side Effects - Lamictal vs. Topomax

Hello,

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