Posted by PeterMartin on November 27, 2016, at 0:55:07
I started taking Topamax (Topiramate) in July in the hopes of shedding some of the med wt gain I've experienced since over the 15 or so years of taking psych meds.
It's worked pretty well in stopping a 1 or 2lb per month wt gain of late increase and I've gone from 230 down to 212 since I've started. I had to try a few different generic brands (Zydus, Cipla, and now finally Glenmark) since some of the generics seem to be bad.
Anyway Topamax is notorious for having bad side effects and I've had a lot of those including the cognitive ones (memory issues/etc). I've slowly tappered up to 200mg where I'll stay. The side effect at this point don't really bother me but I stumbled on this pub med article just now and it concerned me a little:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27834333
The way I read it it seems to suggest Topamax may cause permanent brain/memory damage - am I reading that right?
I've read a lot of the comments on Askapatient and elsewhere and some people have complained on lingering memory issues even after stopping the medication. I'm at a point in my life where I'm not super concerned about it - or maybe it didn't affect me quite the same way. I also take Marplan (MAOI) which I like to think (perhaps for no good reason) could be neuroprotective against some of the damaged caused by these other meds (at least I've read studies where they can help some in some cases).
Do any of the experts on the forum have any insight into what that study means? Do you think I should just get off the Topamax or am I just being overly paranoid? I think it does help my OCD a bit too...perhaps by keeping my mind clear a bit more....
Thanks for any input on that study....
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27834333
poster:PeterMartin
thread:1093262
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160928/msgs/1093262.html