Bipolar Type II Support Group

Anyone her try topomax? I was strangely diagnosed as having 2 disorders, this BPD BP2, which I thought was weird, in any case, has anyone tried it and if so what are your thoughts? I am thinking of just going to my main doctor (MD) and just asking for it flat out!

I took it a while back. It was during a stable period, but I was taking it for migraines. I don't know if it contributed to my stability or not. My pdoc doesn't seem to think it helps that much, but that's just him.

My Pdoc doesn't like it much. I tried it and it killed my concentration and memory big time, it also made me feel physically ill all of the time. I hope you have better success with it. Everyone responds differently. He put me on it as it's one med that you tend to lose weight on, not gain it.

It didn't do anything except helped me lose weight. It also killed my memory and concentration and I felt confused all the time.

It made my memory and concentration awful too. I lost a little weight, but not much. My psychiatrist doesn't think it does much for the mood, but every doctor is different. Good luck and I hope you can get in to see a psychiatrist soon. They are the best when it comes to psych medications.

I took it for a while. I do not know if it really did anything negative to my memory and concentration, but then again, how could I remember if it did? LOL.... Seriously though, it did give me an odd sensory hallucination thing, if you can call it that. Objects would feel a lot bigger than they were and I could not feel all the detail if I touched something textured. Hard to explain, but it was definitely messing up some part of my nervous system. It did help me lose a tiny bit of weight and keep it off but nothing significant. I asked to try it again recently for the weight loss benefits, but the pdoc was 100% against it for bipolar people because new research has shown Topomax to be almost completely ineffective for bipolar.

Anyway, it may do something good for you, but the only real benefit I think would be weight loss or management, if that is something you truly need to work on. Eating disordered people (like myself) try to get this med all the time with the hope of rapid weight loss, and it just doesn't work that way.

I was on Topamax for a while for migraines, like redphoenix. My uncle and a family friend were also on it at the same time and we all sat around and discussed how loopy it made us. I personally found myself forgetting words and speaking gibberish and insisting that it was english. Still, it did the job (for migraines), so I stayed on it for quite a while. Definitely speak to the doctor about it.

It's nickname is Dopamax, btw.

I was on Topamax for 2 months and it worsened my depression, but that's just me. As my psychiatrist increased my dosage up to 200 mg, I became majorly depressed and had to taper off it. It may be worth a try for you, though. I'm learning more and more that everyone is so different when it comes to these medications, their effectiveness and side-effects. Keep us posted on whether or not you try it and if it helps you!

I take a rather high dosage of Topomax (200mg a.m. and p.m.). It was originally prescribed for migraines at half that dosage, then doubled for weight loss. I do not experience any negative side effects. I have the same amount of memory and concentration problems with my depression that I've always had - on or off the Topomax.

Thank you everyone for your responses, as I do not have a regular pdoc as of now I had to go to a regular doctor today. She refused to give me topomax because it was an off label drug for my disorder. Howver, she did give me prozac. I don't know, I am going to go in with positive thinking! If you write back please don't say anything bad about the drug or else it will automatically change how I will feel about it. Right now, i am looking forward to it, but if you have something good to say about it then please do!!!! Thanks everyone for all of your help and support.