Topamax Causes Weight Loss in Diabetics
Good news for diabetics? One study found that type II diabetics taking 192 g of Topamax, a popular anti-seizure drug, lost 6.6 percent of their body weight over the course of a year.
Many doctors prescribe Topamax as a weight-loss drug to those who don't have seizures, but want to lose weight. It's also been used by bulimics and those with binge eating disorder because it seems to reduce carbohydrate and sugar cravings, and also suppress the appetite. Since simple sugars can lead to low blood sugar and insulin resistance, it makes sense that it would work for diabetics by curbing these cravings.
But what price would you pay for a relatively small amount of weight lost? Topamax has some serious side effects, including fatigue, cognitive problems such as difficulty finding words and memory lapses, depression and anxiety.
Is it really worth it?
I personally know people who have lost much more on Topamax, and some who have lost nothing. Something that suppresses your appetite and urge to binge will only work as long as you listen to your body and don't eat for emotional reasons.
If you think it's worth the risk, then ask your doctor - but be prepared for the adverse effects.
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Created / Updated: October 27, 2011
I am bulimic/ depressive who has stuggled with my weight for 10 years and i thank god every day for topomax. I take it in combonation with 150 wellbutinXL, and I have never felt more stable. My weight has gone up and down 30 pounds for 10 years due to dieting, bulimia and binge eating, and I have been in and out of therapy many time, (mostly out patient) because it is hard for bulimics to get treated in patient because we don't look as skeletol as the anas. After my battle with mia would make my hair fall out, my electrolyts so imbalaced that i would pass out after a purging episode and sleep on the bathroom floor instead of make it to class in college and get heart palpitations i would be forced into therapy and then i would gain an uncontrollable amount of weight and bloat because my body couldn't handle salt and food. So the cycle would start again. Topomax is the only thing that has let me break that cycle. Now if I eat too much its an extra peice of cosi bread and too much cheese on my salad- not half a gallon of ice cream, marshmallows, a a bag of pepperridge farm cookies and then purging- followed by 4 correctal just to speed through anything i missed.
Do you know what its like to live in a world where everyone knows you have a problem but everyone praises you for it?
So the thing about Topomax is that its really Dopomax- you cant recall a couple words every so often... they are on the tip of your toungue but you just cant get them out. Or it takes you longer to remember directions, and you have to write things down. I am Ivy Educated, and sometimes I feel dumb from the medicine, but it is so much better than the hell that is bulimia. In the past 10 years my highest weight has been 154 and my lowest 86lbs depending where I was in treatment. Bulimia caused me to have chronic sinus problems, throught problems, larynx infections, acid errossion, repritory infections, generalized infections that have contributed to extreme weight gain and loss due to changes in activity levels on top of everything else. I went on topomax when i got to my highest weight... 154, I am now down to 134 after 4 months, am as stable as I have ever been, am not on any diet, am eating right, and haven't binged or purged in about 3 months or used laxitives in over 2 months! Which is something I am very proud of. I will take a bit of doppiness over my sick cyclical hell anytime.
ReplyHi,
I too am a bulimic/ depressive person. I have had an eating disorder for 4 years now and it is horrible!!! i stopped the throwing up but i refuse to eat all day long because i dont like to eat during the day and around people (closet eater). When i get home from work i binge and i cant even throw my food up because my b/f will hear me!! so i obviously eating at night is horrible. my weight has ranged from 85-136LBS. I can control my eating during the day but i cannot control myself at night no matter what I do and how many diet pills i take!! So i spoke to my psychrist and he put me on concerta (which works great for people who want to lose weight but it wears off by night and i am starving by then!! so he put me on Topomax. He told me to take it after i eat dinner which i havw for the past 3 days however i still feel hungry?? does it work instantly or does it take time to work?? i really want this to workout because i cannot stop eating a box of oeros, a gallon of icecream and dinner everynite.
ReplyCindy, I'm very sorry you have these issues! What I think would be helpful is to see a therapist who will talk to you, not just give you drugs, and work with a dietitian and together you can plan eating strategies that will help with your cravings. You don't want a band aid for this, but to learn behaviors that will move you past this difficult time in your life. I hope this is helpful.
ReplyI take wellbutrin and was thinking of starting topamax to stop binge eating. What time of day do you take the topamax? how many milligrams? I take my 150mg of wellbutrin first thing in the morning. Can you drink alcohol when takin topamax? Please let me know. Thank you.
ReplyI was told by my psychiatrist that taking Topamax would help me with my bulimia and laxative abuse. So, I dove right into 300 milligrams of Topamax a day. I, also, gave the throwing up that goes with bulimia up. No questions asked. I have been on and off of Topamax, now, for ten years. As far as I can see, it was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, believing that a pill
Replywould curb my appetite and make me able to lose weight on my own. All of you bulimics out there know what uncontrollable urges you get to binge and purge. I be-
came bulimic because I was 368 pounds. I couldn't believe that other people engaged in such a nasty men-
tal disorder. I thought I was the only person in the world that ate huge amounts of food, and then heaved it back up, by running a toothbrush in and out of the back of my mouth. The weight started falling off, and within a year and a half, I was down to 160 pounds! Then, I had a whole new problem! Even though I was an exercise fanatic, my skin did not stretch back after the fat was gone. I had no idea that it would not stretch back. I didn't even think about the 200 pound weight loss, and looking like "Saggy Suzy," due to my extreme exercise regimen. I just took it for granted that my skin would never be a problem! But you should have seen me without my clothes on! I thought at times that I looked better fat than at 160 pounds with all that hanging skin! I had been overweight for so long that my skin had lost its elasticity. It would not stretch back. I started being bulimic in August of 1981. Cosmetic surgery was just beginning to take off.
But was there a doctor that would tackle an entire body tuck! In the meantime, I had become engaged to be married. I was 28 years old, and very much bulimic. I had attracted the attention of a man out of a fashion magazine. He was tall, dark and handsome, but the main thing was that he did not know me, until after I had lost all of the weight that I wanted to lose. I, finally, told him that I was going to Tennessee to have some reconstructive surgery. At this time, I always wore dresses or long pants with long sleeves, so that you could not see my hanging skin. We were reaching the height of summer, and I was always in a sweat! Cosmetic surgery could not have come soon enough! My parents remortgaged their home to pay for the surgery. It was a miracle! It was as though I had gone through a metamorphosis!!!!!!! I was the most beautiful person in the world! I couldn't stay away from a mirror, because as soon as I left the mirror, I would forget what I looked like and would rush back to reassure myself that the person I was looking at was really me. I lost 25 pounds in the surgery, and was stapled and sewn back together like a rag doll, but when it was all said and done, I have to say that I would do it all over again, in order to marry the man that I married. He was made to order!!!!!! I couldn't get over the fact that he was truly mine, and loved looking at me, as well as touching me. You've got to know that I had been obese, since three years old and I reached my highest weight when I was in high school. I was the blunt of every fat joke imaginable to humans, for 23 years of my life. Now, that I had married the only man that I ever dated, I wondered if I should have dated more men and gotten a little more experienced at dating, but, no, I couldn't believe that life could be any better than what I was experiencing every day of my life. I was asked to model for stores like MacRae's, Parisians, and Dillard's. I got to keep my clothes and since I modeled for one of the fine clothing stores two or three times a week, I soon developed quite a wardrobe. I made heads turn on all ages of men and women. I am not trying to be conceited, it was just that people just could not get enough of me. I was tanned to the max, and had long black hair with black eyes. People loved working with me at the make-up station, when I modeled, because there was very little that they had to do to me! I still had not told anyone of my weight loss secret! I remained bulimic, until I was 45. That's when I started having panic attacks and sought the assistance of a psychiatrist. I told my doctor that I was bulimic, and he told me that he had a drug that would help control my appetite. Haven't we all heard that before, but he was a psychiatrist! He told me that this was a mental disorder and that the drug Topamax would help me let go of bulimia. I was truly getting tired of puking up my food, even when I ate, normally!!!!!!! So, like I said, I dove right into eating less than a normal meal, but did not throw it up! My psychiatrist said that I might gain a little weight at first, but when the pill began to work I would lose the weight that I had gained, and possibly more! I only ate once a day, and that was my evening meal, with my husband and ten year old little girl. The weight came on me like a landslide. Within a year and a half, I had gained my way up to 300 pounds. My metabolism had been changed, when I became bulimic. My body got used to starving, after my binging and purging. I always made a special effort to get all of the food out of my stomach, when I purged! I would turn purple in the face ramming whatever object that I could find down my throat, when we went out to eat or ate at home. Now that my body had gone through starving for so many years, it showed me!!!! I could not eat anything wsithout my body taking it and storing it as fast as I could eat it. Fat was gathering on my body faster than I could take it off, so I just quit trying and ate what I wanted. The weight was back, and I was miserable. I am now 54 years old, fat and saggy. My face is as round as a dinner plate, and I have become diabetic. Topamax brought me to a place in my life that I thought was gone forever, and the joke is on me!!!!!!!!!!! I have tried being bulimic, again,
but it takes so much out of me to purge that I feel faint and dizzy, whenever, I do it!!!!!! It seems to take a lot more effort and I cannot throw up all of my food, like I could in the past. Listening to my doctor, and starting Topamax has made my life a living nightmare. I would give anything if I had not listened to my psychiatrist, and kept on being bulimic because the seventeen years that I had myself on a bulimic regimen were the most glorious days of my life!!!!!!!!
Now, no matter what I do weight just waits to jump on me, if I eat something!!!!! I just don't have the heart to exercise, I'm so deep in depression. I know that it would lift my seratonin level, which would lift my spirits. But, for now, I am stuck in a fat body and can't seem to find the will to get out!!!!!! I hate myself and feel like a complete failure to my family, and especially to myself! I don't take Topamax anymore!
ou are obviously not Ivy League educated judging by the number of mispelled words in your post. You can compain about the side effects of topamax without lying to further your point. Name all the Ivy League schools. See! I knew you couldn't do it.
ReplyI've been on topamax (I take 150mg daily) for migraines for over a year now and yes I have lost weight, but not because of the topamax. I started a diet a while before I started the topamax and I've stuck with it (well, on and off!). I don't think the topamax has helped me at all with carb and sugar cravings - I wish it would. But the side effects from the topamax are pretty bad sometimes; definitely so that it shouldn't be used as some casual weight loss drug if it would even work for everyone like that. For me, I get dizziness and tiredness, the problems coming up with words, random numbness in my fingers in toes, and also, any pop tastes horrible (something about the carbonation in it) - I haven't had pop for over a year! But my migraines are much better controlled, and I've gone from 12-15 a month to 4-6, so I'll deal with the side effects.
Replyi have to agree with the comment posted on February 8th - by the woman who has suffered from bullemia and has taken topamax/wellbutrin - i have dealt with anorexia and bullemia and i too in the past have taken both in combination now i just take the topamax. i know it can be seen as scary giving topamax to a recovering anorexic who has the potential to abuse it but it really has helped me control my weight/eating - yea there is the fatigue for me... but that could just be due to my physical state otherwise. please don't bash this drug because it really does have wonderful potential.
ReplyThis article says that topamax reduces the craving for carbs, but it is very important for those who take topamax not to eat a low carb diet (like Atkins or south beach) because this can increase the risk of kidney problems and metabolic acidosis (2 serious side effects associated with the medication). This medication is not a weight loss drug. It is a psychiatric medication for people with SEVERE migraines and/or seizures. I've been taking topamax and have experience no weight loss, but plenty of benefit (no seizures, stable mood, no migraines) because I am taking it for what it is intended for. Topamax is not a diet pill.
ReplyMy migraines have decreased finally after 27 years ... but the tingling is crazy!!! Along with some weird hallucinations I have had. I have also lost quite a bit a weight that I didn't need too. But I can't complain. 7 migraines a month to 2 is awesome!!!
ReplyI just posted a comment and actually really just took a look at the rest of the posts. THIS SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A WEIGHT LOSS DRUG!!! Any dr. doig that is really not ethical. Weight loss should be a lifestyle modification. Believe me. I used to be anorexic and know the dangers of drugs for weight loss. This is indicated for migraines and seizures. And fortunately for some it causes weight loss. But I hope a healthy lifestyle is being accompanied by this drug. And pleae only take the amount that you and your dr. think you may need. I thought i needed a higher dose than what I do but I don't. It actually caused me more adverse events. Really eavluate yourself.
ReplyHas anyone experienced unexplained weight gain they might contribute to the use of Topamax? thanks...
ReplyI can't say I've had weight gain yet....but I certainly anticipate it. I can't understand it. Everything I read says that Topamax takes away the appetite, makes food taste different and people lose lots of weight...but that's not the case for me. I had a head injury a year ago. The third head injury of my life as fate would have it. (two slip and falls and a car accident- 3 severe concussions) and my neuro put me on Topamax for the Migraines, which it Did help with. BUT, I was eating all the time and food tasted better to me than ever before. I gained weight and stopped it. My migraines were better this past winter and I didn't feel the need to take it and continue gaining weight, but by May my head felt like it was exploding regularly, so back on Topamx I went. I've been on it for three weeks and the same thing again...food is wonderful. Everything I eat has soo much flavor! I ate a strawberry and it was like I never tasted one before. So...it's not as if I have a huge appetite, but I just want to keep tasting all the foods I've been missing for all these years. Carbonated beverages do taste like seltzer though...but I don't mind that much. Does this sound strange? Has anyone gained weight or had a heightened sense of taste like me? I do have the pins and needles in the fingers and toes and I have a loss for words at times....but my moods are nice and stable. I shouldn't complain, but I don't want to be 300 pounds from tasting everything I ever missed!
ReplyI was put on Topamax in September 2006 for Migraines & facial numbness. I'm 5'8 and weighed 150lbs and within 4 weeks I lost 30lbs. The weight fell off of me, not that I wanted it to, it just did. I couldn't keep my pants up. I went from a size 14 to a size 6. I lost so much weight my friends thought I had cancer or some other terrible disease. Losing weight was nice, but that wasn't the benefit. My Migraines let up so did my facial pain. I could actually make it through a day pain free! Some side affects that I had was...I don't drink pop no more because it taste nasty. I experienced tingling in my hands & feet, but I can live with that. The worst affect on me was everyone hounding me constantly to give my medicine to them so they could lose weight. I didn't ask to lose weight it just happened. After 7 months on Topamax I had a kidney stone(not fun). After awhile my facial pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia)came back & was put on Pamalor. My husband who suffers from years of Migraines has finally found relief with Topamax. If you suffer from Migraines & facial pain like me, I recommend it, but not as a weight loss drug. I'll take an occassional kidney stone any day then to live with the facial pain & migraines every day. Take care.
ReplyE.
I'm on a very low dose of Topamax and have actually gained a few pounds. I don't feel like myself and feel quite aggitated all the time and am turning to food. No migraines though so happy about that.
LL
ReplyI've been prescribed Topamax once before but quit after experiencing concentration problems. But after struggling with my weight issues for over 3yrs and bad mood swings I decided to give it another shot. Again, having alittle problems with the concentration but have only been taking it for about 3wks. Does anyone know if the side effects for concentration get any better??? And how long does it normally take the 2nd go around at 75mg to start losing weight? Pls Respond THNX
ReplyPlease email me. I am in this same situation.
Replyjrmcvay1@bellsouth.net. Moderator: Please email this response to dopamax...
I've had gastric bypass and still couldn't deal w/ the carb addiction 7 years later. I put 40 lbs back akter a low of 160. I'm also a recovering alcoholic, typeII bipolar whatever that means. Tried topamax for mood stabilization and my diet is totally under control, have been able to lose of the 30lbs I put back on while on seroquoel. I'm very happy w/ it, mood and weight wise.
ReplyI am also an RNY patient and came across this board as I am contemplating topomax. Congrats on your weight loss with this drug, are u still currently taking it? If so, is it still working for you? Would love to know!! How exciting!
ReplyI am epileptic. Was on Depakote for 15 years but was just switched over to Topamax a few months ago. I have been fortunate, the only side effect that has bothered me is the tingling in my feet, which my dr said will go away in a few months. I'm feeling okay and as an added bonus, I have lost 20 pounds over these past 4 months, so I'm a happy lady right now.
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