Would you accept "anorexia" as a side effect? (Topamax)

I'm on topamax mainly for chronic migraines but also for my mood and anger. I have all the side effect, slow mental cognition, tingling fingers and feet, trouble sleeping, and I have a VERY hard time eating. No interest in fact I HATE food. When I eat I can barely choke down child sized portions. This leaves me feeling sluggish and tired. I've lost about 7 lbs in one month. I am already a thin female (5'3 120). This is my 4th drug for migraines and first to work. My migraines were daily and now are non existent. Will this side effect go away or will I waste away? I'm going to buy those 300 calorie high protein drinks that are geared towards older people.
Would you start your search all over again or stick with the only drug that has worked for you?
I'm not close to emaciation but give me another month and I might be....

-- Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:07 am --

I've never had an eating disorder never had body issues never been overweight so it's nit like my doc gave this pill to a person in recovery. It's just making me unable to put food down.

I didn't know it was used for migraines! It seems to cause weight loss according to the Wikipedia page, and is even used for that purpose. So, yeah.

That's another migraine prophylaxis that I can't use because I'm taking lamotrigine and don't want two anticonvulsants in me at once. Same with tryptamines, I can't take them because of the risk of serotonin syndrome from that plus Effexor (which I can't stop because the withdrawal is too horrible).

It's so frustrating. I'm reduced to using opiates for them, which make me itchy and nauseous. There's also a lot of bureaucracy involved in getting them ("but migraines aren't real pain!") and they're on a hair trigger flagging legitimate users as junkies. I just hate that. Okay then, I will live with pain that they can't begin to imagine for the rest of my life. Thanks, medical system!

By the way, in high school I weighed 130 lbs and I'm five foot ten, and I wasn't skeletal. So it's not so bad

-- Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:24 am --

Also, I never had an eating disorder, just a ridiculously high metabolism. It crashed through the floor when I was nineteen and I gained thirty pounds because I didn't notice that I could no longer eat a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for lunch every single day!

I think it'd be more accurate to say "loss of appetite" than "anorexia." How long have you been on it? I'd say if more than a couple months it's going to take a loooong time for the side effect to go away. Talk to your p-doc because if you're getting every single side effect (especially when this can seriously impact your physical health), there certainly has to be something better out there for you for both the migraines and mood problems. If I were you, I'd continue the search.

Considering I already eat one warm meal every second day (if I feel like actually making food at all) - and even then something you could describe as child-size-partions I suppose drug with side-effect of loss of appetite wouldn't make huge difference. Not to mention I still should lose some weight (I eat as much as I spend - not other way around.)

Tragicomic aside, there really isn't another drug - or combination of drugs - to tackle the issue? I cling to my lamictals because they are so far only one without noticeable side-effects.. Mental health nurse&psychiatrist would be happy to see me on handful of other drugs with it.. <<

I've been struggling with weight loss for about a year, but not from Topamax. I used to have horrible migraines at least once a week. My p-doc put me on Sibelium (Flunarizine) and it was the best thing ever! I hadn't been diagnosed at the time, though. Since then, I hardly ever suffer from migraines.

Hope this helps somewhat, I know how horrible migraines can be, and how hard it is to need to eat and just not being able to!!

Topamax gave me every symptom of Glaucoma, so my psychiatrist pulled me off of it immediately. I was losing weight on it, and it made me feel good, but it really, really hurt my eyes, and I couldn't handle the anxiety and fear of possibly having glaucoma.

Have you and your doctor looked at appetite stimulants? I don't know how they would interact with any other meds you're taking though. Steroids are good for increasing the appetite but of course they have their own list of side-effects and it's yet another tablet. Better still, there are a lot of calorie-rich dietary supplements available that you take as a snack or as an add-on to a meal. Have you looked at those?