Success Stories
An up-close look at the experiences of people using TOPAMAX to help control their seizures.*
No More Tonic-Clonic Seizures!
"I have been taking TOPAMAX for 8 years now, and my seizures have been completely under control
the entire time. I used to have 4 or 5 tonic-clonic seizures per month before my doctor added TOPAMAX
to my other medication. Once I got used to the drug, my seizures became less frequent—and then
stopped. So far, they haven’t come back. I have a demanding job (which I love) and a full life.
I can relax, knowing that I’m doing all the right things to help control my seizures."
Finally Getting My Seizures Under Control (Simple Partial and Complex Partial Seizures)
"This time last year, I was having complex partial seizures at least once a day—but often
2 times a day, and sometimes even more. And I was taking 2 other antiseizure medicines at the time!
In fact, I’m still taking them. I’m also still having seizures—or I may still
be—but my last seizure was more than a month ago, and my doctor says I’m well on my way
to better seizure control.
That’s a good thing. At their worst, the complex partial seizures I was having scared my
friends and family, and the simple partial seizures (in which I didn’t lose consciousness)
scared me—and I was used to them!
My doctor started me off on TOPAMAX very slowly, and raised the dose a little bit each week. I
did experience some side effects—I got quite sleepy over the first few weeks, and sometimes
couldn’t remember words—but they seem to be wearing off. I could imagine them being hard
for some people to deal with, but for me they were never anywhere near as bad as the feelings I would
get after a seizure.
Time will tell, I guess, but I’m looking at the possibility of life without seizures. And
before things had gotten so bad that I felt lucky when I had only 1 seizure a day!"
*Testimonials are based on the collective experiences of patients taking TOPAMAX for
epilepsy. Epilepsy is a highly individual condition, and your experience may vary.
About TOPAMAX
TOPAMAX is approved as initial monotherapy in patients 10 years of age and older with partial-onset
or primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
Effectiveness was demonstrated in a controlled trial in patients with epilepsy who had no more
than 2 seizures in the 3 months prior to enrollment. Safety and effectiveness in patients
who were converted to monotherapy from a previous regimen of other anticonvulsant drugs have not
been established in controlled trials.
TOPAMAX is approved as add-on therapy for patients 2 years of age and older with primary generalized
tonic-clonic seizures, partial-onset seizures, or seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Important Safety Information
Serious risks associated with TOPAMAX include lowered bicarbonate levels in the blood resulting in an
increase in the acidity of the blood (metabolic acidosis). Symptoms could include hyperventilation
(rapid, deep breathing), tiredness, loss of appetite, irregular heartbeat or changes in the level of alertness.
Call your doctor immediately if you get these symptoms. Your doctor may want to do simple blood tests. Chronic,
untreated metabolic acidosis may increase the risk for kidney stones or bone disease.
Other serious risks include decreased sweating, increased body temperature, kidney stones, sleepiness,
dizziness, confusion, difficulty concentrating, and increased eye pressure (glaucoma). Call your doctor
immediately if you have any decrease in vision or eye pain. These problems can lead to blindness if not
treated right away.
More common side effects in adults are nervousness, coordination problems, fatigue, speech problems, slowed
thinking, memory difficulty, tingling in arms and legs, and double vision; and in children, fatigue, loss of appetite,
nervousness, memory difficulty, aggressive behavior, and weight loss.
As monotherapy, the most common side effects of TOPAMAX (in the 400 mg/day group and at a rate higher than the 50
mg/day group) in adults were tingling in arms and legs, weight decrease, sleepiness, loss of appetite, dizziness, and
difficulty with memory; and in children, weight decrease, upper respiratory tract infection, tingling in arms and legs,
loss of appetite, diarrhea, and mood problems.
In combination with other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), the most common side effects of TOPAMAX in adults (200 to 400 mg/day)
were sleepiness, dizziness, nervousness, loss of muscle coordination, fatigue, speech disorders and related problems, psychomotor
slowing, abnormal vision, difficulty with memory, tingling in arms and legs, and double vision; and in children (5 to 9 mg/kg/day), fatigue,
sleepiness, loss of appetite, nervousness, difficulty with concentration/attention, difficulty with memory, aggressive reaction, and weight decrease.
Tell your doctor about other medications you take.
Please see full U.S. Prescribing Information.
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This site was last modified on: Jul 26 2007 at 13:45:30 EDT