Any Advice Regarding Side Effects And Or Stopping

I was prescribed Topamax by my doctor because she thought it would help 1. to eliminate headaches I had been having and 2. to help in weight loss. I have suffered from depression and she felt this would be an added benefit in helping that, or at least it would not hurt it. I do suffer from fatigue and I was told this may be a side effect so I was told to take this at night time.

I started 25 mg for the first month and all was fine, I did not notice much. I then added another 25 mg for a total dose of 50 mg. and on the second day I was having memory type problems so I reduced the dose back to the 25mg. I waited another 2 weeks and added the additional 25mg and it seemed OK. I was taking 50 mg for about 6 weeks and the only side effect was that about an hour after taking my dose I would fall asleep and sleep all night, which was not usual for me, but I was not complaining about this.
The past 3 days I feel terrible. I am extremely tired all day long. I keep falling back to sleep. I feel dizzy. My hands and feet are tingling. My thinking is cloudy.
I really want to get off this medication and I realize it is best to taper off. 50 mg is not a high dose so I figured cutting back to 25mg for a week or so and then stopping would be a safe way to discontinue. Has anyone been taking a low dose and then discontinued? I am just wondering if there are any potential withdrawal side effects from doing so.

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@Anne,

Sorry to hear about your situation with Topamax. It sounds like the side effects were causing more harm than it's probably worth, so I think you're doing the right thing by taking a different approach here. From everything I have read on withdrawals, I don't think it would be wise to stop taking this drug suddenly. Is there anyway you could speak with your doctor about reducing the dose by means of cutting each pill into fractioned doses? Someone else also suggested reducing your dose by taking some every other day, but I think this decision is best left for your doctor to decide. This way you can be sure to avoid as many side effects as possible while your weening off.

I wish you a smooth recovery from this medication and hope that you're able to find something much safer and more effective for the long haul! Perhaps a natural alternative?

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Thanks for your reply David. My doctor's office was closed Friday and is closed for the weekend, and I figure my question would not be considered an emergency. I will call on Monday. For good or bad, I did on my own reduce my dose last night and only took 25 mg rather than the 50 mg. Hopefully that will not be a problem. Today, I still feel as I have the past several days but no worse.

Thanks for your help.

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