Topamax And Eye Twitching (Page 3)

Hi, I have been using Topamax for depression for 12 months and must admit that it has been very sucessful. The one major draw back is that I have developed a very annoying eye twitch. It only affects one eye, but is very noticeable. I was taking 100 mg twice a day, but have decreased it to 100 mg daily. The twitch has decreased somewhat, and I realize that I now have to come off this drug completely to get rid of the twitch entirely.
Has anyone else experienced this problem. I read 1 other reader, but are there more?

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I take topamax for migraines and cluster headaches and yes it works but with some crazy side effects!! Some go away with time and some don't like the tingling but I have learned to live with that! Beats having a headache everyday!! I am on 400 mg a day which is a high dose but with cluster headaches you take a lot to keep them under control! Hope this helps!

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I have just come off of Topamax, and now my eye twitching is severe on both sides (but one side more than the other). It's been 4 days now. Let's hope this goes away soon. Thanks for posing all of your experiences, so I know that it is related...I am going to try doing a liver cleanse to see if I can clear out the drug faster. Also, I noticed that whenever I made a change, up or down, I would have to go through the "dumbness" and anorexia all over again.

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I have the eyelid twitching in my right upper eyelid. I also have the tingling in my hands and feet when I stand up and sit back down which is really bad, and also my legs and feet muscles and veins tremble when I lay down. Does anyone else have this problem? I cannot play my piano because of the tingling in my hands because it is very uncomfortable.

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I also reduced my dose from 2 x 50mg daily to 1 x 50mg daily and my twitching that had been going on for 3 months stopped. I had it under my left eye and it was 24 hours a day. I was going nuts!

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Hi everyone, I just wanted to add to my previous post. I have been on Topamax since November 2009. My lower left eyelid started twitching in April this year, so that is why I didn't make the link immediately. I initially thought I might be low in certain vitamins or minerals, so I supplemented with zinc, magnesium, d and b group vitamins. My lower left eyelid can have episodes when it twitches constantly for a couple of weeks 24 hours a day. There is no stopping at all!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, my right upper eyelid started fluttering. This was when I got fed up and my doctor had already said that there was a link between blepharospasm and Topamax. That led me to halving my daily dose from 100mg to 50mg. I only take one tablet in the evening now. I am hoping that is enough to keep my migraines at bay, but it has certainly gotten rid of the twitching. Three months of chronic eyelid twitching which was highly visible was distressing and embarrassing.

I am 48 years old and female. The only other medication I take is Elmiron for Interstitial Cystitis and this is a bladder medication that absolutely cannot cause twitching. If you enter Topamax on Wikipedia these days, they list multiple eye symptoms as side effects.

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Hi Babs,
I was exactly the same. I am trying to find an alternative drug, but it is hard beacuse all of the alternatives cause weight gain.

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Since my last post, I went back to my doctor and requested the 25mg Topamax tablets so that I could take that the lower dose of 50mg a day in a divided dose. Topamax was DEFINITELY the cause of my twitching, because the day after I lowered the dose, the twitching stopped.

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I had been taking topiramate for weight loss x the last 6-9 months. Initially, I did not have the left eye twitching. After several months, I noticed the twitch and it increased the longer I took the medication. I gradually took myself off of the medication and the twitching has decreased significantly. I have been off of the medication completely for about 2 weeks now. I was taking 50-75mg. I could not tolerate the 100mg. I definitely had a foggy head with this medication as well but it did decrease my appetite.

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Ugh. Yes. I take Topomax for migraines. Love it; it's the only thing that has worked and I've been taking it for years. I've experienced the usual symptoms, tingling hands, etc, but this eye twitch started about a week ago--only in my right eye. I can't stand it. I guess I'm going to have to consider switching meds.

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Can I ask what you switched to? Looking for a comparable alternative...

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I noticed that a lot of people note a twitching in the left eye. Mine is almost always on the upper right eyelid. I've been taking 100mg of topiramate per day at night for seizures for several years. The twitching started a few months ago, which makes me think that they changed something in the medication, not that I'm suddenly experiencing the symptom. I also suddenly started noticing a difference in my vision, when I've always had 20/20 vision, and now I'm scared it's because of this. My hair seems to be getting thinner also. I want to change the medication to see if this all stops, but I'm afraid of the alternatives out there.

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Since I last posted, I have decided (after 5 years on Topamax) that I will be tapering off. I have already been on half my dose for 2 months now and I only get the twitching during the night because I take my 50mg tablet at 7pm. The twitching continues until about 10am the next day. I no longer take the morning dose. Having said that, the twitching occurs every single time I take a dose and starts roughly 2 hours after taking it, so the only way of stopping it completely is to stop taking Topamax. As of next week, I will taper down to 25mg at night for a couple of weeks and then stop. I am hoping that I can rely on Relpax after that.

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Ok, I have now completely tapered off Topamax after being on it for 6 years. Guess what? No eye twitching at all! It is such a shame because this drug quite literally saved my life from the most gut wrenchingly awful migraines. However, I am now going to take Relpax when I get a migraine because I simply couldn't live with an eye twitch that occured every day.

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My eyes ...both or one......either upper or lower lids have been twitching for about
15 years and although I am SO grateful I no longer get migraines a few times a week...I am so sick of the twitching.I wear dark glasses most of the time. The eye specialist at the eye institute said said it couldnt possibly be Topomax!! Thank goodness I decided to search! I do not EVER want another migrain and still get daily headaches........soooooooo what to do????

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Yes I took Topamax for about 8 months ( I took Topiramate). I got the worse eye twitch only in one eye. It got worse and worse. I saw others had that too so I took myself off of it. I had to get Botox shots for a year in that eye muscle to make the twitch stop. I had tried everything else first: rest, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and all the home remedies. Nothing worked but Botox shots. The doctor was clueless about this side effect.

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I tried everything-- potassium, calcium, magnesium, more rest, told the dr, saw a neurologist. I took myself off the medicine. I finally had to get Botox shots for a year to make the twitch stop!! It worked perfectly.

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I have been on Topamax (topiramate) since the days when it was only available as a name brand script. It has ALWAYS caused a twitch below one or both of my eyes. It is more pronounced when I'm more tired. In fact, when I was on the name brand, my doc told me it was probably because I was not getting enough sleep (which I wasn't, but what else is new?? LOL). Since I have been on Topamax, the generic form and only 50mg, I am back to the under eye spasms. Most people don't notice it or at least don't ask about it.
Once it changes my taste for carbonated soda - turning it to tasting like metal - and makes my lips/face feel strangely tingly, then I'll get a little more stressed. Right now, it's not quite gotten my migraines under control but I'm finding I've got tension/stress headaches more than migraines these days.

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It's been a little while since I last posted on this thread. It took me a long time to completely wean off Topamax, even though I knew it was the cause of my 24/7 eye twitch. I am now on Candesartan after trying Relpax for a few months and finding I just needed too much of it. The problem I had with weaning off Topamax was the weight issue. I started to gain weight as soon as I came off it. For that reason, I continued taking 25mg daily along with my Relpax as needed because 25mg of Topamax is not going to prevent migraines, but it did seem to help with the weight issue. Anyway, the twitch set in again even at the 25mg dose, so I just had to bite the bullet and come off it completely. This time, my weight seems stable. Maybe it's the Candesartan! If I have one piece of advice about Topamax, it's that it is very hard to come off. My side effects started 5 years after starting Topamax and I really thought I was developing a neorological disorder due to the 24 hour a day eye twitching and also a tremor in my left hand and different parts of my body. All side effects have disappeared off Topamax.

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I have been taking Topamax now for about 3 weeks. I started out taking 25mg twice a day after seeing the LPN and then had a Spinal Tap and a follow up with my actual doctor. He said that dosage was pointless and raised it to 100mg/day. Since then I have developed an annoying twitch in my eyes that almost feels like electrical sparks going off in both eyes all day long. when I lay down to sleep I feel it in both eyes to the point tha tit makes it quite bothersome. I also really miss my sodas, but have delevoped an addiction to green tea. I am trying to get used to taking medicine, I have never had to take any meds before this at all and now I am on Topamax, Imitrex and Naproxen. I just hope the twitching either subsides a bit or I get used to it or it goes away. If not, I am going to have to have a word with my doctor. I am loving not having 3-4 migraines a week, but not sure if I can handle putting up with my eyeballs jittering about in my head all day every day either!

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I have been having Eye Twitches more and more lately maybe five per two hours, I have been taking Topamax for my seizures for about two and a half years before that I was on some other medication for some time.
I have been having seizures for about 11 years I was diagnosed at the age for 4.

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