Topamax And Eye Twitching (Page 4)
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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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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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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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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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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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Can I ask what you switched to? Looking for a comparable alternative...

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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 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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After developing an eye twitch, I reduced the topirimate to 50mg taken at 4pm. Since then, the twitching has stopped. When the doctor tried putting it up by just 25mg, it started again, so it seems that at a minimal dose there isn't any twitching (at least that's the case with me, can't say if this works for others).

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I was on topamax when I was 18 , for three months. I developed very bad twitching in both eyes lower and upper lids, which affected my vision. I also had twitching in my cheeks and lips. At the time when I informed my doctor of this, he told me to stop the medication. He said he never heard of that being a symptom. A few weeks later he had informed me that he had took topamax himself and also developed a little twitching in his left eye...I'm am now 31 and til this day I still have twitching ,but not as bad as it was while I was on topamax. It usually happenens in the morning or at times when I am real tired.

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Hi, I know this is an old post but are you stil using Topamax and are you still getting the eye twictch. I've only been taking it for one month for migraine. The first week was 25 mg and that was fine just a little tingle in feet nothing too bad then 50 mg at night before bed. The tingle in my feet has got a little worse but about an hour after I take it my left bottom eye lid twitches. It's not painful just irritating but then I fall asleep and forget about it. It's still there when I get up and I've worked out it stays for about 12-14 hours after I've taken it. I've started taking it about 6 p.m with my evening meal and the eye twitch doesn't start till I go to bed about 10.30. So I think maybe the problem with the whole eye twitching thing is don't take the Topamax or topiramate in my case on an empty stomach. As for helping my migraine it's only been a month and I've had to two 72hr episodes which cleared with zomig. I will keep taking the topiramate because I'm sure the side effect will subside like most people say they do.
I would like to read more good thing about this treatment from people but I suppose they are all off out enjoying thier new life's migraine free. That will be me one day.

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I am taking 350mg and my lip is doing the same thing!

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Hi, yes since I have increased my does to 200mg a day, I have developed a twitch in my left eye too. I am due to see my neurologist in a week's time and will take it up with him. I am aware that it can impact on the eyes.

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I take 300mg / day of the retail version. There are many "authorized" nongenerics... my first was Ortho-McNeil-Janssen (depending on which country I'm in... I'm an American expat in China, so at home in the States its GSK Ortho and at the moment its XIan-Janssen's Topamax). Just want to add that it doesn't seem to matter generic vs. nongeneric in my case; I've had the lower right eyelid blepherospasm for three years and my neurologist assures me it isn't glaucoma, it isn't dangerous, and while its annoying as all hell, its a lot better than peeing my pants and forgetting my name every day for 2-3 minutes at a time, risking permanent brain damage from complex partial generalizing seizures.

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