topamax and being constantly hungry

I have been on Topamax 100 mg daily (combined with Namenda 10mg daily) for my migraines since I was 17. I am 23 now, and I have gained 30 pounds. When I first started these medications, I got a manic energy from them and couldn't sleep. I felt nauseous and had immune problems, then lost some weight. I quickly gained the weight back, however, and over the course of the past few years I have had an insatiable appetite which includes strange cravings for grapefruit, bell peppers, hummus, etc. Though I try to lose weight, and work out for hours almost every day, I feel like the medication is counter productive to weight loss just as it aids the initial weight gain. I have no idea how to bring it up to my neuro without sounding like I'm whining and unable to take on my own self control issues. 

My Doctor told me that the dose has to be over 100mg of Topamax for you to loose weight.

I have stopped the Topamax because I was getting terrible back pain and kidney stones.

I have been on topamax for a little over a week now 100 mgs a day, I was also prescribed this for my bipolar and weight loss from gaining 63 pounds on seroquil, I have lost 8 pounds so far sometimes I have to force myself to eat at least once a day and sometimes I eat twice a day and minutes later I feel like I am starving again, but I do not eat but I do not understand why that is. I did read in your posts that some of you are exsperiencing the same side affects as me.

Im so glad i'm not the only one with these exact symptoms. I was prescribed 100mg topamax & 150 mg lamictal twice a day for Partial complex epilepsy. Haven't had as many breakthrough seizures, but had to drop out of my mba program,gaining weight, always hungry, always moody, always tired,never want to do anything, losing hair and on the verge of tears 24/7. great way to enjoy my twenties....

I have the exact same problem with topamax! And I'm so tired of doctors and medicine that only seem to keep making me worse. I went from pain I could tolerate and learn to block out to pain that I can no longer tolerate. I have so many more problems now its ridiculous. I can hardly walk around most days but I do but the pain is horrible but anyways this medicine is not helping my migriaines or seizures

It's amazing to see the varied responses that folks are having to this drug.  At first I thought I was was going crazy until my body started to adjusting to some of these side effects, now I'm seeing the rewards start outweighing the initially hurrendous side effects (memory loss, Alice in Wonderland effect etc).  To speak to the topic of this thread, I too am starting to lose weight  (8lbs so far after 1 mo) on a fairly low dose (100mg/day) of topomax and eating more than usual. I'm going to up my calorie intake and see if it levels out. I'm a runner, so my hope is that I can develop a program of the right eating and excercise to balance my metabolism out on this.   I am also eating foods that I would usually never think of eating, and at rather inappropriate times (e.g. chinese for breakfast).  Fine, it is decreasing the occurence of my cluster headaches and that is a benefit that no other drug I've ever taken has given.   

I started topomax just under a week ago..by day 2 I was shaking and starving all of the time..I was excited because I thought I would lose weight which I need to lose about 60 lbs...but I feel like my blood sugar drops consistently all day long...I get these intense burts of energy and then burn out...I haven't had this much energy in so long I don't know what to do with them...its like I have ADHD or something. I am 42 and was just prescribed a low dose of 25mg and will be going to 50mg for severe continuous migraines with multiple auras and my neurologist suspects seizures...waiting for EEG. I just feel like I need to eat all day. My body feels like it used to after intense workouts or swim sessions and I need food. My friend takes it for migraines and has no appetite. I even have gotten 2 migraines this week. LOL..I almost suspected I have the wrong or counterfit meds.

I'm having the exact same experience. Constantly hungry!!! I've been taking topomax for almost 4 months now, the dose being increased by 25mg per month. I'm now on 100mg per day. It is helping me with my migraines which I've been suffering from for about 30 years, since I was 11 years old. 

I have found that I am constantly hungry tho and I have constant cravings for all kinds of food. I'm a slender vegan who can stand to gain some weight, but if I'm going to be on this medication for a long time, for the first time ever I'm wondering if I'm going to have to start worrying about my weight. I don't want to lose my flat stomach, but the way that I've been eating, I'm pretty sure that after a year or several months even on this medication, it's bound to happen. Also, I have painful numbness in my feet and sometimes my hands. This happens many times a day and lasts for maybe 15 minutes each time. 

I was on topamax for quite awhile.  Although it did maintain a low weight,  it also made me stupid with mental fogginess and confusion.  It's a toss-up.  dumb or skinny?  I am now stopping this med and now my appetite is coming back.

I'm frustrated with the medication, once used on me for anxiety and to boost my antidepressant. Now it's now being touted as an effective weight loss medication on it's own but a new diet drug called Qsymia is being touted as the new hot weight loss drug because it's being combined with a well known anorectic. At the end of the day, literally, they cancel eqch other out, for me. I losse my appetite for hours on end, but then the cravings begin and I'm famished for hours on end. One side effect I didn't count on is a good one: being in constant, chronic pain the Topamax has helped me manage said pain when nothing else has helped except opiates which I won't take (disk problems). What I cannot understand is , other than profit margins, why the drug companies have combined a weight loss medication with a seizure medication which a significant % of people do gain weight from while taking it. Truth be told....I am loosing weight, but man is it a slower than slow process, probably because I'm really hungry at night.

I have been on 200mgs of topamax for over a year for migraine and have gained 40 pounds. I'm constantly hungry, the cravings are horrible. My mood is out of control and I have constant suicidal thoughts. It has taken my migraines away completely, but the suicidal thoughts are just too much...I'm trying to come off the topamax slowly, but the withdrawal symptoms are brutal.

I knew i wasn't that only one that developed cellulite from taking this medicine that was not listed as a side effect other wise i would have never taken it anyone have this problem

To the gal who admitted her bi-polar and bulimia: I hear you and I appreciate your post so very much even though you wrote it a long time ago. Quite honestly…I am afraid to post this because I am rarely honest about anything.
I've been on Lamictal for bi-polar. Depression is good and mania is under control. Everybody is different and I think I found a good fit for me right now. I started Topamax just 5 days ago when I finally admitted to my psychiatrist the severity of my bulimia. She knew that it was an ED-NOS (aka bulimarexiic) but I was pretty secretive about the details of it. I'm finding an ED specialist along with starting the Topamax. I'm never going to win this battle with bulimia without help. Topamax was supposed to hopefully take away my urge to binge and hence purge. In my strive for thinness, the side effect of appetite suppression would be freedom from my obsession with food that I have struggled with for as long as I can remember. I actually suggested the drug because I knew that it had that benefit. I'm sneaky that way. I figured that I desperately needed help. If a drug could help and keep the pounds off, then bonus.
With Topamax, so far I have been out of control hungry and it is frightening for someone who is overly concerned about gaining weight. Terrifying. I feel like like I think about food even more than I used to, which was all the time! The first two days at 25 mg resulted in the usual b/p. To the drug's credit…not as bad of a binge, but still the zoned out state of no return. I was supposed to bump the Topamax up to 50 mg when I reached a week. After the purge, guilt, despair, and feeling like I was never going to be free of it, I figured that I needed more Topamax and that I was so bad off with my illness that a higher dose was what should have been prescribed. I titrated up a half pill even though I shouldn't have. Day 3 I came down to an extra third since I was still b/p. Now I am down to the prescribed 25mg again until the 7 days are up and the proper amount of time has elapsed and I am able to make the jump to 50 mg as prescribed.
My reasoning for coming back down to 25mg was because I was just plain stupid to misuse the drug even with a mere 1/2 pill more for safety reasons. But even worse, the anorexic began talking and I wondered if I didn't use it correctly, if it wouldn't work at its optimum and hopefully give me that lovely benefit of the weight loss side effect. Like maybe I just have to slowly let it do its thing and the appetite suppression would kick in at some point. In my distorted view of myself, I probably need to gain 10 pounds, but I want that delicious side effect of losing 10. Perhaps no more. I would be happy with 10. Or at least I think so. That's my story to add. Thanks for encouraging me to be honest.

Exactly my doc put me on 100mg for mood stabilizer and I said I'm not taking anything that makes me gain weight also I have insomnia it does put me to sleep but I am snacking all the time !!!! Gaining weight I thought maybe give it time but I don't think this is gonna make me lose weight example some people gain weight on zoloft I lost weight so I guess we all react differently I model so my weight affects my career one good thing I forgot to mention it has helped with my anxiety I found I could go without my klonopin !!!! Something I could NEVER DO without panic attacks or withdrawals

same for me, crave sugar and hour or so after taking it