Topamax (topiramate) for bulimia?

[jay27]

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with topamax being used to treat their bulimia or binge eating disorder. I've tried many psychotropic drugs in an attempt to treat my bulimic symptoms (prozac, lexapro, abilify, luvox, klonopin, ativan,effexor) as well as a drug that is commonly used to treat opioid addiction (naltrexone). I've also taken part in a study on the use of rtms (essentially similar to a controlled form of electroshock therapy) to treat bulimia (http://consumer.healthday.com/mental...rs-682053.html). None of these interventions seemed to help (a few seemed effective initially but the effect quickly dissipated). And many had numerous negative side effects (the worst being seizures...). I do have some qualms about topamax (eye problems, especially given that I'm already blind in one eye, and memory issues), but I really have very little left to lose at this point. Anyone have any experiences and/or opinions on the matter?

[bulimiargh]

iirc, Kathryn Hansen (author ofBrain Over Binge) found topamax really helpful in curbing her initial addictive behaviours wrt the binge cycle.

[sveta]

Topiramate is actually used to treat some types of seizures.
I used to take divalproex for my migraines but when I heard about topiramate being possibly helpful for bulimia/binge eating, I asked my GP to switch. I took it for a while but really I end up not even taking my medications due to my frequent purging. How intelligent, eh? Right now (yesterday began again) I'm trying to start regularly taking both my topiramate and my bupropion. We'll see how it goes.

LONG RAMBLE SHORT.
When I did take it regularly, the side effects I noticed was some mental fog.

[Angelbitten]

I take anti-anxiety medication (alprazolam/xanax. The one and ONLY drug that has ever worked to conquer my severe life-long anxiety.) I truly believe that it helps me in fighting my eating disorder, however I believe that it works for me because the number one trigger for me to binge and purge has always been anxiety. I would say that from personal experience it depends on who you are and what triggers your ED.

[Solita]

I'm on 100 mg daily of Topamax due to severe migraine headaches and also told my neurologist about my AN/B-P. He was initially worried about weight loss…if you're underweight a lot of docs won't prescribe it. But I have been very regimented with at least maintaining if not gaining weight so he agreed to it. I do think it helped reduce my B/P episodes. The cognitive effects, however, are quite noticeable. I have trouble with recall and retrieval and it makes running a therapy session a fucking nightmare sometimes (asking a patient, "Wait…what was that thing you said again, five minutes ago?" is not exactly fucking therapeutic). But it is definitely worth a shot. But if you're underweight you CANNOT go in with the mindset that you will lose weight on it or they will put that shit away so fast your head will spin.

[Solita]

P.S. Jay I am rooting for ANYTHING to help you. You do not deserve this fucking hell. My best wishes to you, honey.

[Mescalero]

I've taken topomax a number of times in various doses. When I was heavily engaging bulimic symptoms I did find it helpful in reducing binges for a period of time, but that slowly faded. The mental fog and exhaustion I experienced from it were pretty bad. I experienced hairloss, tingling in parts of my body (that was so severe it would wake me up at night), and I was extremely emotional. There were several days on this drug I spent crying, completely unable to stop, and with no idea why I was crying to begin with. I'm fairly certain that I would have been completely unable to hold down a job or study at this period in time because the side effects were so severe. I found myself completely unable to eat when I was on more than 150mg. My OCD was also greatly worsened, to the point that it was intolerable. Some people say that after you have taken if for a while the side effects go, but I didn't see a dramatic decrease in any of them. The last time I went off of it my appetite and binge eating greatly increased for a period of time. I would not recommend it to anyone unless it is the only way they can control their epilepsy/migraines.

If you do decide to take it, I would warn against going past a dose of 75mg. I know that this is not your first choice, and you have struggled for a long time, but this drug has A LOT of downsides, so please weigh your options carefully.

[becauseittastesgood]

Topamax has been 100% effective. I went from severe bulimia to no bulimia within a month. I'm hungry, eat, than stop when full and no longer binge. It has been the only drug that has worked (along with adderall) and has very little side effects. My face turns numb and tingly sometimes, same with my feet. I was drowsy the first week and have pee a lot but its a diuretic afterall. All my side effects have been tolerable and your body will adjust after the first month or so. My max dose was 200mgs/day (100 twice a day).