Dear Dr. Phelps

Just discovered your site and have been reading ever since. I was dx'd with bi-polar 2 years ago and have a question about Topamax. Presently taking 600 mg. No other medication, just Topamax. Doing good on the meds. Have lost 17 lbs. but had gained 30 lbs. while on Depakote so that is good news. Have noticed memory loss,trouble concentrating, fatique, trouble finding simple words,imbalance, at times confusion but am coping okay so far. Hopefully the side effects even out soon. Have you ever heard if Topamax lowers bloodpressure? Mine has been going down (had been 30/20 over normal) and is now okay. Also my inocular eye pressure had been flucuating from 18 to 21 for the past 5 yrs. At my checkup last Tuesday both eye's reading was "12" A drop of 9 points in a 3 months period. I found this highly unusual and was wondering of Topamax had anything to do with this. Have been on Topamax since the end of September of this year. Ophtamologist, Pharmacist, Pdoc and Newsgroups that I querried about this did not know. Have considered contacting the manufacturer of Topamax and asking them. Have you heard anything about beneficial side effect of Topamax?. Am very curious. It is the only medication I take. Thanks for an answer.

Dawn

P.S. Prior to being put on Topamax I had been on Depakote, discontinued because of side effect, then Lithium also discontinued because of side effects.



Dear Dawn -- 
If you mean that your intraocular pressure went down, like the opposite of getting glaucoma, then that would be unusual.  Here's the manufacturer's letter noting that the medicine appears to be able to cause glaucoma.   I haven't heard nor found anything about lowering blood pressure, though effective mood stabilizer treatment of any kind seems to do that in many of my patients with bipolar disorder who also have elevated BP's.  

Dr. Phelps

Published December, 2001