Topiramate medication drug

Topiramate is a pharmaceutical drug used with other medications to treat certain types of seizures in patients with epilepsy or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (a disorder that causes seizures and developmental delays). Topiramate is used to treat patients who continue to have seizures even when they take other anti-seizure medications.
   Topiramate is also used in migraine prophylaxis. Topiramate tablets and topiramate Sprinkle Capsules are indicated for adults for the prophylaxis of migraine headache. The usefulness of topiramate in the acute treatment of migraine headache has not been studied.
   Topiramate has been tested for weight loss. See weight loss for natural ways to lose weight. Another interesting web site is hoodia diet weight loss.

Topiramate is contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to any component of this product.

Topiramate side effects
The most common topiramate side effects are paresthesias, anorexia, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, weight decrease, and taste alteration. Those prescribed topiramate should be instructed to drink lots of fluids to reduce the risk of kidney stone formation. Topiramate has been associated with serious side effects, including:

Hyperchloremic, non-anion gap metabolic acidosis - lowering of bicarbonate levels in the blood. Measurement of baseline and periodic serum bicarbonate is recommended.

Acute myopia and secondary angle-closure glaucoma.

Oligohidrosis and hyperthermia - decreased sweating and increased body temperature, especially in hot weather. this is more likely to happen in children.

Cognitive/psychiatric side effects including cognitive dysfunction, psychiatric/behavioral disturbances including suicidal thoughts or behavior, and somnolence and fatigue.

Topiramate and weight loss
The effect of topiramate on energy balance in obese men: a 6-month double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study with a 6-month open-label extension.
Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2007 Jan 3; Division of Kinesiology (PEPS), Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Laval University, G1K 7P4, Quebec, Canada
Topiramate has been reported to reduce body weight beyond a placebo in the treatment of obese participants, but the effect of this agent on components of energy balance has not yet been established in humans. Thus, the aim of this study was to study the impact of Topiramate on food preferences, measures of satiety, food intake, resting metabolic rate, and 24-h energy expenditure. The study design consisted of a 6-month, single-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled trial with a 6-month open-label extension. The study included 68 sedentary men with abdominal obesity (waist circumference >/=100 cm), of between 25 and 55 years of age, with a dyslipidemic profile and a body mass index (BMI) >/=27 and </=40 kg/m(2). Treatment with Topiramate produced significant changes in anthropometric variables and body composition compared with placebo. CONCLUSION: Topiramate treatment produced significantly greater weight loss than placebo and the majority of this loss was explained by a decrease in body fat stores. Most of the weight loss effect produced by Topiramate therapy was observed within a period of 6 months. Finally, Topiramate treatment had an impact on energy balance through a reduction in food intake that appears to have created an energy deficit of about 30,000-40,000 kcal compared with treatment with the placebo over 6 months.

Topiramate and sleep
Efficacy and tolerability of open-label topiramate in the treatment of sleep-related eating disorder: a retrospective case series.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2006 Nov;67(11):1729-34. Winkelman JW. Division of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Determine the efficacy and tolerability of topiramate in the treatment of sleep-related eating disorder (SRED). This is a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients treated in an open-label trial of topiramate for SRED in a sleep disorders clinic. Patients were diagnosed according to the second edition of the International Classification of Sleep Disorders. Patients with a Clinical Global Impressions of Improvement (CGI-I) rating of "very much" or "much" improved were considered treatment responders. 30 subjects were prescribed topiramate, of whom 25 had at least 1 postbaseline follow-up appointment. CONCLUSION: In this open-label retrospective trial, topiramate was found to be very effective in reducing nocturnal eating in patients with chronic SRED. The tolerability of topiramate was an issue in some patients. Given the promise of this approach, but the limitations of this study, prospective, double-blind study of topiramate in a larger sample of patients with SRED is warranted.