Topamax for Nerve Pain

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Sophia85

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Hello All,

I injured my back approx 3 years ago while in the service (bulging L5-S1 disc). Over the past three years I've sought treatement through physical therapy, chiropractic care, various deinflammatoy drugs, and oral steroiRAB but all to no avail. Finally my VA medical coverage kicked in recently and I've been able to see a neurologist at the VA hospital. They did a MRI but the disc injury did not show up in this most recent MRI (it seems to show up in just about every other MRI that they do). I'm awaiting an EMG on March 8th. In the mean time they had put me on 100 mgs of Topamax per day. Then yesterday the pain in my left leg and the tingling in my left foot got so intense that I had to go to the VA emergency room for a shot of Toradol and and increase to 200 mgs of Topamax a day. They say that the Topamax is supposed to help with the nerve pain but everything I read seems to indicate that this is not an on label use for Topamax. So I'm just curious if anyone else has had success with topamax for this kind of pain. If not what did work? Any recommendations would be appreciated at this point. I'm tired of being in pain all the time!

Thanks!
 
Oh dear, get off that Topamax--How dare they?! And definitely not quickly. 25mgs at a time--once a week--Tingling extremities already exist with that along with many other side effects as you see.
 
I did get some pain relief from nerve pain with Topamax, however, I was using it in conjunction with Lyrica. It is not what they call a "first line drug" for nerve pain. Usually Lyrica, Neurontin and Cyrabalta are the first-line treatment of choice for nerve pain. But I found Topamax to be a helpful addition to the Lyrica. I ditched it as soon as I did not need it anymore due to fatigue but did find it helpful for stabbing pain. Now if you have aching and not stabbing, shooting, burning pain, etc, then you are on the wrong class of medication for your type of pain.
 
Actually Topomax is one of the primary drugs used for nerve pain. It is one of the older drugs, along with Neurontin. All of these drugs that are used for nerve pain are secondary nerve pain use. Their primary use is for seizures. Cyrabalta is for depression and for pain. It is used to increase the strength of your nerve pain and to relieve any depression that you might be having.

All of these drugs come with their own set of side effects. Lyrica, the new wonder drug, often causes weight gain and causes vision issues in alot of folks plus dizziness. You need to find one that will work for you with the least amount of side effects.
 
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