I am on topamax for cronic headaches.  I started in Oct and  by the
middle of March I had slowly had slowly tirated up from 25mgs 2 times
a day to 175 mgs twice a day. I had had great success with the
Topamax! I have had no side effects at all due to the slow increase. 
In the beginning of March I noticed I had stared to lose a ton of hair
in the my brush and you could start to see my scalp. I guess this
dosage finally made me lose hair. The highest dosage I was ever
planned to be on was  200 mgs 2x a day. I really became worried,  I
decided to go off of the medications and began to use Rogaine.  Right
away the the hair loss stopped.  As of April first I started up the
Topamax again to try and see if I could do it again without the hair
loss side effects.  I am only taking 100 mgs once a day and the hair
loss is worse than ever. It started the just as soon as I strated back
on the Topamax.  You can see my scalp again!  My question is this - Is
the hair loss just a "start up"side effect that will go away once I
get over this period?  Will I lose all my hair in the process?  I have
done some research and I take selenium and Biotion and a ton of other
vitamins to counteract the Vitamins Topamax takes out of  your system,
but it hasn't helped.  Why didn't I lose hair from Oct-Jan?  Why only
now?  Is there any other way to counteract this?

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Clarification of Question by hawaiigirlnola-ga on 22 Apr 2004 20:58 PDT

For me Topamax also reduces the urge to binge eat.  I haven't lost any
weight but I no longer think about food all the time!!

Hi Hawaiigirlnola,

Hair loss is a known side effect of Topamax (generic name:
Topiramate).  Since it sounds like your hair loss is pretty severe,
I'd suggest you talk it over with your doctor.  You may need to go on
a different medicine for control of your migraines.  As for why the
hair loss suddenly started up after several months of use, all I can
say is that side effects can come and go with some medicines.   It may
be due to your change in dosage. You may have had a change in diet,
exercise, or even the weather (some people are affected by seasonal
changes in light, for instance, that alters their vitamin D levels)
that affected your body's reactions to the Topamax.  Even small
changes in dosage or behavior can have large effects on your system.

For information on the use and side effects of Topamax, check out the
MedMaster handout available (for free!) from MedlinePlus:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a697012.html. 
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine, and
offers lots of great information for the general public about disease,
drugs, and other health topics (www.medlineplus.gov).  I found the
above link by going to the "Drug Information" section of the
MedlinePlus and looking up topiramate.

Topamax is known to cause weight loss as a major side effect.  It was
even investigated as a possible weight loss aid - but clinical trials
were suspended because side effects were considered unacceptable for
that use.  This is a very powerful drug and may just not be the right
one for you.  You need to talk with your doctor about the side effects
you're experiencing (check out the list at the link I gave above to
see if you've got other symptoms) and maybe you and he/she can come up
with a better drug or dosage for you.

Let me know if I can clarify this answer at all - and in the meantime,
good luck and please talk to your doctor about this!

Librariankt

I recently read a testimonial in a magazine of somebody saying that
her cronic headaches disappeared after having stopped eating meat. A
chronic headache has often been linked to polluting of your body;
traditional medicine surpresses the symptoms but does not solve the
problem. You may want to read my post about Kombucha tea, which helps
to clean your body; people have reported also that it cured hair loss.
Maybe this can be helpful for you also?
See : http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=333772
I would suggest that you stop eating meat and products with lots of
sugar for a period of 6 months and drink Kombucha tea 3 times a day.
Also, do some sports 2 times a week.
Just a coincidence that I post about Kombucha tea twice on the same day.