Is a medication such as Topamax effective? Reviews of doctors and patients will be presented below. You will also learn about why this drug is prescribed, how it should be used, and what therapeutic properties are characteristic of it.
Composition, form
In what form are Topamax medicines sold? Patient reviews report that this product can be purchased in the form of gelatinous hard white capsules.
The active ingredient of this drug is topiramate. It also includes the following auxiliary elements: sugar grits, povidone and cellulose acetate.
The Topamax medication (doctors' reviews about it are very mixed) goes on sale in plastic bottles and packs of cardboard, respectively.
Drug characterization
What are Topamax capsules? Reviews report that it is an antiepileptic drug, which refers to derivatives of fructose. Its active element is able to suppress sodium channels, as well as slow down the development of repeated action potentials with prolonged depolarization of the walls of the neuron.
Reception of the considered drug increases the activity of γ-aminobutyric acid against certain types of GABA receptors. In addition, this drug is able to block the activation of glutamate receptors by kainate and to regulate the activity of GABA receptors. Such therapeutic effects of the drug are dose-dependent, and are observed when its value in the blood is 1-205 μmol.
What other properties are characteristic for Topamax? Reviews say that its main ingredient is able to inhibit the activity of a number of carbonic anhydrase isomers. It should be noted that according to the severity of this pharmacological property, the medication in question is quite inferior to the carbon anhydrase inhibitor, that is, acetazolamide. Such activity of the drug is not the main component of its antiepileptic effect.
Kinetic features of the drug
Is the Topamax drug absorbed? Reviews claim that after taking this tool, its active substance is very rapidly absorbed from the intestine. Moreover, the bioavailability of topiramate reaches 81%. Eating does not affect this indicator.
The binding of the active component of the drug with plasma proteins reaches 13-16%.
To achieve an equilibrium state in people with normal kidney function, it may take about 4-8 days. About 20% of the dose taken is subject to transformation. In this case, 6 metabolites (inactive) are formed.
Topiramate, as well as all its derivatives, is excreted by the kidneys. The average half-life is 22 hours.
Indications for taking capsules
In what cases are patients prescribed Topamax medication? Reviews for migraine are only positive. The drug in question is used not only for the treatment of the mentioned neurological disease, but also for its prevention.
It should also be noted that this remedy manifests itself well in epilepsy. It is used for monotherapy of children from two years old and adult patients. In addition, Topamax is often recommended for persons with newly diagnosed epilepsy.
As a component of complex therapy, this drug is prescribed for children from two years of age and adult patients with partial tonic-clonic or generalized seizures, as well as for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Contraindications for taking capsules
When can you not take Topamax capsules? Reviews (this drug is contraindicated for children under two years of age) states that the medication in question is forbidden to use in case of patient hypersensitivity to its components.
With extreme caution, this medicine must be used for liver failure, nephrourolithiasis, renal failure, and hypercalciuria.
Mode of application
Topamax should be taken orally. Capsules can be swallowed whole, or you can mix their contents with a small amount of soft food.
To control epileptic seizures, it is recommended to start therapy with low doses of the drug, and then titrate them to effective.
With tonic-clonic seizures, as well as with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, the minimum effective dose of this drug is 200 mg per day. In some cases, patients may be shown taking a maximum daily dose of 1600 mg.
In children from two years, the recommended daily dose is 5-9 mg per kg of body weight.
How should the drug in question be taken with epilepsy? For monotherapy in adults, 25 mg is prescribed once a day for one week. Further, this amount is increased by 25-50 mg with an interval of 1-2 weeks.
The recommended dosage for monotherapy of epilepsy in young children can vary in the range of 100-400 mg per day.
For the prevention of migraine, this drug should be taken 50 mg twice daily. If necessary, this dose can be increased (before the onset of the clinical effect).
Side effects
The drug in question is capable of causing many adverse reactions. The most common are the following:
- drowsiness, lethargy, dizziness, tremor, apathy, apraxia, impaired thinking, amnesia, impaired coordination, dystonia;
- confusion, crying, slow thinking, hallucinations, depression, decreased libido, euphoric mood, aggressive reactions;
- anorexia, pancreatitis, gastritis, flatulence, dyspeptic symptoms;
- cramps, cramps, swelling of the joints;
- unilateral blindness, presbyopia, conjunctival edema and others.
Medication "Topamax": reviews
Epilepsy is the main disease in which the drug in question is prescribed. According to the doctors, with this diagnosis, this medication does not always show the proper therapeutic efficacy. In addition, its administration contributes to the development of many adverse reactions, including from the psyche and nervous system.
As for patients, they also indicate poor tolerance to this medicine. Therefore, many of them prefer to use safer drugs that the doctor recommends to them.
We can not say that the medication in question is actively used by many patients as a means for losing weight. However, experts report that when taking Topamax capsules for these purposes, its high toxicity should be taken into account.