My daughter, 13yoa, started taking 25mg of Topamax and after three doses started experiencing many of the side effects, the most severe being anxiety/depression. She stopped taking it and now 4 days later still experiencing the Anxiety/depression. The doctors could not give a definate answer as to when it will go away, she is small around 100 lbs., and 5'00". Can anyone who has experienced the anxiety/depression and stopped taking the medication say how long after stopping did the anxiety/depression last?
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9/14/11 8:15pm
Hi Charlie,
I'm really sorry to hear about your daughter's battle with extra anxiety/depression. Her age and Migraine together are enough to be anxious about, but she certainly doesn't need more on top with medication. Let's see if I can give you some information to help.
Topamax has a fairly long half life. Let me explain a bit - the half life of medication is the time it takes for half the amount of the drug to be eliminated or the time required for half the amount of a medication to be eliminated or to break up by natural processes. The half life of Topamax is 21 hours, so for 99% of topamax to be out of her system, it would take about 105 hours, or 4 and 1/2 days (ish). Your daughter should be feeling better very soon....if not, back to the doctor, or one who can calculate half life's 
Good luck and let me know how she is feeling,
Nancy
9/17/11 6:03pm
Hi Charlie,
How is your daughter feeling now? Back to teenage "normal" I hope!! While Topamax is often one of the first choices for Migraine prevention, that doesn't mean it is the best drug for everyone. There are over 100 medications used for Migraine prevention. For more information on this continue reading,
Migraine and Headache Preventive Medications - Too Many Options To Give Up!
You may want to have your daughter see a Migraine specialist too. And here's the thing. While neurologists are fine doctors it's difficult for them to be experts in any one area because they treat so many different conditions like MS, stroke and epilepsy. It's not that the doctor isn't listening, or doesn't care rather, they really aren't well informed about Migraine disease. Migraine specialists are experts in one area - ours - Migraines and headaches. And the thing is a neurologist may say he/she is a "true" headache expert, but that really isn't the case. It's important to note that neurologists aren't necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.
Good luck
Nancy
9/15/11 3:12am
I am surprised to see your daughter was started on a higher dose than typical. Perhaps the doctor should have started her out at 10mg initially, then gradually build up to 25mg. It is not uncommon with Topomax for the side effects to occur shortly after using the medication. I had a similar reaction with it and was told to continue to increase the dose to 100mg. By the time I made it to 100mg, I was having severe speech problems and increased inability to think correctly. I told the doctor I wanted to get off the medication. He told me to try going to 200mg. I disagreed and stopped taking the medication. After the medication was out of my system (after 3 months), I was back to seeing a new doctor and taking a different drug instead.
It is also not uncommon for a doctor to simultaneously prescribe an anti-depressant with a certain migraine drug, in this case Topomax. If your daughter immediately stopped taking Topomax without gradually coming down (reversing the mg), then she would certainly experience what you are suggesting. If she gives it some time for the medication to get out of her system, and at the same time takes an anti-depressant to offset the anxiety/depression, it may help ease the Topomax out of her system with less of an impact.
Good luck. It is never pleasant to hear a young person experiencing migraines. Mine started at age 10, over 30 years ago. I hope you are able to find a solution for your daughter. If not, you can always come back up here to ask us, those of us who live with the horrible disease every day.
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By Charlie— Last Modified: 09/17/11, First Published: 09/08/11
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Thank you for the response, thankfully almost a week later the side effects have dissipated. If anyone under the age of 16 considering taking the Topamax be very careful and make sure to know what the signs of possible side effects are. As for us ABSOLUTELY no more Topamax.