I’m at about the 1-month mark for the lowering of the Topamax (200-150mg/day). At first, I didn’t really notice too much difference in the pain level – the main point of lowering the dose was to help with the memory issues that it causes. I really haven’t noticed any improvements. After a little while, however, my headache has become more apparent and now I’m taking rescue meds almost every day (as opposed to barely 1 time/week before). The doc who called me back from my headache doc practice (who, by the way, I have never heard of before – but he was very nice, luckily) suggested that I move up to 175mg/day until I see my new doc (July 12)… if that doesn’t work though, I will have to just go back to 200 for the time being.
Never a dull moment…
P.S. I’ve been coming across more and more headache blog friends, and even though it’s unfortunate that we are in this situation, it’s been so helpful to know that there are others out there who are doing their best to share what they can. So, thank you to all my new friends 
July 2, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I have been walking around in a Topamax induced fog for well over a year. My 11 year old daughter has had to get the money out of my purse to pay at the grocery. I can’t remember being at my other daughter’s confirmation. I can’t do 5th grade math even though I passed calculus in college. My doctor even had me tested to be sure I didn’t have early onset alzheimer’s. (I was 48 at the time.) I just went down from 100mg Topamax to 75mg and I feel like I have my brain back. My headache has been worse the first few evenings; today not so bad. (I take other meds, too.) I hope that you can get to a level with the Topamax where you don’t have memory problems; I was amazed that such a small change made such a big difference for me. Good Luck!
November 15, 2007 at 11:08 am
I, too, was up to 200 mg a day of Topamax for several months when I realized that I was missing my life before Topamax. I started reducing the dosage on my own over the course of several weeks to where I now take 50 mg a day and hope to be totally free of Topamax in the next few weeks. At first, I had a few major headaches, but now, only my normal triggers are causing my headaches, and the headaches are manageable.
I have also been gradually reducing my daily dosage of Effexor. I have gone from 400 mg a day to now 75 mg a day over three months time. At first, the withdrawal seemed drastic, but with the help of some counseling, I have been able to manage the roller coaster rides.
Personally, I think women need to take better control of managing their health care options; a lesson I did not learn until my neurologist had turned me into a prescription junkie.