If you have
epilepsy, your healthcare provider may prescribe
Topamax® (
topiramate). This prescription drug is approved for treating epilepsy either alone or in combination with other medications in adults and children.
Specifically, Topamax is approved to be used alone (as "monotherapy") for partial
seizures or generalized tonic-clonic
seizures in people 10 years of age and older. Partial seizures affect only one part of the brain, while generalized seizures affect the whole brain. Tonic-clonic seizures are what most people associate with the word "seizure." Generalized tonic-clonic seizures involve body stiffness, shaking of the limbs, and loss of consciousness.
When using Topamax for epilepsy, this medication is also approved to be used along with other medications (as "adjunctive" therapy) for partial seizures, generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures from
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in adults and children age two and up.
Although it is not exactly clear how Topamax works for epilepsy, it is believed to slow down the abnormal electrical signals in the brain that cause seizures. In studies, this medication increased the time until the next seizure and decreased the number of seizures. In one study of adults with epilepsy, approximately 75 percent of people taking 400 mg of the drug per day were seizure-free for at least one year.
