Patient/caregiver was educated on precautions to be exercised while taking topiramate as follows:
- Topiramate can also induce extreme dry mouth and diarrhea. Sucking on a sugar free hard candy can help with symptomatic relief of dry mouth. Proper hydration measures and compliance with daily fluid intake recommendations can help with fluid supplementation in individuals with diarrhea. Observing compliance with fluid intake recommendations can also help with preventing episodes of hypotension, secondary to fluid loss. These symptoms should settle and ease out in due course of time, after you start taking the medication on regular basis. If you experience any further bothersome diarrhea, report it to your physician for further recommendations and changes in your plan of care.
- Topiramate intake can induce some dizziness. Also, topiramate use can result in a side-effect of increased ammonia in the blood, which also contributes to increased nausea, confusion, and dizziness. Starting topiramate on a low dose and gradually increasing it to the desired dose can help accommodate to the dizzy symptoms. If the confusion and dizziness become bothersome, report it to your physician and other health care personnel, for any change in plan of care to be considered. Stay away from activities, such as, driving and operating heavy machinery, until they are used to the side effects caused by topiramate.
- Do not take topiramate with alcohol or opioid pain medications, such as, hydrocodone and codeine, as these products can add to the confusion caused by topiramate. A number of OTC cough medications, antihistamines, and antianxiety medications, can potentiate the confusion caused by topiramate and so, must be avoided taking along with topiramate.
