Thursday, May 3, 2007

Truly Bizarre Side Effects

I've discovered a side effect to Topamax that is really strange. We're talking Michael Jackson strange here. I can no longer taste carbonation in soft drinks. I first noticed this last night after I went to Burger King. I ordered a Coke with my meal. Before I pulled a way, I took a sip and told the lady that it tasted flat, could she please give me another one. She went on to tell me there was nothing wrong with the Coke, but she could give me something else. So I huffed and puffed and asked for a root beer. That tasted flat too. So I told her. She tasted it from the machine and said it was fine, so I sped off in a dramatic fashion. Now...I noticed that I noticed the feeling of carbonation when the drink hit my throat, but not in my mouth...it just tasted flat when I first took a sip.

So today, I went to Subway with a friend for lunch. I got a Coke there and what do you know, it tasted flat! But once again, I could feel the carbonation in my throat. I don't know if the Topamax killed the nerves on my tongue or what, but it's a very disquieting sensation! Bookfool left a comment the other day saying that she tried Topamax for her migraines and that it made everything taste bad...maybe this has something to do with that. Needless to say, I won't be drinking Coke's anymore for now, because they all taste flat, which will definitely help with the 10:4 challenge! Isn't this one of the weirdest side effects?

9 comments:

Literacy-chic said...

O.K.--I get worried when I see a post about weird side effects. It is truly weird, but I'm glad it's not worse than that!

chrisa511 said...

Haha...no strange growths...yet

Bookfool said...

Yep, that's one of the side effects. A friend lost tons of weight on Topamax because she stopped drinking colas. They didn't taste flat to me, though, they tasted bitter. So, that could be good - could mean you're not getting the hinky nerve problems I had when I was on it.

chrisa511 said...

Bookfool, I've had the pins and needles thing off and on, but not to the point of it being painful. More annoying than anything and it doesn't tend to last very long.

Bookfool said...

If the pins and needles thing continues, you should mention it to your doctor. Mine wasn't so bad at first, but it kept getting worse and I had no idea it was a sign of nerve damage. Oopsy.

chrisa511 said...

Oh Lord! Thanks for the warning Bookfool!

Bookfool said...

No problem. I'm crossing my fingers that you'll get past the side effects and it will be your miracle, though. :)

Anonymous said...

I late to this party but I started topamax last week. I thought the club soda in my fridge had gone flat (both cans). Went to a bar last weekend...I was the only one who kept getting served the flat bottle beers! Now I know the sad truth! It's me! Well the drug hasn't changed my appetite but it looks like it just eliminated a bunch of empty calories...

chrisa511 said...

Better late than never Erin! I was wondering why my beers were flat too ;) I'd love to tell you that 3 months later the side effects are completely gone, but they're not :/ They have however mellowed out a bit and I got some of my "carbonation taste" back. So I can at least tell that a beer is carbonated...it's just still not quite the same.