Topamax helps woman with binge eating disorder lose 26 lbs

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Tuesday, February 08, 2005 9:00 pm Email this article
Topamax (topiramate) helped a 27-year-old woman with binge eating disorder whereas several other treatments had failed according to a case report from Italy. Prozac and Seroquel failed to help

Two drugs that had previously failed to help her binge eating were Prozac (fluoxetine) at 60 mg per day and Seroquel (quetiapine) at 400 mg per day. (I believe these drugs where given at the same time, although this is not clear in the paper.)

Comment: I don’t understand why she would have been given Seroquel (quetiapine); it has been shown to cause weight gain.

Nutritional counseling failed to help

She was also given nutritional counseling which did not help.

Dose: 25 mg twice a day slowly increased to 100 mg twice a day

The initial dosage of to Topamax (topiramate) was 25 mg twice a day for three weeks, followed by a 25 mg increase every three weeks up to a target dosage of 100 mg twice a day.

Improvement noticed after 3 weeks

After three weeks they noticed an improvement in her eating habits and on obsessive and compulsive behavior.

26 lbs weight loss after six months

After six months, the patient had lost 26 pounds.

She dropped from 165 pounds down to 139 pounds.

BMI decreased from 26.6 to 22.3

Her body mass index (BMI) decreased from 26.6 to 22.3.

How does Topiramate decrease appetite?

Topamax (topiramate) ability to reduce appetite may be due to its ability to block glutamate receptors according to the authors. Drugs that stimulate glutamate receptors in the brain have been found to increase appetite.

Conclusion

“[O]ur experience shows the efficacy and good tolerability of topiramate [Topamax] in the treatment of binge eating disorder, especially if associated to overweight or obesity,” the authors concluded.

REFERENCE

De Bernardi C, Ferraris S, D’innella P, Do F, Torre E. Topiramate for binge eating disorder. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Feb, 29(2):339-41.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Pierluigi D’Innella
Monte Grappa 21
28041 Arona (Novara), Italy
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Cristina De Bernardi
Department of Psychiatry
University of Eastern Piedmont
Novara, Italy

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Binge Eating

• Topamax (topiramate)