Acne.org Products
I'm still convinced this drug might work. It's one of the few things that have been clinically researched (admittedly not well enough) and which has been researched independent of any marketing agendas. And yes, the site clearly says post-acne and varicella scars, which no clinical researcher would confuse with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This isn't some funky site some armchair pseudo-scientists decided to put up.
IDBV I hope you continue using the drug and keeping us updated.
It's only barely been past a week. For me to say I had improvement or not would be very premature and presumptious. If a person that refers to acne and chicken pox scars and isn't referring to indented scarring then they shouldn't be doing studies or writing any reports. I will let you know if I do get a response from Bharti but I have not yet.
zxc, why are you making statements like this? The hope for us acne-scar sufferers is the scenar-technology. and why are you doing it in this thread? You have no experience with the scenar. Good luck with it but please don't make statements like that with such little info/experience with it.
I am male, I don't know of any females named Colin.
Rakesh was kind enough to give a reply in which he stated that the study did show improvement in depressed scars. They are also continuing further studies he mentioned and he hopes to send me some photos soon. So assume what you will. And also remember that not everyone had improvement.
If I recieve any additional information from him I will relay it.
zxc, again for me to say anything at this point would be premature, I will let you know if and when I see any significant differences/improvement.
I recall asking IDB2 (now Pocket Aces) earlier about taking before/after photos not necessarily for the board, but for his own assessment. Many people here may be using his results as a precursor to persuing topiramte treatment.
I know not to be overly enthusiastic about Topiramate, but this sort of treatment is EXACTLY why I've never bothered to pay for various dermatology procedures (ie, dembrasion, peels, lasers). I rather have my scars remain as the are now--even though it pains me --than pay ridiculous amounts of money for treatments not guaranteed to produce satisfactory results.
If this medication produces results similar, or in excess, to any procedures available, I'll take a risk with psychological side-effects. One pill, once a day, for three months? No down time? Beats applying eroding chemicals on my face.
I do have some before pictures but they are not super and the lighting conditions might be hard to reduplicate. It was definite good news to hear directly from Rakesh that depressed scars improved but I still have to see it for myself (like you all might have to eventually for yourselves depending on what I see). But please if everyone can be patient and give me 3 months. If I can truly conclude visually after 3 months or so that topiramate has indeed made a difference I will let you guys know.
Should Rakesh send me his improvement pictures I will surely post them.
Hey Pocket (new name 
).
Could you possibly take some "before" pictures with lighting conditions you can reduplicate later?
Because otherwise, if you get improvement, it will not be convincing, since people will just think the improvement is due to the different lighting conditions.
But of course only if you will do it for us. 
It might be the only way many of us can get the drug (by showing the derm what effect the drug (hopefully) has)
For now I really don't plan on posting pictures. If you want pics to show your derm you can easily show him the pics of the 41 year old woman in the UF study. But if I do tell you it works you will at least have the support of two independent studies from different sides of the world and me.
...hey, just wanted to let you know that I plan on taking topiramate. I'm just waiting for it to arrive. I have taken some pictures, so if I see some results and someone still shows some interest on this I might post before and after pics.
ZXC, be sure you also take pics of yourself and I really hope the SCENAR works too. I was undecided as to what to try first, the topiramate or the scenar, I finally decided on the Topiramate and I'm glad you chose the SCENAR so we can know how both work. I'm optimistic and hope both will work. 
I really hope this works for you, it would be so nice just to take a pill and have your body repair itself, if not totally, at least partially. However, I think if this were really true, there would be alot more talk on this and word would have made this drug a lot more popular by now. 
The reason why this isn't publicized is because it is a fairly recent study. It takes years, sometimes decades, before a drug is approved for a certain purpose. The good thing is that this study has been replicated (Shapira then Rakesh), though not double-blind and on a very limited scale. Also, if the big pharmaceutical companies don't show any interest, especially the makers of topomax, then that's that.
dude, i figured this might happen! IDBNVS2 changed his name and his picture about the same time he got on the topiramate. he is now known as Pocket Aces and he went from a nice white poodle dog to a ying yang sign. it's clear that the topiramate has greatly interfered with his identity. beware everyone, this could happen to you! j/k 
Minnie, whom I'm not sure is still active, and Whyme? reported taking this drug in the middle of February 2004. Does anyone know what happened with them?
I'm very interested in this magic pill.
Pocket - what did you say to your doctor? Did you tell him you were hoping to see improvment in acne scars?
I took zyban a few months ago to quit smoking. It is another drug that was for depression but had a wonderful side effect. For me it worked like a charm. I smoked my last cigarette about 10 days after starting it.
About depression and bipolar: From what I understand depression medications can be dangerous for people who are prone to manic bouts because it can swing them the other way. I don't think it would be too dangerous for healthy people to take a bipolar med for a few months.
Hope your results are fantastic!
I have a bottle of the 25's in the glovebox of my car. I stopped taking it a couple of months ago because it caused me to have extreme hairloss, shedding, not like a bald spot, and such dry mouth that I had a few cavities and I have never had any cavities before in my life and I am 30 I am convinced it was because of the topamax.
That said I am totally considering going back on it for a couple months for the treatment of the indented scar I got recently and that bothers me so much. Which is why I am here.
Part of me is really hesitant to take it again, the hairloss was horrible. I don't know 
I think I am going to do it though, the scar will (please I hope) heal and then I can go off it and grow the hair back.
I have a bottle of the 25's in the glovebox of my car. I stopped taking it a couple of months ago because it caused me to have extreme hairloss, shedding, not like a bald spot, and such dry mouth that I had a few cavities and I have never had any cavities before in my life and I am 30 I am convinced it was because of the topamax.
That said I am totally considering going back on it for a couple months for the treatment of the indented scar I got recently and that bothers me so much. Which is why I am here.
Part of me is really hesitant to take it again, the hairloss was horrible. I don't know
did you talk to your dr. about the hair loss? what did he/she have to say? can you really be sure it was from the Topiramate? i never read anything about hair loss being a side affect.
I have a bottle of the 25's in the glovebox of my car. I stopped taking it a couple of months ago because it caused me to have extreme hairloss, shedding, not like a bald spot, and such dry mouth that I had a few cavities and I have never had any cavities before in my life and I am 30 I am convinced it was because of the topamax.
That said I am totally considering going back on it for a couple months for the treatment of the indented scar I got recently and that bothers me so much. Which is why I am here.
Part of me is really hesitant to take it again, the hairloss was horrible. I don't know
How much were you taking and what were you taking it for and for how long?
Faye,
The topiramate was prescribed for migraines, which even at 25 mgs I have seen improvement in headaches but it could also be partial placebo effect.
Kady,
I don't know what to tell you about the hair loss because I haven't seen any of that but then again it been a little over 2 weeks and I am taking only 25mgs. About the cavities, have you recently moved to a different state or started drinking more bottled water? Some areas don't put flouride in their water and many bottled water brands don't have flouride because it is a known poison in certain quantities. But trace amounts of flouride in water keep actually keep teeth healthy and can be found in toothpaste.
There was also a separate study a while back that showed improvement on psoriasis (another skin condition) when topiramate was used on patients with mood disorders. This improvement in psoriasis was an unexpected finding while using the drug for mood problems. Also it notes that there might be a optimum dosage window for skin related improvements and it might be somewhere between 25 and 100 mg daily. I think most people who use this drug typically use well over 100 mg which is outside this window. So could it be that others don't see the benefits to scars/skin because they took/take higher doses.
I just wanted to add that I researched this drug some awhile ago, and it said women should not combine this with birth control pills. It would make you pretty hormonal it said and could cause outbreaks of acne. I think the acne side effect could happen even without the birth control in some people. It could still help existing scars but with we don't want more from acne 