• The change in percentage of heavy drinking days (5 or more standard drinking units per day for men and 4 or more standard drinking units per day for women) from baseline at 12 weeks or final visit.
  

• The change in each of the following: drinks/drinking day, drinks/day, percent days abstinent, Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessement for Alcohol-revised, compared to baseline at 12 weeks or final visit.
  

The impact of alcoholism can be reduced through effective treatments, which may include medical, psychological, and social interventions. The main goals of alcohol-dependence treatment are to assist patients in avoiding alcohol, developing better strategies for managing stress, and improving self-esteem and quality of life. Studies have demonstrated that treatments for alcohol use disorders can be effective, but their effectiveness is often limited. Although the optimal goal of treatment should be total abstinence, even patients who are unable to achieve this goal may still benefit from treatments leading to a reduction in drinking. Medications are commonly used in other addictive disorders, such as nicotine and opioid dependence, suggesting that this intervention could be useful in the treatment of alcohol dependence. This is a randomized, double-blind, flexible dose study to determine if topiramate, a prescription medication approved by the Food & Drug Administration for the treatment of epilepsy and the prevention of migraine, administed at a dose of 300mg per day or the subject's maximum tolerated dose, is safe and effective compared with placebo in patients with alcohol dependence. The study hypothesis is that topiramate will be more effective than placebo in reducing the percentage of heavy drinking days (5 or more standard drinks per day for men and 4 or more standard drinks per day for women) in patients with alcohol dependence.

The patients will receive topiramate tablets (25mg and/or 100mg) or matching placebo. Study medication is taken in increasing doses starting at 25 mg/day up to 300 mg per day (or maximum tolerated dose) during the first 6 weeks and the achieved dose is maintained for an additional 8 weeks.