Posted by Bob on March 5, 2001, at 1:56:48
In reply to Re: BAD Topamax Experiences? , posted by phillybob on March 4, 2001, at 23:27:39
> I feel like I was playin' a pinball game and now the "Game Over" is flashing.
>
> I had to discontinue the topiramate due to aforementioned bleeding gums which, it turns out, was actually a horrific recession of the gums! My teeth were killing me, I believe, due to the lower caninal parts, which heretofore had not "seen" the light of day, being exposed to the elements!
>
> And, the bleeding of the gums did not help the persistent sore throat.
>
> It was time to taper down and off, alas. Sigh. Sigh.
>
> The sighs are because, after so many trials, I actually felt right ... even learned the word euthymic to rap the lingo with the pdoc!
>
> My downfall may have been the accidental dosage increase mentioned above, but I'm not so sure. I had had a sore throat early on in my trial, but that went away when I was taking medication (antibiotic/antiviral) for something else.
>
> I am very sensitive to meds, unfortunately. My conclusion is that one should just monitor this drug closely (as it is a drug). I myself would even consider re-visiting topamax in the future because it seemed to work so well as monotherapy for me, but for now, I am looking into lamictal or possibly adderal as my next monotherapy trial.
>
> P.S. During the tapering off of topiramate, I once again experienced most of the cognitive difficulties that I had had titrating up! But now, they've all gone away as I am drug free and loving (NOT) it.
>
> Best wishes to you all. Regards, phillybob.Phillybob:
I am very sorry to see that you have had to stop the Topomax, despite the fact that it was giving you some good results. I too am getting some good results, along with some annoying ones. I am experiencing a frequent recurrence of sore throat, and a persistent skin problems - rash, and very dry sensitive skin. If I alter the dose of the medecine at all, such as taking it significantly early or late, or skip one altogether, then these effects become quite pronounced.
Anyway, trying Lamictal sounds like a good idea, but it can't be stressed enough that ramping up slowly is of paramount importance to avoid all chance of a rash. I think that they establishment is really on to something here with these new generation anti-seizure meds - they seem to be better in some ways than the SSRIs for some conditions.
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010302/msgs/55592.html