Posted by Nellie on May 14, 2001, at 23:46:53
In reply to Re: Topamax Experiences? » maribeth, posted by kathrynbabble on May 12, 2001, at 23:30:20
> "I have been diagnosed as manic-depressive. I was doing well on 20mg of elexa. However, doing well turned into doing too well(hypomania) and then turned into even more extreme hypomania"
My understanding is that anti-depressants, (like Celexa) can cause manic/depressives to go into a manic state.
"he made me drop to 10mg of Celexa and I had withdrawl in the form of extreme agitation."
Did your doctor think the aggitation was from withdrawal? It would seem to me that aggitation would be more likely to be a part of the manic state.
"I did not know if it was going to get better or worse. Nothing even close has ever happened to me like this before."
I'm sure that was very frightening.
"I ended up trying Topamax starting with 25mg per night for 5 nights, then 50mg for 5 nights, then 25mg in am and 50mg in pm thereafter from then on with 10mg of celexa. On my 4th morning of that I went into a blind rage and crying spell."
Was it the fourth morning of your full Topamax dosage or just the fourth morning of taking the Topamax at all? It takes awhile for the Topamax to start working so, either way, it may not have been having an effect on your mania yet.
"I called the internist I have that listens to me better than the psychiatrist I have been sent to."
Look for a different psychiatrist. If you don't feel comfortable and he/she doesn't listen, then you need to make a switch.
"I am wondering (finally - I know) if anyone else out there has had a volitle reaction to getting used to Topamax? I am doing much better now that I am back on 20mg of Celexa with it. I am having the drowsiness and the strange tingles in the feet but nothing else besides the anger stated earlier. Any responses would be greatlle appreciated."
Here's my two cent's. I am not a doctor, but I've been treated by two psychiatrists and a GP for my depression/mood for about eight years, so I'll share what I have learned. I recently started taking Topamax because none of the anti-depressant I tried (zoloft, effexor, wellbutrin, serzone, prozac, etc, etc, etc,) helped with my irritability/anger/rage. My new psychiatrist suggested I try a mood stabalizer. I have not be diagnosed manic/depressive, but I have never been uniformly depressed. From what I've been told it can be trickier to treat bi-polar types because lifting the depressed mood can push us into the manic state. Since starting the Topamax, I have experienced some tingling in my fingers and some foods taste funny. My appetite has decreased a tiny bit and I was constipated for a few days. Other than that, I have not experienced anything but more calm and less worry/irritability/anger. That doesn't mean it will work for you, but I hope it will. I increased my dosage much slower: 25 mg at night for 10 days and now 25 mg morning/night for 7 days. Then I will start 50 mg at night until I see my pdoc in 3 1/2 weeks. My experience is that good psychiatrists who listen and stay current with the literature are much better to work with than GP/internists because they are specializing in our problems. However, any doctor that you feel doesn't listen to you is not worth one penny, so find someone who does. I'm lucky to have several friends in treatment, so I had lots of word-of-mouth recommendations! LOL! I'm really concerned about the Celexa if you had a manic episode--maybe someone who has been on it can speak to this. I would be more likely to blame the AD itself for the extreme aggitation rather than the dosage decrease or the Topamax. Don't you feel rich after my two cents?! Good luck figuring it all out. I know there are days that I feel like one big cocktail.
poster:Nellie
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010507/msgs/63014.html