Posted by headachequeen on March 30, 2004, at 16:51:42
In reply to Re: topamax weight loss » headachequeen, posted by jtevers on December 22, 2003, at 20:22:31
> > at 400 mg I seem to have stopped the weight loss; have stayed at the same weight for about a month and seem to see no more loss in sight...
>
> headachequeen,
>
> i wondered, because it seems to be different for all, at what dose your weight loss began?
> and whether you are (and forgive me if i am being redundant) still taking the offending med., i believe it's zyprexa you are on?
>
> i wondered whether you consider increasing the dose of topamax to see whether your weight loss would increase, or are you content? is it bearable (the side effects of the topamax)?
>
> how much weight have you lost by the time you reached 400 mg.?
>
> thank you for your help.
>
> jtevers
>
First question
>at what dose your weight loss began?
I started losing weight almost at once, at 25 mg each evening.. at the end of the first week I had lost 3 pounds and was ecstatic...Second question
>whether you are still taking the offending med., i believe it's zyprexa you are on?
No, I am no longer on zyprexa... as those who have been here for a while have heard I quit cold turkey.. just stopped taking the zyprexa and the effexor (and the relatively harmless I think immovane) one day...
I had no problems quitting.. although I have since learned that is not the usual situation and my doctor was quite startled to learn that I did not need help in quitting as apparently both of them usually cause severe reactions for people trying to quit that way, let alone quitting both at once...
and I have no intention of ever taking effexor again let alone zyprexa...Third question
>i wondered whether you consider increasing the dose of topamax to see whether your weight loss would increase, or are you content?
I have considered that... seriously considered it but more for the point of stopping the seizures and getting rid of the dread Tegretol...
at the moment I am 147 pounds (there is this 3 pounds that keeps coming and going) and 5'6" tall (I know Canada is officially metric but I speak Imperial and refuse to change languages so there!)
and while I know that the weight is a little over the limit for the height, I feel good about myself... much better than I did a year ago and I do not think I want to return to the days of 124 pounds let alone the days of 97 pounds...
There is a profound difference in my appearance and in my sense of self...
the weight loss is maintaining...
the lack of interenst in food is maintaining...
oh I do not have any sort of anorexia, I am simply not on the binge mode that went with the depression and was exacerbated by the meds...
Would I consider an increased dose to be thinner?
Let us be honest here... being 135 would be really nice... so I guess with all the blethering about contentment that just went before there is a part of me that wants to be slender and all that...
but a size 2 or 4? no... never again...Fourth Question
>is it bearable (the side effects of the topamax)?
the side effects are IN MY OPINION and IN MY EXPERIENCE bearable and manageable...
especially in comparison with Tegretol which requires other meds to make the side effects tolerable and livable...
I drink lots of water and have come to enjoy it...
and to benefit from it (I am full so don't snack)
I take vitamins that I never did before so I am healthier I think
The cognitive problems came and went in the early stages and were manageable as long as I took the increases slowly
it was a learning experience and a case of finding answers and then dealing with the problems that arose... help was at hand, a lot of it right here on this site...
nothing has been insurmountable...
Fifth Question
>how much weight have you lost by the time you reached 400 mg.?
If we count that three or four pounds that comes and goes and comes and goes probably a thousand...
put at this point and I am now on three hundred morning and night to balance the cut back in Tegretol until I see the neurologist and am I hope off it totally, I have lost 68 pounds
and I would like to take off another ten to twelve
kat
poster:headachequeen
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040329/msgs/330420.html