Posted by headachequeen on June 16, 2004, at 14:41:12
In reply to Re: Has topomax helped, posted by bridgey1128 on June 16, 2004, at 13:48:29
> Welbutrin made me nuts but that is why my Dr put me on meds for being bipolar. I know my Topomax needs to go up because I am starting to have energy during the day. I hate to say it but....the Topomax wears me out. I'm not sure what to do. If I take it I am bearable but now I am starting to snap again so I know it needs to go up. I have a Dr's appoinment tomorrow. I don't want to go into stupidville..I already have problems remembering stuff. Will it get worse?
Bridgey, I know that each person is affected differently and at different dosages by these medications... after all we are supposed to be individuals, right <GG>
At the moment I am taking 600 mg a day of Topomax...
now, first off, let us look at the side effects...
I am NOT losing hair dramatically and if we are being totally honest, I am doing nothing to prevent it... I have neither the time nor the interest to do anything to prevent it... work is too demanding... I am writing again and have too much on my mind to think about vitamins and supplements for myself... hard enough to take time to take the meds I need to survive without the other stuff...
I am NOT having trouble remembering things... vocabulary is still strong, memory is still strong... the only problem I have is the sleep thing... and that has been a life-long part of my being... I simply don't remember many nights when I actually had a good night's sleep but cannot lay that at the door of Topomax...
I do NOT have cognitive problems other than remembering my new phone numberat times... but I had the same number for twenty years so that is to be expected... and this number is the third in as many months, so....
I do NOT have any eye problems associated with Topomax... now the dry eye and blocked tear duct problem is still driving me out of my mind or what is left of it, but that is a problem of long standing and one that the surgeon says he will correct with the next try... of course he said that about the third try sigh...
I am NOT experiencing any of the side effects that are normally attributed as being the nasty side effects of Topomax...I DID start to lose weight the first week I started to take the stuff, as I have mentioned before (a whole three pounds... don't laugh, folks... it was a big deal to me at the time <s>)
I have NOT had a migraine since starting to take the stuff...
I have had fewer breakthrough seizures since starting to take the stuff...
and I HAVE lost weight...It seems to me that if the increases are taken at a slow and easy rate, the side effects are not as great a problem...
the cognitive problems that may arise tend to fade and a return to normal in a very short timeI have been using Topomax now for eighteen months and have found it to be really helpful... I DO have severe side effects from my main anti-epilepsy medication... and keep hoping that they will change it to another one and do it soon...
perhaps the tests they did last week will lead to that...
but I will not let them change the Topomax...
it has increased the efficacy of the primary med
-- originally I was having several breakthrough seizures a week, occasionally two a night...
now it is at most two a week, sometimes none a week...
it has eliminated the migraines...
it has helped me lose weight in a substantial and positive manner...
and I am not suffering as a result of taking it...
I would not give it up.
kat
poster:headachequeen
thread:5053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040614/msgs/357307.html