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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by headachequeen on September 27, 2004, at 15:41:30
In reply to Re:topamax weight loss???, posted by stressed on September 27, 2004, at 12:38:15
Just found some more info on dealing with hair loss for those of you who are concerned...
www.hairlosshelp.com
kat
Posted by bridgey1128 on September 27, 2004, at 15:43:07
In reply to Re:topamax weight loss???, posted by stressed on September 27, 2004, at 12:38:15
What is the reason she is taking the Topamax to begin with? For binge eating? Whenever I get the urge to eat I drink water. With Topamax you're supposed to drink lots of water anyway. Or try chewing gum.
Posted by stressed on September 28, 2004, at 7:54:47
In reply to Re:topamax weight loss???, posted by bridgey1128 on September 27, 2004, at 15:43:07
She is taking it because she has been on lexapro and gained much weight. Her doc. put her on it to control moods and also to help her binge eating disorder. It is getting out of control. Yesterday she said she felt like she had the flu, and felt really hungry, light headed a bit. That's not good. Thanks for your info, you are helping me more than you know.
Posted by bridgey1128 on September 28, 2004, at 13:16:08
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by stressed on September 28, 2004, at 7:54:47
hmm Is she bipolar? I have never heard it given to people for binge eating and Lexapro is an antipychotic sometimes given for bipolar. My Dr tried to give it to me and I said if I even START to gain weight I REFUSE to take it. Well I took it for 3 days and gained 5lbs. I said NO FREAKING WAY! And that was that. I insisted he try me on Topamax after much research on my own part and so he did. Is she just binging because of the meds or is she bulemic and being treated for that? There are so many actual weight LOSS drugs available that I can't imagine a Dr prescribing Topamax for this specifically, especially when it may not work. I hope she isn't bulemic because that would be a whole other set of problems. Has she been diagnosed with bipolar because that isn't just mood swings and Topamax isn't to help with "moods". If that is the reason the Dr prescribed it then I would say RUN RUN from that Dr and get a second opinion. He obviously has no clue. Just wondering what exactly your daughter has definitely been diagnosed with. Strong meds are nothing to play around with, especially with an ignorant Dr. and OUR health!
Posted by headachequeen on September 28, 2004, at 14:23:04
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 28, 2004, at 13:16:08
There are indeed so many weight-loss drugs available and so many of them are so very very dangerous that it is really something that one has to consider with a lot of research thrown into the bargain.
I am glad that you found this site because there is so much knowledge and experience here.
As Bridgey said, there is a need to identify the reason the doctor suggested this med; is she bulemic? is she bi-polar? what is the actual problem? or is there a need to find a doctor better able to deal with the problem?
I am in a really good position to address that issue, believe me as, in recent weeks I have seen so many doctors following the sudden outbreak of changes in the seizure occurrences.
On the first visit to Emergency, rushed there by ambulance when no one could waken me from a forty-five minute coma, I lay on a gurney in a treatment room for almost three hours. By the time a doctor finally arrived, I was out of the seizure but freezing to death on one of the hottest evenings of the summer, shaking from the 'cold' although I was bundled in warmed blankets...
the doctor went through my medical history that had been taken in triage and informed me that my only problem was that I was over-medicated...
all I had to do was quit taking the medications and I would be fine...
okay, which should I start with...
the ones prescribed for high blood pressure which I have had since I was an emaciated teen-ager, then I could stroke out...
or the meds for the severe lung disorder and I could stop breathing at any point in time...
or the ones that deal with the blockage in my nose from the broken nose from a toboggan accident in my teens and help me breathe...
or the allergy meds... they help me breathe too...
then there is the stuff for the high cholestrol despite my careful diet....
or the epilepsy meds that are supposed to stop the seizures which is why I am here...
you pick, doctor...he wanted to know how I knew I had high blood pressure and how I knew I was epileptic...
well he had been the doctor in emerg who had diagnosed the epilepsy many years ago...
was I sure I was epileptic...
had I proof of that??
and had I proof that I needed meds for hypertension...
would I not be better off if I just quit taking this chemical cocktail???
That was all that was wrong, I was over-medicated and he suggested I quit taking all my meds...
Go home and throw out all the meds...
I would be better in about a week...Anyone ever gone off Tegretol ???? The seizures come on in a hurry and really strong and often...
Topomax??? I imagine the migraines and the seizures set in...
no idea what happens when the blood pressure meds get thrown out, but I do know that without the asthma and lung meds I quit breathing... and on it goes...
where does this guy get off???then he comes back and tells me the blood tech will be in to take some blood samples before I go just to be sure there is nothing really wrong...
half an hour later he tells me I am low in potassium and prescribes an increase in potassium and suggests that I take an aspirin a day to prevent stroke.... and that perhaps I should continue my regular meds and see my regular doctor as soon as I can...
from throwing away my meds and being cured to taking five more pills a day....the next day I was back at emerg in the midst of another deep seizure, unconscious again... this doctor informed me that the meds I was on were not enough to control seizures in an eight-year-old and increased the meds by three hundred per cent while saying that it was just the beginning, a slow start as he put it... he changed the schedule too in an effort to change the time of the seizures
shocked to read the first doctor's notes, wondering if he was really on the planet when he examined me...
well I had been wondering too, but then I was in post-seizure state, so what did I know...two days later I was back again and the third doctor increased the meds again and changed the schedule to try even more to switch the seizures back to night time events...
his dosage and scheduling came really close to achieving success...
no more daytime seizures on his schedule and a whole two and a-half days with no seizures period...
then switched back to the original dose by my own doctor who thought it was waaaayyyy too much tegritol...
funny but he left the increase in topomax alone...
he also questioned the inconvenience of the schedule but I have not changed that....
if I have to stay awake later that is just too bad, the seizures happen at night and not during the day, other than this afternoon...
and that is all right with me...What I am trying to say, is that each doctor seems to see things differently...
you have to ask questions and demand answers...
and you have the right to ask and get answers...
If you are not sure what he is saying, ask again...
take it from someone who has learned the hard way...I now have a new neurologist in the picture and hope to have a more controlled situation...
with medication that controls the seizures and gives me back my own lifestyle...that is what it is all about...
the meds and the treatments are to give us control of our lifestyles with help from the doctors....yes, this is long but I want you to think about it all and realise that you have the right to have control and to help your daughter regain control...
so ask and get answers and if you are not happy get that second opinion...
and we are here to try and help....
whatever it takes...
we are here...
and have probably someone in our midst who has been there....
good luck
kat
Posted by stressed on September 28, 2004, at 19:08:39
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 28, 2004, at 13:16:08
She has a binge eating problem, and so far she says she's not bulemic. The doc, and I have read (found it on the net) that topamax is being used for treating binge eating. She will not take a high dose, I won't let that happen. Thanks for anything you want to add.
Posted by bridgey1128 on September 28, 2004, at 23:39:36
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed » bridgey1128, posted by headachequeen on September 28, 2004, at 14:23:04
Don't you wish you could just have a full body transplant sometimes!!! Maybe they'll come up with that someday! :)
Posted by headachequeen on September 29, 2004, at 9:36:49
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 28, 2004, at 23:39:36
> Don't you wish you could just have a full body transplant sometimes!!! Maybe they'll come up with that someday! :)
I read about expiriments involving transplanting the head of one monkey onto the head of another monkey... and it worked. mentioned it to my orthopaedist as he was trying to put my s/c joint and my neck and part of my spine back into working order again a while back, the result of my mis-spent youth (boating injuries and all those hours on the rifle range and I would not take back a moment of them)... said I wanted it done...
he started to laugh and told me I would look silly with a monkey's head...
My GP said that with my immune system, rather the lack thereof, I would get such a raging infection that it would never work... sigh...
<g>
but it seems there is a future for it...
now to find someone who wants to trade a slim and healthy body for mine...
or for that matter who wants to take on my mal-functioning brain...
hmmm decisions all the time....
LOL
kat
Posted by headachequeen on September 29, 2004, at 9:39:00
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by stressed on September 28, 2004, at 19:08:39
> She has a binge eating problem, and so far she says she's not bulemic. The doc, and I have read (found it on the net) that topamax is being used for treating binge eating. She will not take a high dose, I won't let that happen. Thanks for anything you want to add.
Stressed, the higher doses often help and are not always that frightful... I am moving up under the guidance of this new neurologist... he is the one who did the testing of it for weight loss actually...
admittedly it is not for weight loss but I will take the side benefits...
and so far there are no side effects...
but it is slow and careful and that is the key to it...
kat
Posted by Paul_d_234 on September 29, 2004, at 19:51:56
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by stressed on September 28, 2004, at 7:54:47
Is your daughter seeing a psych doc or a family doc? How old is she?Suggest you and daughter look into other meds - like Welbutrin or Cymbalta - that don't cause weight gain and treat depression before trying Topamax.
Its easier to manage side effects and understand risks if you are one med rather than two. Nothing wrong with two meds but that should be done after you rule out an agent that treats the primary concern.
> She is taking it because she has been on lexapro and gained much weight. Her doc. put her on it to control moods and also to help her binge eating disorder. It is getting out of control. Yesterday she said she felt like she had the flu, and felt really hungry, light headed a bit. That's not good. Thanks for your info, you are helping me more than you know.
Posted by stressed on September 29, 2004, at 20:30:28
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by Paul_d_234 on September 29, 2004, at 19:51:56
Paul_D: My daughter is seeing a psych, and a family doc. They are father and daughter, so they interact on a more than regular basis. She is taking Welbutrin 300mg, now. Lexapro made her gain weight. She is 16 yrs. old. and my husband side of the family is REALLY heavy, and BED seems to be handed down to her from both sides......what a mess. I hope to get this taken care of before she goes to college. So far, she says the urge to binge has gone away at 50mg. per day. We will see....thanks very much for responding.
Posted by headachequeen on September 29, 2004, at 20:30:28
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by Paul_d_234 on September 29, 2004, at 19:51:56
>
> Is your daughter seeing a psych doc or a family doc? How old is she?
>
> Suggest you and daughter look into other meds - like Welbutrin or Cymbalta - that don't cause weight gain and treat depression before trying Topamax.
>
I hate to burst anyone's bubble but one of the first warnings the pharmacist gave me was that welbutrin could cause weight gain... and it did and it can also cause seizures and as I am already having seizure problems it was not exactly the answer to my problem... but it is not something that I would recommend anyone try...
if there is already a problem then why take something that can cause another very serious problem????
to me that is playing with fire....
kat
Posted by headachequeen on September 29, 2004, at 20:40:00
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by stressed on September 29, 2004, at 20:30:28
> Paul_D: My daughter is seeing a psych, and a family doc. They are father and daughter, so they interact on a more than regular basis.
This would seem to be a really great team effort...
and more helpful than the usual system...
you are most fortunate...
as is your daughter...
One thing that concerns me though is that in the research I have been doing, Lexapro is not advised for people who are on anti-seizure medications...
and Topomax is basically an anti-seizure med...
just a thought...
kat
Posted by bridgey1128 on September 30, 2004, at 15:56:21
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed » stressed, posted by headachequeen on September 29, 2004, at 20:40:00
I took Welbutrin and it made me bonkers. I didn't have weight gain with it though. I had an EXTREMELY dry mouth though. If you are bipolar you shouldn't be taking Welbutrin though. People who are bipolar usually react strangely to antidepressants. I stopped taking the Lexapro before I could tell if it even worked because it made me gain 5lbs in 3 days. It's an antipsychotic. Different class of drugs. Is your daughter been diagnosed as depressed? Or bipolar? That makes a difference
Posted by headachequeen on September 30, 2004, at 16:13:58
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 30, 2004, at 15:56:21
> I took Welbutrin and it made me bonkers. I didn't have weight gain with it though. I had an EXTREMELY dry mouth though. If you are bipolar you shouldn't be taking Welbutrin though. People who are bipolar usually react strangely to antidepressants. I stopped taking the Lexapro before I could tell if it even worked because it made me gain 5lbs in 3 days. It's an antipsychotic. Different class of drugs. Is your daughter been diagnosed as depressed? Or bipolar? That makes a difference
Welbutrin is one of those meds that seems to be prescribed for so many things...
I know one social worker who is bipolar and suicidal and, yes, he works with children in dire need, arrgghhh, and refuses to get help in case it interferes with his keeping his job...
he gets welbutrin to help him keep his job...
it apparently helps him with his symptoms although it is not helping his smoking I must add....I was on Welbutrin because my doctor thought that the highs I reach when my creative side achieves success followed by the extreme lows that occur when nothing happens in my creative life had to be bi-polar symptoms... he never seemed to realise that these 'symptoms' were not controlling me but that I was controlling them, driving them as it were and not them driving me,
the stuff did not make me bonkers as you describe it, Bridgey, it flattened my personality completely... and it caused me to gain weight along with the Zyprexa... what a disaster they were... and the dry mouth...
I am diabetic and thirsty all the time as it is...
the welbutrin made life unbearable....awful stuff...
and the little happy face on the front of the tablet... insult to injury!!!!
kat
Posted by stressed on September 30, 2004, at 18:32:47
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 30, 2004, at 15:56:21
Bridgey: My daughter is depressed or was. She says she is not now. When she took Welbutrin before, she lost weight right away. It made her really hot and sweaty, so the doc switched her to Lexapro....bad move. Anyway, she is off it now. I just want her off of everything. Thanks.
Posted by bridgey1128 on September 30, 2004, at 20:45:58
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by stressed on September 30, 2004, at 18:32:47
Yeah I wish I didn't have to take anything. Unfortunately, being bipolar, when I don't take my meds, my family doesn't like me very much! hehe Hopefully with both her Dr's working together they will find something that works for her. But if she ever feels uncomfortable about taking something I hope she won't hesitate to tell her Dr's so. I think so many times Dr's expect us to just shut up and take the dang pills. I know weight gain is so frustrating. They give us something for depression and then it makes us fat which makes us depressed which makes us have to keep taking medicine for depression which makes us fatter which makes us more depressed than ever....you see where I am going with this. It's a catch 22 a lot of times. And I was wrong about the Lexapro.. I took that earlier. It is an antipsychotic I do believe but I didn't have weight gain with it. It was the Zyprexa. My mistake. Zyprexa is also an antipsychotic. IT is the one that made me pack on the pounds. After you take so many different freaking drugs you forget which is which!!! Good luck to your daughter. I hope she finds the right combination of meds and therapy. 16 is a hard age. God Bless
Posted by dazedandconfused on October 1, 2004, at 16:46:40
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on September 30, 2004, at 20:45:58
Just a quick note,
Lexapro is an antidepressant. An SSRI in the same class as Prozac, Zoloft, etc. It is not an antipsychotic.dazed
Posted by stressed on October 1, 2004, at 17:08:39
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by dazedandconfused on October 1, 2004, at 16:46:40
Everyone, when does this stuff start kicking in?
Posted by bridgey1128 on October 1, 2004, at 17:38:21
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by dazedandconfused on October 1, 2004, at 16:46:40
Gotcha about Lexapro. I couldn't remember which it was. I knew I had taken it and it didn't help. I have taken so MANY that haven't helped they seen to kinda all blend together after awhile. One I wouldn't ever EVER recommend to anyone, if even for the horrid HORRID withdrawl symptoms is Effexor. MAN OH MAN! That was some HORRIBLE stuff. I had taken that for a couple of months with bascially no results (like the others except for a very strange side effect of stratispheric libido) when I started getting a headache. Well, it lasted and lasted and lasted and lasted. It about drove me crazy so I decided this was NOT for me. I also had what is called "brain shivers". This feels like someone suddenly grabbing your head and shaking it for all it's worth and your eyeballs spinning around in your head at any given moment. Not painful but very dizzying and frightning when driving and everything goes crazy on you. I VERY slowly tried to go off the Effexor and it wouldn't let me! I went down like a quarter of a capsule. I had to open them up and divy up the little balls of medicine inside, it was very ridiculous. When that about drove me to insanity I started having panic attacks because it was really upsetting me that a medicine had this much control over my body and wouldn't let go! I had some Ativan and I took ONE and the brain shivers and headaches stopped. I don't know why but it allowed me to break the drug withdrawl. After this horrible ordeal is when I went to my Dr and said SOMETHING ELSE IS WRONG! I AM NOT JUST DEPRESSED!..this is when we discovered I might be bipolar and was tested. BINGO! And to answer your question Stressed in a round about way, it takes a while to "work" so to speak. It depends on what you are taking Topamax for and how much. I can tell that I am going to need to go up again because I am starting to get irritable again..a sign of my mania. Aggressive irritability and excessive talkativeness. Hopefully your daughter will be able to tell you when she is starting to feel better and I hope she is also in therapy. I don't think that a teenager or any child should be on medication without some sort of therapy, whether it be psychology or behavior therapy dealing with ADHD. I hope your daughter finds some light at the end of her tunnel soon. Med hopping is no fun. Been there done that.
Posted by headachequeen on October 1, 2004, at 18:04:48
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on October 1, 2004, at 17:38:21
Effexor. MAN OH MAN! That was some HORRIBLE stuff.
Effexor is indeed horrible... I was on it in conjunction with Zyprexa and with I forget what to help me sleep... to stop the brain from spinning all night as I was simply unable to stop thinking so could not sleep, part of my problem that they kept thinking was bipolar... as I said I am not bipolar I simply get on these creative binges and highs and cannot stop, the ideas come and they do not stop and I am afraid to let them stop...
at any rate, with the Effexor and the Zyprexa I was a zombie... not only were there no creative highs, there were no thoughts, no ideas... nothing... I was the waking dead... totally flat-lined...
no emotions, nothing... my face was flat, my eyes which are usually alive and flashing with life and fire were dull and flat... my husband was not happy, said he would rather cope with the all night waking person than the dead person...my psychologist who was trying to help me deal with childhood trauma that had emerged with the breakdown that followed the death of my dog... don't even smile... I had a complete emotional crash following the death of my favourite dog, my soul mate and total partner and ended up in hospital and so much emerged as a result...
said one day that he was having a hard time getting past the training I had received as a child, our family does not display emotion and he said that I had learned my lessons well...
it occurred to me as I left the session that the drugs were not helping... so I quit that day...
just went cold turkey... no one told me that it was not a good idea or that it was not really possible to do this. I went home and threw out the three bottles of pills and had no problems at all...
when the psychiatrist and my regular doctor found out they were upset about it and kept offering to put me in hospital or to prescribe stuff to help me cope with the reaction and so on, but I was doing fine and figured that any other meds would mean an adjustment time and it might not go so well...
I was smirking about it to the psychologist one day and he really told me off, told me how lucky I had been and how foolish... and then I read Bridgey's account of coming off Effexor... and had a time of retroactive panic...
no one will ever get me to take any of that stuff again... EVER....
as for when the Topomax will begin to work, it takes different time periods with different people, the trick is to hang in there and let it get up to speed...
the metabolism, the present weight, so many factors play a role...
I mentioned earlier that I saw weight loss begin almost immediately, three pounds the first week, but it took several months to lose a significant amount and it has slowed down now...
I have not lost any weight for several weeks...
I keep hoping.. but then again I have not gained any so that is good...The binging is going to come under control as the topomax begins to affect the part of the mind that controls that tendency...
and I forget which part of the brain does that...
it may be in the frontal lobe as that is where my epileptic problems occur and the topomax seems to help that too ever so much...
when I have a problem remembering or I am especially clumsy or have an outburst of foot in mouth disease I always title it one of my F-7 Moments...
works for me and people are more sympathetic as a rule... they are never quite sure what it is, but if it has a letter and a number it must be serious and they need to be considerate <g>
other than husbands of course....give it time and encourage her, she will get there and it will help...
meanwhile, encourage her to drink lots of water, it is in style and it helps... and if she nibbles on cashews or pecans, an ounce or two when she feels the urge to binge it helps and is healthy and cuts her appetite urges too...kat
Posted by bridgey1128 on October 1, 2004, at 18:48:20
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by headachequeen on October 1, 2004, at 18:04:48
I have found that when I am having withdrawl symptoms with the Topamax..I hallucinate. Anyone else have this? Not meaning to scare anyone off. This was an accidental thing. What happened was I missed a dose that I thought I had taken and then it was too late in the day to take it. So I skipped it...well..maybe I'll just risk it next time. Was REALLY tired that evening to I laid down for a nap. My husband woke me up to say goodnight to my daughter and I kept saying something about the walls were green and a picture was a different shape. Now, to me I SAW these things with my own eyes and when I think back I remember them clear as day as he says I was seeing them. So I know I was awake. I also didn't know who my daughter was. He kept saying Say goodnight to Hannah...and I said..Who? Who?...I couldn't grasp who she was for some reason right then and then I noticed my room was green and the picture on the wall was now a melted trapazoid shape. This has happened several times, usually when I need to go UP on my meds. It's like I have needed to go up for so long my body is going through withdrawl. If I ever have to come off this drug....whoo wee! Maybe I should just get a bottle of booze or something and watch the show! JUST KIDDING!!!!
Posted by headachequeen on October 1, 2004, at 20:41:59
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed, posted by bridgey1128 on October 1, 2004, at 18:48:20
> I have found that when I am having withdrawl symptoms with the Topamax..I hallucinate.
A while ago I had to quit taking Topomax and Tegritol both for some tests they wanted to do..
there were no withdrawal symptoms other than me muttering and growling because the seizures started in right away of course, two and three a night, every night until I started back on Teg and Topomax and worked back up to a controlling dose...
hallucinate? no but I did daydream about strangling the person whose idea it was to do the tests without the anti-seizure meds... does that count???
kat
Posted by Aussie on October 1, 2004, at 23:34:06
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed » bridgey1128, posted by headachequeen on October 1, 2004, at 20:41:59
Zyprexa is probably the drug that made you feel like a zombie.
Effexor doesn't do that. I understand that getting off Effexor is 'not a good thing'and I don't look forward to that time. However the drug is a wonder drug!
I am so happy to be on it.As for Topomax, it made me much more anxious -like extremely, which is unusual the doctor said. Apparently if you've had a childhood trauma then Topomax is not for you. I took it for a month increasing slowly and I lost weight almost immediately.
I should reiterate that as many have said before me - everyone reacts differently.
Has anyone had problems weaning off serzone?
Stressed - Your daughter is lucky to have such a caring Mother :)
Posted by bridgey1128 on October 2, 2004, at 8:39:36
In reply to RE: More info please...stressed » bridgey1128, posted by headachequeen on October 1, 2004, at 20:41:59
Aussie..Did I mention I was a redhead? We have weird side effects...that's probably the reason. I have always reacted weirdly and differently to drugs and always had the most odd side effects. That is probably why NO WEIGHT LOSS with the Topomax. Because that would be a DESIRED one, you see.....ah the joys of being a redhead...*sigh*
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