Posted by judy1 on May 8, 2001, at 11:20:57
In reply to Re: Topomax, Just out of the Hospital, and Bipolar, posted by alexa on May 7, 2001, at 13:07:58
> I thought that the Topomax served as the Mood Stabilizer. I just recently suggested to the pdoc to up my dosage to 200mg/day because I was feeling the edginess and moodiness at work and was feeling like I was unable to focus. I also have and have had eating disorder issues currently and in the past and the topomax is working to make me lose weight. I've lost 16lbs so far in 1 month. A year ago I was anorexic and for the past 3yrs have been battling bulimia. So, the Depakote/Zyprexa combo of gaining 40lbs was REALLY depressing for me. It was really awful.
Alexa- I've had consults with some of the top bipolar people in the country (including Akiskal) and each of them said that ALL AD's were destabilizing including Wellbutrin and Effexor. I want to add that I have bipolar 1, rapid cycling and perhaps may be more susceptible than you. But I have to wonder why you needed more topamax- is it possible that your fairly high dose of effexor is causing the moodiness you're experiencing? I also had an eatind disorder and gained a great deal of weight on Zyprexa and went on Topamax with the intent of losing it, but it dulled my cognitive abilities a great deal. When you originally posted you indicated you were distressed by the polypharmacy your pdoc was using; my suggestions were a way of perhaps reducing the # of meds you take. I wish you all the best.
P.S. When I had breakthough agitation, etc. my docs would simply add or up dosages- so that I was taking 6 meds at a time. It wasn't intil my present pdoc tapered me down to 2 that I realized they were treating side-effects of my meds instead of my illness. Disclaimer: This is my experience. Take care.
poster:judy1
thread:61343
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010507/msgs/62135.html