Posted by headachequeen on November 7, 2003, at 11:35:55
In reply to Re: Topamax-bipolar and weight loss?, posted by msmelissa on November 6, 2003, at 11:57:39
> I am hoping for a great deal of relief with the bipolar issue but am desparate for help in the weight loss area as well. Since adulthood I have always been about 130 lbs. Even after having 3 children...with the depakote and other meds I've gained 30-40 lbs. since March of 2003. Just need to know if anyone else has had any luck with the medicine? I am willing to suffer some side effects to get somewhere with my disorder!
Optimsim beats pessimism any day ... and I guess I should be happy that I started Topomax before I decided I wanted information about it... as it has really helped me and without too many side effects...
so take heart <s>
As several others whose posts I have read, I found these boards in a search for information on Topomax... actually it began with a search for information on Tegretol, but somehow Topomax info came up and I was led here. A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with epilepsy, cause unknown, duration unknown.
I have an absurd sort of epilepsy, in that it is not the highly visible sort and only occurs when I am asleep, making it difficult at times to know whether or not I have had a seizure. The neurologists dealing with me are not sure if it may have been caused by injury or if I was born with it... life can be confusing indeed.
Originally I was put on Tegretol,but in January of this year (2003)when that was not eliminating the seizures, the neurologist decided to increase the dosage. When I asked him about my migraines (until I noticed the posters in his waiting room -- needed something to read while I waited -- it never occurred to me to ask him about them.) He immediately tore up the prescription and began to write out one for Topomax, at the same time telling me that I might want to consider the side effect, weight loss. Being overweight, I thought about it for a second and said I thought I could live with such a side effect. While I would admit it nowhere else, I was a couple of pounds over the 200 -- when I met my husband I was barely 95 pounds, the same height and the same bone structure, nothing else had changed. Other than overcoming anorexia to an extreme by putting on over one hundred pounds. I would struggle to take off weight but would regain it along with a few extra pounds -- life was so much fun...
Topomax apparently deals not only with migraine but with seizures and has the weight loss side effect -- my miracle drug it would seem.
However, I began at 25 mg with dinner for two weeks, then increased to 50 mg for two weeks, and so on until I reached 200 mg, then began the morning dosages, always with food -- for someone who never ate breakfast this was a challenge!!! <g> -- at 25 mg and increased at the same rate until I was taking 200 mg in the morning as well.
He told me that if I noticed any difficulty with the medication, I was to slow down the dosage increments and stay at the previous dosage until I was comfortable with it --- whatever that meant.
He told me about no other side effects and nor did my pharmacist who is notorious for listing all side effects in a leaflet and then sitting down and chatting about new meds with clients to be sure that each new med is understood totally.
Food lost its appeal within three days at the 25 mg once a day dosage... I was simply not interested in meals... taste didn't matter because I didn't want to eat anyway.
As for alcohol, my sister-in-law, who was prescribed Topomax for seizures related to head injuries and a broken back following a drastic accident, was warned that there would be serious side effects if she were to mix alcohol and Topomax -- one glass of wine at dinner and Topomax was a really vile combination she tells me. (In case anyone is wondering about the warning, apparently it is one you don't want to try for yourself)
I did not not know about the hair loss problem that has been mentioned here, but in recent weeks I find that my hair is extremely dry and hard to deal with. Related? I am not sure.
I read on these boards that some patients find nausea accompanies the use of Topomax. I can't say if it does or doesn't as I cannot say whether or not the occasional bouts of nausea are related to Topomax use or to other health problems that are being dealt with... or to other medications. My own physician has prescribed SERC to deal with the nausea. I do not have to take it all the time but those times when it does occur, it is most helpful. I had been using an over the counter product for motion sickness but he did not think this was really a good idea.
My neurologist did mention that pressure behind the eyes is sometimes associated with Topomax after I had been using the med for a couple of months, but it has not been a problem -- odd that it was not mentioned up front???
Other side effects mentioned here have not been mentioned by either of my neurologists, both of whom approve totally of the use of Topomax for the headaches and the seizures. (The other neurologist is dealing with a wretched condition known as myosthenia gravis -- not responsible for spelling)
Since January I have lost enough weight that I gone from size 15-16 to size 10, so in my case the weight loss side effect has been good...
my one concern about the weight loss side effect is wondering if it stops...
I have been without migraine, totally debilitating migraines that do not give any warning, since mid-January thanks to Topomax, and do not like to think of a return to that...
the only side effect that really is insurmountable from my point of view would be to continually lose weight...
it has to stop some time -- doesn't it???I have found that foods change taste with Topomax but was not sure if that were the Topomax or the Tegretol or perhaps another med that I have to take...
I also find that I am CONSTANTLY thirsty and that is only since starting the Topomax (have also been told by other users that it is a cause of kidney stones and to drink lots of water while taking it... not sure if this is accurate, but always thirsty so drink lots of water anyway)...
I have not found that it slowed down my thinking although sometimes I am unable to think of the exact word I want... of course that was sometimes a problem before Topomax too...
So far I have found more benefits than harm...
but I think from experience that I would be more inclined to start using it more slowly and cautiously...
Always take it with meals by the way... I know, hard to do when you do not feel like eating...
I have found that about 25 cents worth of cashews is enough to keep me going for the day... I eat a single serving of yoghurt in the morning with my meds and then have the handful of cashews that I get from a dispenser that raises funds for Child Find... hence the 25 cent measurement... it is a good handful... then in the evening for dinner I have some cashews again (something in the cashews seems to work with my system to really beat any nausea factor with the meds I am on) and then perhaps a bowl of soup and a light meal and I am fine... over time I have come to enjoy a bowl of home made soup at a restaurant near work...
something light and with real taste... and I notice the flavours... so the taste killing part must end...although I still find that there is no real interest in large meals or in snacking or in candy... used to enjoy potato chips and chocolate bars; no interest now... which of course is helping the weight factor -- no junk food leads to weight loss...
the one side effect that I have noticed is a repeated sleepiness or drowsiness.. I used to find that I could or would be awake late into the night and then awake again early into the day... now I am unable to stay awake in the afternoon and need to lie down for a short while in the early evening or the late afternoon.. but that is lessening as I become accustomed to the medication...
At the moment I am on the maximum dosage of 400 mg half in the morning and half in the evening btw...
You will hear of all sorts of side effects --
don't give up until you are sure...
katThey laugh at me because I am different;
I laugh at them because they are all the same.
poster:headachequeen
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031105/msgs/277464.html