Posted by headachequeen on March 14, 2005, at 23:12:49
In reply to topomax=living in outer space??, posted by proserpine on March 14, 2005, at 12:57:39
> hi there.
>
> i am new here.
>
> i am also new to topomax.
>
> i have been reading the threads here on topomax. i can identify very well w/ some of the side effects noted, specifically loss of concentration & the "motor oil" effect w/ carbonated drinks. oh heavens!! tastes like sludge & then there is this feeling of fizz at the end..... i have spent both a lot of time living on diet coke & well-- thinking-- i am glad my days of advanced degrees are over-- but my days of -thinking- are not--
>
> i dont know if anyones days of thinking ever are.
>
> i have been trying to test myself to see if my cognitive reactions are down & they definitely are. & that is driving me crazy.
>
> since i am incredibly medication resistant (or perhaps medication-blind (i was once on effexor, &, deciding it was doing nothing except giving me an ulcer i suddenly went off of it. remind me someday to tell you about effexor w/drawal. i discussed this topic w/ a friend of mine in the know on both issues & she agreed that effexor w/drawal is, in some ways, -worse- than -heroin- w/drawal)) i was put on a dose of 100-200 mg topomax per day. today i cut it down to 100 mg per day, as i just cannot tolerate the 200 mg-- i couldnt possibly drive taking this dose.
>
> as goth as i look (which would be uber), i was never a big recreational drug user & the only thing i can compare topomax to would be the time a friend of mine gave me a medical marijuana brownie (her use of medical marijuana was particularly iffy) &, again, med-resistant (or med-blind) that i am, after hours it was doing nothing, so i took another bite & i was in outer space, i walked across the street & thought i was across town-- this effect lasted for 3 days!! it was HORRIBLE!! & so topomax.
>
> does this go away??
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> a different friend of mine, a little post the abovenoted experience offered me yet more marijuana. i demurred saying that i didnt like it as it made me confuses. & so topomax. he said that was what it was -supposed- to do.
>
> okay, so some people would -like- this feeling. but i DONT.
>
> remember, the last topomax i took was yesterday at about 5pm. if i took it today, this would be written in a far more confused manner.
>
> HELP!!Oh, heavens...
there are one or two people on this list... you know who you are ... with whom I correspond privately and with whom I am anxious to be in touch but these posts pop up on the e-mail and instead I find myself using my cheating time (I am again supposed to be in bed and asleep ) to answer them...your beginning dosage is waaaaayyyyy tooooo hhiiigghhhh....
go back and start again...
start in the evening around bed time and start with TWENTY-FIVE mg (25 mg) and stay there for at LEAST two weeks... then move up to fifty and then to 75 and then to 100 and so on by NO FASTER than two week increments...
then when the half-dosage is reached, start at 25 mg in the morning at the same increments until the full dosage is reached, half in the morning and half at bedtime...this really helps avoid the side effects...
the mental confusion when it occurs is less this way and it does pass...
heaven knows topomax is the only thing standing between me and even worse seizures than I have been having off and on for the last two and a half years...
for the past little while it is the only aed I have been able to take with any safety...to start at 100 mg is horrific even to think about...
as for going cold turkey on effexor... I have heard how terrible it can be... but not until I had done it and had no problems... quit taking it and zyprexa one day and had no reaction...
when my doctor learned I had quit he offered other meds to help me deal with the problems that might occur and I refused as I figured it was just another med to quit taking...
when I chuckled about it to my psychologist he read me the riot act, explaining how fortunate I had been but that others were not that fortunate and on and on...
and on my dollar too...
It must have been an incredible ordeal for you...so make taking topomax easier for yourself and do it slowly and comfortably
kat
poster:headachequeen
thread:5053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050312/msgs/471146.html