Posted by headachequeen on August 9, 2005, at 17:12:57
In reply to Re: topomax » headachequeen, posted by Rainy on July 14, 2005, at 11:32:35
but Topamax isn't the magic bean for losing weight. Almonds are a good idea.
> Kat mentioned taking an increase in the morning when you get to a certain point--for example, you could take 25 mgs in the evening and 25 in the morning to increase to 50 when it's time. Not Now.
> Kat, congratulations on getting off the clozabam and back to photography, as well as taking charge of your medical life (in this arena). Emergency appointments indeed. This time last year you were not a happy camper.
> I'm a week into new bottles of serzone (generic) and Topamax and have to be walking the bottom rings of hell--there's a definite difference in my mood and behavior since I opened those meds. Crabby and depressed and snappish and sullen and annoyed and uncharming. Bipolar II is showing its little face. It always does in the summer but I can usually "be nice." There's something different about the pills.
> I am learning Russian, which is good.
>
> rainy
Rainy, I have been perusing the archives trying to catch up; for some reason I have not been getting the posts from this board.. wondering if my firewall is causing me to miss posts????found this post and do not remember seeing it...
learning a language is certainly one way to divert stress... or to create it, I am not sure which...
I remember when I decided that I wanted to learn to speak Gaelic... as if there are simply dozens of people with whom I can converse in the auld tongue!!! my stress levels actually eased because I was fascinated by the different approach to language and grammar. As usual I became totally absorbed in, obsessed by actually, the new...
I hope Russian works for you...as for weight loss, almonds and cashews really do help... an ounce or so of the nuts, unsalted preferably, before a meal help take the edge off appetite and are healthy as well...
as for the clobozam, I feel so much better without it..
I am running on 600 mg of Topomax at the moment... 300 mg twice a day and I am doing just fine...
no hair loss, no memory loss, none of the bad things...
I have had three seizures in the past little while but there have been some extreme stresses... and I don't think they can be blamed upon meds; once my lifestyle calms down to something related to calm and stress-free I think it will be smooth sailing again... there were two full months with nothing... not a blip on the radar...
and I like that !!!
This medication works if taken properly and slowly worked up to its right dosage for the individual... other meds can make it tricky to deal with or increase its intensity so one has to be careful and it is not something to play with...By the way, following is information I found in one of my searches:
A slower initial titration schedule for the anti-epileptic medication Topamax(R) (topiramate) Tablets and Topamax(R) (topiramate capsules) Sprinkle Capsules has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Topamax is indicated as add-on treatment for the majority of seizures affecting the 2.3 million Americans diagnosed with epilepsy.
Post-marketing data from physicians with clinical experience with Topamax have shown that slower titration improves tolerability and may reduce the rate of discontinuation due to a lessening of side effects. The new dosing schedule recommends that Topamax be administered initially at 25-50 mg per day, and titrated in increments of 25-50 mg per week until an effective daily dose is reached.
A commonly used titration schedule is to initiate Topamax at 25 mg/day, with weekly increases of 25 mg for the first four weeks. Thereafter, the daily dose may be increased by 25-50 mg weekly to an effective daily dose. Although time to reach an efficacious dose may be delayed relative to the faster rate in the original label, some adult patients may begin to see a clinical response at 200 mg per day of Topamax.
"My own clinical experience and that of my peers, published in the medical literature, shows that Topamax is better tolerated when initiated at a low dose and increased slowly. This new dosing schedule may allow more adults and children with seizures that have not been controlled with other medications to obtain better control with Topamax," said B. J. Wilder, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Neuroscience at the College of Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "It also provides greater flexibility to prescribing physicians in their treatment of patients," he added.
Topamax was first approved by the FDA in 1996 as add-on treatment for adults with partial onset seizures. In July 1999, Topamax was approved as the first "newer generation" anti-epileptic drug to treat partial onset seizures as add-on therapy in pediatric patients as young as two, and in October 1999 was approved as add-on treatment for primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults and pediatric patients ages two to 16.
Seizures, the hallmark of epilepsy, are abnormal electrical discharges in the brain that temporarily disrupt normal brain function. Seizures are classified as either "generalized," when the abnormal discharge affects both sides of the brain simultaneously, or "partial," when the discharge affects one part of the brain initially.
Approximately 25 percent of Americans diagnosed with epilepsy have seizures that resist treatment with traditional anti-epileptic drugs, according to a recent report by the Epilepsy Foundation, a national organization serving people with epilepsy. Physicians may prescribe an add-on medication, such as Topamax, when their patients fail to respond to a single anti-epileptic drug. The newer generation anti-epileptic drugs, developed since 1993, generally are associated with fewer side effects than earlier medications.
Topamax is approved for marketing in more than 65 countries and to date, has been used to treat more than 500,000 patients worldwide.
In clinical trials, in combination with traditional AEDs, the most common side effects associated with Topamax in pediatric patients included excessive drowsiness, loss of appetite, fatigue, nervousness, difficulty with concentration/attention, weight decrease, aggressive reaction and difficulty with memory. The safety and effectiveness in patients younger than two have not been established. In adults, the most common types of side effects were somnolence, dizziness, coordination problems, speech disorders, psychomotor slowing, abnormal vision, difficulty with memory, sensory distortion and double vision.
Topamax is available as a tablet and in a capsule formulation that can be opened and sprinkled onto food for easy swallowing. The capsule also can be swallowed whole, offering patients greater flexibility.
Topamax was discovered and developed by the R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and is marketed in the United States by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, both Johnson & Johnson companies. Ortho-McNeil markets Topamax and other pharmaceutical products in several therapeutic categories including infectious diseases, central nervous system, wound healing and women's health.
In the meantime, Rainy, I am sending you strength and wishes for all sorts of health and well-being
kat
poster:headachequeen
thread:5053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050803/msgs/539753.html