Posted by Ritch on April 14, 2003, at 13:05:16
In reply to TOPOMAX Newbie HELP!!!, posted by LUKA62 on April 13, 2003, at 17:04:24
> HELP!.My pdoc just started me on topamax 25mg, on 4/8, and I'm supposed to titrate up 25mg after each week. Even on 25mg I'm already having such bothersome tingling, not just in my hands but in my face also. Weird thing is it's most prevalent some 12hrs after the dose. And I have no energy at all.
> He put me on the Topamax because I had to go off the Lamictal I was on due to severe abdominal and chest pain. AFter 20years of trials of all kinds of meds, Lamictal was the First one that gave me back a LIFE. I did fine on it for a year and a half, then the pain started. I can't say I have a lot of faith in any thing at this point, and even my trusty Nardil just isn't enough to keep me going. I'm at the end of my rope. I feel like I've just wasted the past 7 years I've spent trying to keep myself alive; working hard in therapy, only to find that I have to give up the one stabilizing med. It's not like I have many options. I gained 70 pounds on Depakote, which I lost all of after stopping; Lithium made me violently ill, each trail time, etc... My teen takes topamax but doesn't seem to complain of side effects....hmmm. is it just me??
I got a lot of tingling (paresthesia) from Topamax as well when I was trying it. I started at 15mg hs and increased over a couple of weeks to 25mg bid. I really liked what it did for my sleep. The paresthesia didn't bother me as much as word-finding difficulties and problems concentrating. It might be worth giving it a few weeks to see if you adjust to it, unfortunately, you may not see much "adjustment" until you reach whatever target dose your pdoc has in mind and then stick with that for awhile. If this doesn't pan out well, you could give Tegretol or Trileptal a try.
poster:Ritch
thread:219052
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030411/msgs/219238.html