Topamax
same planet...different world
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Butte, America
Posts: 10,946
hi -
all I know about this drug is a few people at our fellowship are on it, and I was sent to talk to them by my own doc. I was 'late stage' alcoholic, and having seizures before sobering up.
I've been recently diagnosed with acute brights anemia, and until a week ago, was experiencing what the doc thinks is 'petite mall' seizures ... it's a wait now to see if it stops with treatment for the anemia.
if it doesn't stop - I'll be trying topomax myself.
the people at the fellowship are all gung ho about it. I heard nothing negative about it from any of them.
thanks for the references, I'll go look it up, too.
all I know about this drug is a few people at our fellowship are on it, and I was sent to talk to them by my own doc. I was 'late stage' alcoholic, and having seizures before sobering up.
I've been recently diagnosed with acute brights anemia, and until a week ago, was experiencing what the doc thinks is 'petite mall' seizures ... it's a wait now to see if it stops with treatment for the anemia.
if it doesn't stop - I'll be trying topomax myself.
the people at the fellowship are all gung ho about it. I heard nothing negative about it from any of them.
thanks for the references, I'll go look it up, too.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 24
I posted about Topamax a while back when someone was asking about it for Coke addicts. I took it for migraines for a month in Jan. and I hated it. Granted, I've been sober for a while now through AA, behavior modification and other tools, but as far as just the medication itself, it sucked.
It sort of reduced my migraines, enough to the point I could get out of the house, socialize, exercise, etc...which helped more than any medicine. But the side effects were brutal.
I became extremely depressed. Nothing like I have ever been before, and I've been down, to say the least. Sleepiness. My hands tingled, which was unnerving. I had really bad memory loss, which was coupled with the inability to speak what was on my mind-couldn't find the words, stumbled over words, and there was an obvious disconnection between my thoughts and enunciating them. I felt like a total idiot who had brain damage. It all came on unnoticeably and sort of slowly, but went away quickly when I went off of it. I personally thought it was terrible and it felt like a cruel experiment.
I can't imagine how Topamax would benefit an actual alcoholic, especially long-term. If I still drank, I would have probably drank myself stupid because I was so depressed and tired and felt like doing nothing else when I was on it. I even had suicide enter my head when I was taking it (I'm dealing with a LOT in my life right now, which I think initially caused the migraines), and God knows what I would have done if I was that depressed and drunk. I know back when I drank, a pill sure wouldn't have deterred me from drinking in any way whatsoever-I was obsessed with drinking and getting drunk-it was my life that needed changing and the way I viewed it.
The only good thing I can say for Topamax is that it made me appreciate being clear headed and happy vs. a tired, suicidal dunce.
It sort of reduced my migraines, enough to the point I could get out of the house, socialize, exercise, etc...which helped more than any medicine. But the side effects were brutal.
I became extremely depressed. Nothing like I have ever been before, and I've been down, to say the least. Sleepiness. My hands tingled, which was unnerving. I had really bad memory loss, which was coupled with the inability to speak what was on my mind-couldn't find the words, stumbled over words, and there was an obvious disconnection between my thoughts and enunciating them. I felt like a total idiot who had brain damage. It all came on unnoticeably and sort of slowly, but went away quickly when I went off of it. I personally thought it was terrible and it felt like a cruel experiment.
I can't imagine how Topamax would benefit an actual alcoholic, especially long-term. If I still drank, I would have probably drank myself stupid because I was so depressed and tired and felt like doing nothing else when I was on it. I even had suicide enter my head when I was taking it (I'm dealing with a LOT in my life right now, which I think initially caused the migraines), and God knows what I would have done if I was that depressed and drunk. I know back when I drank, a pill sure wouldn't have deterred me from drinking in any way whatsoever-I was obsessed with drinking and getting drunk-it was my life that needed changing and the way I viewed it.
The only good thing I can say for Topamax is that it made me appreciate being clear headed and happy vs. a tired, suicidal dunce.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Burgundy, France
Posts: 51
I just read a thread on the my way out forum about peoples successes with topamax. I don't think I'm allowed to post the link here so have put it in place of my homepage in my profile for those who would like to see it.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1
It sounds interesting to me
Hello I am new here. I found Suz's info on Topamax at her link very interesting, it makes sense to me and I can see why that program has worked well for a lot of people. The other day I read about some new expensive centers popping up all over the country and would have you pay many thousands of dollars for essentially the same thing - medicine and vitamins and counseling, things that researchers now say are helpful to alcoholics especially when they are done together. I'm not promoting it, I'm just thinking the woman who developed it was probably ahead of her time in coming up with something more feasible that could be done at home instead, especially when you can visit a site like this one for support. To each his own I guess. Thanks for this resource, I'm looking forward to exploring some more and learning about the experience of other people here. I am still working on my own drinking issues and thinking about some new strategies.
M.
M.
Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3
Hi,
I just joined this site yesterday, after coincidentally enough being
referred here from people I have met at the My Way Out website. I was an
every day drinker for years and after following the program outlined in the
author's book I was able to go 4-5 days a week without drinking which for me
was huge. As of a month ago I decided to try the Topamax because of all of
the research I had read on it, and the success stories I had heard. I am
only at 50 mg but it has taken away my desire to drink. I know some people
have experienced negative side effects but so far I have experienced none.
For right now at this point in sobriety it is a tool I wholly embrace if it
gets me to where I need to be and helps me to create the habit of not
drinking anymore.
I just joined this site yesterday, after coincidentally enough being
referred here from people I have met at the My Way Out website. I was an
every day drinker for years and after following the program outlined in the
author's book I was able to go 4-5 days a week without drinking which for me
was huge. As of a month ago I decided to try the Topamax because of all of
the research I had read on it, and the success stories I had heard. I am
only at 50 mg but it has taken away my desire to drink. I know some people
have experienced negative side effects but so far I have experienced none.
For right now at this point in sobriety it is a tool I wholly embrace if it
gets me to where I need to be and helps me to create the habit of not
drinking anymore.
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