Topamax stopped working?

[Ghostwriter]

Hello! Haven't been here in awhile because, frankly, Ive been doing so great untl now. I started taking the supplements and Topamax (50mg a day) in September, and it was like a miracle. I was able to completely stop drinking hard liquor after drinking a fifth of bourbon or vodka a day. I was down to a glass or two of wine in the evening. I find that I now am taking 75 mg of Topamx a day but am drinking more,two or three hard drinks a day and usually a glass or two of wine, not feeling the same satisfaction from it, and also having more side effects, especially the tingling sensations and horrific sense of direction. Should I increase the dosage? Will I have to keep increasing? I thought the idea was to stop taking it eventually? It's been a stressful month, so I'm thinking maybe if I just concentrate a bit more, relax a bit more, and be easy on myself, it will pass, but it's scary. I lost a bit of weight in my gut which was so nice as I had that awful distended belly from all the booze, and I lost the double chin, and i was able to give my lectures without being all sloppy, and now I feel that paunch coming back and the dopeiness from the drugs, and I feel myself getting a bit melancholy. Any help would be appreciated.

[Bruunhilde]

Topamax stopped working?

I can't advise on the topa dosing but you could do a search for Topa threads in the advanced search or in the book. I think people go up to 100mg or more a day. Also, it does take willpower, even with all the stuff I wasn't able to moderate and needed devine intervention or a kick in the head, which is delivered now nightly to little avail.

[sunshinedaisies]

Topamax stopped working?

Ghost - I am on Topa - and the only time it has ever worked for me was when I got up to 250 - 300mg and when I took it RELIGIOUSLY. Then I stopped drinking for 8 months. Stopped the Topa - and thought I could maybe have one drink.....and the rest is history - I am on my way back up again! Feel free to PM me if you want to. Good luck.

sun X

[YoungAtHeart]

Topamax stopped working?

Hi, Ghost. I went up to 200 mg. before I was able to stop drinking completely, and before that, I learned to "drink over" the topamax. Your body can learn to tolerate a lot when you want to have a drink! About six months after I stopped drinking, I went down to a maintenance dose of 100 mg. After a few years, I stopped taking it altogether, because I didn't have health insurance, but it still took a while to relapse, and it was probably more about my thinking than the medication.

The side effects do lessen with time, and I think you do have to titrate up. Topa-brain is a common side effect, but with planning, you can work around it. Just titrate up slowly. And as Brun said, you still need to have the strong desire to keep to your plan, and it does take some will power.

I'm not clear on whether you want to stop drinking or moderate, but I found that I really couldn't moderate, even with topamax.

I relapsed for 1 1/2 years, and I'm now back on the wagon without medication, but I don't think I could do it successfully if I hadn't had 3 1/2 years of sobriety for practice!

Good luck to you.