TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Dear helpmeout,

I must echo what Breez said ... At 150 mgs, you would experience at least some side effects ... I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be on placebo either ...

[Cinders]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Ready for the next step up.

I know there is a recommendation on the step up.

However, I have been going up very slowly because I simply cannot afford to "lose it" at work in front of clients. (Hubby already thinks I am goofy enough :H )

So, I am at 75 mg right now and actually not feeling any real reduction in cravings yet.

Ready to jump up to 100 mg.

I take 25 mg a.m. and 50 mg p.m.

Has anyone tried taking 25 mg a.m. and 75 mg p.m. ?? I am thinking that way the side effects that seem to hit within an hour will hit me in the evenings and NOT while I am at work.

Thanks in advance!!

Cindi

And PLEASE wish me luck!! I know I need to do this with willpower and effort of my own but am hoping the topa will help me out. I am pretty weak willed by nature and so want to end up totally AF!! I have been doing better but not AF.... It is my dream!!

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Dear DB,

You're very brave. Congrats for going the Topa way. Don't worry about the side effects. They will pass, too. Remember, they will be temporary, and not be that bad. Also, whether you take 25 mgs in the morning and 75 mgs in the evening won't make a different, as the medicine is in your system.

I would frankly take the medicine evenly. It's better for your body. From my own experience, I started with 25/25 then 50/50mgs, then 100/100.

Memory loss and goofiness can happen as side-effect, but doesn't have to. So don't get yourself stressed out.

[Beaches]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Good luck Cindi

I am on round 2 of Topa and the side effects are very minimal. I am taking 50mg in the am and 100mg before bedtime and that is working out great for me. I have a little tingling in my feet occassionally but that is it. The best part is that my drinker is really starting to turn off. I am not thinking about drinking the MINUTE I walk into my house now after work. I can actually hold off and get some things done. It's a beautiful thing.
I will be increasing to 175 on Monday and am going to keep going to 200mg and see how I do there.
I am also taking Kudzu and LGlut because this time I am not playing games.
I wish you the very best!!

[Beaches]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Yes I agree with Paddy, the side effects do go away. They are annoying at first but they pass and the trade off is far better!

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Beaches;159854 wrote: Yes I agree with Paddy, the side effects do go away. They are annoying at first but they pass and the trade off is far better!

I agreed to agree, ha, ha Beaches. It's a pity they haven't invented chemical computers yet. You know? The kind a person could just plug in and get a sample of another person's description of a particular 'feeling'. Like the one Beaches just described - she doesn't even think about booze when she comes home. Do I make any sense? That's exactly how I feel. Since I'm on 225 mgs, I have absolutely no cravings for alcohol. None! And just to make sure I take 6 Kudzu and 1 L-Glut a day.

So all in all, I'm not in a hurry to titrate down on my Topa. Too risky.

[Cinders]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Thanks Paddy and Beaches!!

I will go ahead and to the 50/50 then for a week.

If I need to titrate higher, I will add 25 in the evening.

I am very excited. I so want this to help.

I did go a whole day AF yesterday. Liver probably hasn't got a clue what happened to it!!

I do this supps and L-Glut, Milke Thistle, etc, too. RJ and many other sources sure do indicate those are a big piece of this puzzle.

I very much appreciate your input. It is so heartening to have people to bounce these ideas off of. Otherwise we would be on this journey pretty much alone and that would be very very scary.

:thanks:

Cindi

[ChooseToBelieve]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Hi there, Day 9 with the Topa. Started out with 25 mg, up to 50. Am one of those people that experience a lot of side-effects. Am not surprised, have experienced side effects with other meds as well (like with antibiotics when sick, etc). The worst: feel dopey and sleepy. Now, in upon upping the dosage, have started a slight case of diarrhea. I was super-hungry the first couple of days, now have a lessenned appetite - that is the best side-effect since I am a chubby girl. I have ordered the nootropic (spelling?) drugs online to deal with the dopiness and am eagerly awaiting them. Since then, have switched to taken my dosages later in the day - one near the end of the business day and one at bed. I am a technology consultant (engineer) and if this must get resolved VERY soon. I do understand that I can go to a health-food store and get some fish oil supplements to help with the dopiness as well. Oh, another side-effect is that pepsi and coke products task like crap. Which is great, because I'd like to give those up as well.

Ok, here's the thing though -ready for this - I have almost - NO - desire for alcohol. In fact, for the first time in literally seven years, I have gone 9 DAYS without any alcohol. I HAVE GONE 9 DAYS WITHOUT WANTING ANY ALCOHOL. My hope is that the side-effects will subside, that I will continue with abstinance OR moderation, (because I really want to just be a "normal" person and have a beer with my buddies once in a while for pete's sake) that I will go off topa in three months... and that I will stay on kudzu and L-glut forever to continue to be a normal moderate drinker.

I'm rambling here, but it feels good
)))

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Hi Choose,

Good on you. The sleepiness will go away after a couple of days or so. Dopiness, too. Just give it a week or two. You really have to be patient. I had the same problem, too. I got so desperate at one stage, that I just wanted to throw it all in. But my doc reasoned with me that Topa needed its time to work. And the body needs its time to get used to the medicine.

The only thing which will stay with you as long as you take Topa is the mind gaps that occur from time to time. That's a hard one to deal with at times. For me who deals with 7 languages due to my job, it's frustrating at times. Yet, it's a price I'm willing to pay - I wouldn't wanna go back to downing a bottle of wine or champagne a night. So be it.

As for moderation, well frankly, some of us will never be able to moderate successfully. That's something you'll also to realize. I did for a while, but whenever I was under stress or fatigue, I broke. That's when I decided to do the total AF.

If you choose the MODERATION route, why don't you try it first and keep track of your alcohol intake on a daily basis and keep total AF as a backup plan?

[Cinders]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Great Choose!!

I am up to 100 mg and still having desires to drink, although greatly diminished. Even getting AF days in there.

I do not want to moderate, I want to quit entirely. I figure quitting will actually be easier for me, the difference between having to think about it and not thinking about it at all kind of thing.

However, it does sound like the topa is working really well for you!! WONDERFUL!!

Gives me even more hope!!

I am a little worried about the lessened appetite thing, though, since I am a gastric bypass patient -- that is when I started drinking believe it or not -- so I don't have a lot of "wiggle room" in the losing weight arena. I can stand to lose some, though.

Good luck with your journey, whatever path you choose!! And, I agree with Paddy, my side effects, such as dopiness are all subsiding, I'm back to my usual idiotic self and my clients haven't noticed anything. (I, too, work in a technical field.)

Take care,
Cindi

[mayflower]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Has anyone ordered Topa on-line?

[dhappens]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Well here goes

I found this website about 6 weeks ago. This is my first post. I have been drinking pretty heavily since I was a teenager and I just turned 50. For several reasons I have decided it is time to stop. I have two young children now and I just don't want them to have this monkey on their back. My 7 year old son told me the other day. " I can't wait until I get older Dad so I can drink beer". Isn't that great...

I was sober for 5 years about 12 years ago. 3 through AA and 2 on own. I never really felt comfortable there. My sponsor was still doing sometimes 2-3 meetings a day and he had been sober 10 years. They kept telling me to find people who had what I wanted but I couldn't find anybody I saw a lot of people who had just switched addictions, alcohol for AA. Another thing I didn't like about AA is the first thing you do is stand up and admit defeat. Why start by being negative?

I also managed a few AF months here and there. I tried a program called Drinkwise for awhile but never stuck with it.

Anyway I have been working with a Naturopathic doctor who has consented to let me give the Topomax a try. I am on my 3rd week and just went up to 75mg a day. I am also takes all the supllements. Besides beer tasting horrible I really haven't felt any reduction in cravings. I am drinking slightly less than usual just because of will power.

I haven't had much time to do the cd's but I do believe strongly in the power of creative visualization so I am hoping they will make a difference.

I think my biggest concern is I really like drinking. Alcohol has been my companion for a very long time. I drink when things are good and when things are bad. I am really hoping this program makes this difference for me.

Have a lot of you taken awhile before the Topomax really helped you stop drinking? Did you continue depite the bad taste? I think I really need to be AF for a good long time. At least 6-12 months. Then I will decide if I can moderate.

Sorry to have rambled on.

d

[Breez]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Hi d-

The first time I tried Topa (2yrs ago) I failed on it. I tried to moderate/quit while on it. I loved my drinking to much to give it up. I just went thru the motions of quiting. This past Dec (2006) I decided to go Abs with the help of Topa again and can say I'm 202 days AF. I changed my mindset. Moderation has never worked for me. I would eventually go back to my wicked ways. I had to eliminate alcohol out of my equation in order for this program to work for me.

RJ suggests doing 30 days AF while trying Topa. Try the 30 days, clear your head. Topa is not a miracle pill. It's just another helping tool. What you put in is what you get out of the program. Every bit helps.

Congrats on being sober 5 yrs-that's something to be proud of! Welcome and I wish you success.

[ChooseToBelieve]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

All - I'm on day 12, 50 mg's. MY HEAD FEELS LIKE IT NEEDS TO EXPLODE. Please, any encouragement would be SO appreciated!!!! When do you think this will get better??? Anyone?

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[Breez]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Choose- are you getting headaches or frustration from cravings?

There were quite a few people who could not take Topa due to eye problems and intense headaches.