TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Dear Smokey,

That's exactly how I feel. The loss of words is a real pain, especially in my job - having to give public speeches in front of people ... often impromptu. Anyway, taking notes and preparing key words in advance helps. And as you said, the loss of words in exchange for being a (excuse my poor choice of words) a piss pot, makes it well worth while. Me too, I was on one bottle of wine a day.

[Ripley]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

This is such a reassuring and positive thread... thanks all. I am waiting for my hypno discs and topa to arrive and can not wait to get started. willpower and supps alone just doesn't work for me.

I have also ordered adrafinil (nootropic used by RJ) just as a backup in case I get word loss etc. anyone else tried this? K

[Midnight]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Haven't checked into website forever. Good thread. I started program exactly as outlined in book in June 2006. Have stopped at 200 mg topa, and am no longer taking anything else except the All-One, and only 1/2 dose of that. I take 100 mg in a.m. and 100 mg in p.m. I am female, will be 33 tomorrow, 5'5, started at 143 and am now down to 120 pounds (my college weight). I can only drink 1 or 2 beers now in a sitting, down from at least 6, and now this occurs only once a week or so, rather than every night. I can even have beers in the fridge without drinking them. Never could have happened before. I started with the usual side-effects, problems typing mostly and a few word-find issues, tingling hands, tiredness. They have all essentially gone away. I sleep great too (oh, and play the hypnotherapy CD at night just because I like the sound). I would like to decrease dosage, but I wonder after reading some of these posts now.

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

G'day guys,

I'm on my 3rd day of craving decrease. Yesterday lunch. Glass of wine. Didn't enjoy it! Imagine! Here's a guy who's from a wine-growing culture not liking wine. Used to down a bottle a day. OK, here goes me yesterday night trying a dark beer.... tasted like ... I don't want to say the word. Couldn't finish the bottle. Not even the glass. So, another victory for Topa.

As of today on 150 mgs. Topa. Anyone doubting its effect, take it from me. IT WORKS. I tried Campral for 1 year. Yes it had its good effects, but only if you're sober for a while. If you go back drinking, the effect of Campral wears out. What I didn't like with Campral was the effect it had on my intestinal system. Anyway, maybe that's just me ....

Thanks for posting. Loads of positive input - hang in there fellow topa-mates!

[determined]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

I am a 5' 2" female and have been taking topomax for 7 months now. I take 200 mg per day (100 morning and evening) and experince the odd 'longing' for a drink. however I am abstinant and haven't been anywhere near tempted.

I was still craving until 125 mg's and then I felt a great relief start to melt the cravings. After that, the cravings just left me and each day became easier and easier. i was also listening to the cd's everyday initially but don't listen to them at all now. I still take the amino acid suppliments and a good vitiman b.

I had initial side effects - tingling in my hands and feet, which was quite full on some times and a real loss of appitite. the up side of this was i lost weight. i don't know how much - just that i fit into my skinny clothes now. gotta love that!!! my appetite is back and the tingling is gone but i am still a bit fuzzy in the brain sometimes... but perhaps that is years of wicked abuse and the fact that i am now the dark side of middle age...

topamax has been a real life saver for me. i tried naltrexone and campral and neither of them worked to help unbearable cravings and a very distressing state of mind.

i really feel good and will stay on this drug while it is helping me. i have been an alcoholic for a long time... sometimes sober... often not... but generally struggling with the issue. this drug has given me relief from a very painful struggle.

big love and luck to you all.

d x

...oh and soft drinks tasted really really weird - but they become normal again after about two months!

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Hiya,

Thanks for sharing that experience. How long have you been abstinent for, if I may ask? It's true, I also feel that along the 125 - 150 mgs the TOPA starts working.

Thanks again for sharing your experience.

Paddy

[mikeupnorth]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

What a good idea for a thread. I wish this had been around when I was considering a prescription medication...

I'm male, 5'8" and when I started taking topa, I weighed 160 pounds. Now I weigh 140.

I started topa in July (?) last year, with the goal of moderation. I found a little relief from cravings at 75, 100, and 150 mg, but I also found that I got drunk. Just as drunk as before I started taking the topa, if not worse. So by September I realized my goal need to be abstinence. And when I got to 200 mg. my brain reacted as if a light switch went off and I had zero cravings.

Since then I have had no cravings at all.... I still have thoughts of drinking but they are easily dismissed. I don't have the internal battles that last for hours like I used to before taking the medication.

The only side effects I have noticed are drowsiness and occasional "fuzziness" of mind but that is a small price to pay compared to the side effects of heavy drinking.

~ Mike

[Paddy]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Welcome back Mike! Started missing you. I've just been amazed about Topa over the past few days. Have still not stopped alcohol altogether. But have only been drinking one glass of wine per day, and often not been able to finish it. And this at 150 mgs. So I guess, in a short while, I won't be able to touch any at all. In fact, at this stage I can't even talk about inner battles or cravings anymore. But I still plan to scaling up Topa to 200 mgs.

[dilayne]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

I took the topa for a little over 3 months and am 4.5 months AF now. The highest dose I could handle was about 175 with average side effects..no word confusion really, but I didn't feel great on it. No cravings right off the bat, but once I tried to start moderating after 30 days of AF, it was a little harder..and I got headaches even after 2 glasses of wine. It was great for me and gave me solid ground to make a decision about drinking from a clean place.

[determined]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

I have been abstinent since the topa kicked in at 125 mgs.

i chose abstinence because moderation has not worked for me and i just have to take the daily dilema out of my life. the constant board room meetings in my brain... will i go to the bottle shop? how much will i buy? how much will i drink? ineveitably i would always go to the bottle shop, buy too much, and drink until i was drunk. very drunk.

with abstinence (and topamax) these thoughts just don't come in... i don't have to meet with that crazy board of nutters and go through that pack of pretend arguments, and i don't wake full of shame and regeret.


as i said before it is such a relif to be free of the daily (and for me hourly) struggle... and i really do feel free.

just a note. i have been working (positively) with my alcoholism for years and have used sheer will power to have long periods (up to a year at a time) of abstinence but none have been so easy or free.

bless the topamax i say.

good luck with journeys and the roads you choose.

dx

[miroho]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Male 55 yo 5' 11" 200 lbs, 5th wk on Topa, 75 mg AM / PM, tingling hands, feet, metallic tastes, no drossiness, nor lose of words, no Hypnotherapy CDs, take kudzu 750 mg AM & PM, gingko AM / PM, green tea PM, no weight lose, have not started to exercise, plan to soon, cravings are diminishing, and consume significantly less, past history was weekend binges.

[Ripley]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

"i don't have to meet with that crazy board of nutters and go through that pack of pretend arguments, and i don't wake full of shame and regeret."

LMAO!! Best description I've ever heard of that pathetic debate you have with yourself before - inevitably -getting legless.

So looking forward to my Topa arriving... K x

[wwbarb]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

I was up to 200 during the holidays - still drinking, but less. Could no longer tolerate beer, which I have always loved, but scotch found a special place in my heart. The first one (or two) went down very slowly. After that, I managed to catch up. As for side effects, I had the tingling, sweating decreased substantially, and was tired (don't know whether to blame the booze or the topa) and a pretty nasty outlook on life

On January 16, I blew the dust off the hypno tapes and for the first time did them exactly as outlined. Also cut back to 100 mg. Quit taking supps except for all one. Since then I've lost 11 1/2 lbs and haven't had a drink. "Linus is now letting go of the blanket" and I am titrating (hope I spelled that right) down to nothing because I believe that most of my effects are psychological. I am only missing the fun and companionship, not the booze, so I am working on that aspect of my life. When I think about having a drink, I think about what the next day is going to be like and the calories I am going to be consuming - it passes.

I am not saying I am never going to have a drink again. And I still have topa in the cabinet if I need help later. Right now, life is better without booze, so my thought is alway "not an option" (thanks, Mike).

I don't know if I could have done it without the topa, but I know I couldn't have done it without the hypno. Having it in my life day in and day out makes a big difference. I've always been of the mind that it's better to re-program the mind than to take a pill.

[Pebbles]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Great thread.

I'm not quite 5' 2" & 110lbs having lost 16lbs since Oct. 2006. Combination of Weightwatchers and moderating/abstaining due to the programme.

I use all the supps as described in the book, have the hypno CDs but can't do them to the letter as I'm not alone enough !

Topa - started it properly in January, don't get much further than 50mg without debillitating mind problems, can't do the Planning type stuff women have to do day on day. The metalic taste, tingly feet etc I can live with, but I can't run my house, or work if I forget everything !

Still, even 50mg makes a difference. I can have a drink and stop, unheard of pre topa days. I take my topa morning and afternoon, if I forget and take it later, no sleep for me that night. Otherwise I'm sleeping better than in years.

cheers

[gabby]

TOPAMAX SURVEY - DOSAGE/LENGTH OF TIME/SUCCESS

Mikeupnorth, are you getting to thin?