Will Topa Low Dose Work?

[ChooseToBelieve]

Hi! I just started this program. I went to my Dr. and she seems reluctant to prescribe any meds at all for me. I talked her into the Topa but she only prescribed enough for 25 then up to 50 mg per day for the first month. In the meantime, I'm looking for another Dr. But, a question for you all is this - if this is all I can get, do any of you think that this dosage can help me? Anyone with experience with this?

THANKS a million. I have been a closet alcoholic off and on for 20 years. The shame and suffering have been so bad. I wish that people would be more accepting of this as a disease and not look at it as an evil choice! I have high hopes and thank God that I came accross this book! Many thanks to you all!

[lucky 2.0]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi C,

Welcome! I do think you will see an improvement @ low doses and all should start out with the 25 and 50 mg tabs. They made me very tired- too tired to drink! So, yes, I think you will benefit.

Keep us posted please.

[imatree]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi, I'm new to topa too. Have taken 50 mgs for a week, will slowly dose up. I do already notice some small changes - like last night I only drank one bottle of wine, and it was Friday night! (seems ridiculous to feel proud of drinking "only" one bottle of wine, huh)

Biggest change is an immediate and noticeable reduction in appetite for food. That's fortunate for me, as I've become quite a tubbers.

Have you read the MWO book? RJ recommends starting very slowly, just as your doc. See the dosage suggestions in the book and dosing up schedule.

Welcome and good luck.

[Java]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

My nuerologist said 25 MG was just as effectve as higher doses for helping with alcohol related problems and the higher doses help with the other ailments the med. is for only ( i was at 100MG when I met her for the first time--she asked why I was at such a high dose of topa---i thought I had chosen a low dose) I went off the topa for a while after a couple of months, now I am back on it and I chose to go with 50 mg, and I feel the same as I did with 25mg....so I am kinda believing her now. She said more studies have been done on it, and she uses it with a lot of her patients, you should be just fine with a low dose,

[Kitty]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi Choose and :welcome: ,

I'm awaiting my Topa so can't answer your question but I'm interested in the replies to your thread. I have however, heard that it may be effective at a lower dose, it also seems to effect people in different ways.

I'm doing well with just L-Glute and Vits at the moment but I really want to give af a good run as I think I need at least 30 days (hoping for a lot more) to get some normality back, and try and re-train my brain.

I don't belive it is a magic pill, from what I've read so far I think your mindset has to knid of work along side it.

Good luck,

Kitty

[Paddy]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi Choose,

For me, I started noticing changes at low doses. But, hey, don't forget. Everyone reacts differently. We're talking medicines here - and different people react differently to them.

For more info check out the Topa thread I started, you'll get a bit of a blog on my Topa journey and the gradual increase of dosage.

Best

[ChooseToBelieve]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Thanks so much! To you and especially to those of you that are just starting on Topa - today is my second day, and I don't know if it is just the sheer unabashed sublime hope or the drugs themselves, but I have no desire to drink. I have not been sober for two days in a row for a long long time. I took one 25 mg tablet yesterday, two to make 50 mg today. I had to sleep for a three hour nap today, feel totally doped out, and, yes, soda tastes like metal. I welcome these side effects with open arms, however! To me, it means it is working!!! I am so excited!!!!!!!! Words cannot express the audacious hope that I am starting to allow myself to feel. I have three beers in my fridge and I look at them every few hours with no desire to drink them.

As far as starting this medication, I realize that one cannot start this on a work-day. Good thing this is a work-day and good thing I am on vacation next week. I can tell it will be a week full of dealing with side-effects. Not much different then being drunk, todeay however Bless you all today, Dears.

[redrobin]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Dear Chose To Believe,

That's fantastic news - I can understand how excited you are - how you somehow just KNOW that this will work for you. I was exactly the same when I first started topa and the MWO program and it did indeed work!!

But this is important! You should only take 25mg of topa per day for the first week and only then move up to 50mg. This is to give your body a chance to adjust and also to minimise the side effects. I can understand your enthusiasm and desire to jump right into the program but you MUST do it slowly and carefully, increasing the doses by no more than 25 mg each week. You will find that the desire to drink will still remain muted , if not completely removed, at 25mg. So just take it slowly OK?

By the way I only went as high as 100mg and have since reduced down to 50mg per day , which I find is perfectly adequate to keep me 'off the sauce', but as paddy said everyone is different and you may have to find your ideal dose for medium-longerr term maintenance.

So keep up the enthusiasm, you've good reason to, 'cause this program DOES work.

Best wishes,

rr

[ChooseToBelieve]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Thanks so much, I will take your advise and "chill out". Another question, about side-effects. I am certainly feeling dopey. I have ordered the adrafanil (sp?) the smart pill. Have any of you experienced hair thinning at doses under 75 mg? And, have any of you experienced acne at these doses? When does the tiredness start to get better? Any of your stories would be greatly appreciated! You are all so kind.

[redrobin]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi Chooseto

Love the raspberries!! I didn't experience any hair loss or skin problems whatsoever. I did take the precaution of getting some general "hair and skin" vitamins from the supermarket, however, and I must say that my hair (and skin) look fine. I believe that it's a very small proportion of people who have any problems in this regard - so you'd have to be pretty unlucky.

The tiredness does last for a while however. I think in my case it was about three to four weeks but it DOES get better as you adjust tp the medication. The only side effects I feel now is the occasional tingling in the toes and fingers (very mild.) As for dopiness - well, in my case, how would you ever tell!!

You sound positive and focussed and this will work for you!

[Camelia]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi all

back after some travelling. I have found that the Topa certainly has made a difference. I enthusiastically upped my dosage as rapidly as I could (every 4 days) and I would NOT recommend this. It made me extremely dopy and naseaus and I think I escalated the dose far higher than i personally needed to. In fact, I suspect I could sustain the necessary changes at 50mg per day - even 25. I went up to 125 and certainly felt side affects. i went back down to 75 and then tried 100 again last week and euch!!!! I too am taking the adrafanil. Im not sure of the effects overall. I had an almost alcohol free 10 days when i started. Then had a few weeks of say 1-1.5 bottles of wine over a few days. then last two weeks when away had a little more. However, still vastly improved on before Topa and in real terms almost keeping below the weekly recommended units for the UK. This is a first for me for years. The lower the dose the better as far as i am concerned as it does feel fairly 'toxic' to me.

The 'brain training' certainly comes into it and here is where all sorts of hypno helps. i use the hypnos recommended on this site. But also, I cannot give enough commendation to the Inner Talk products which have been scientifically tested and proven to a very high degree. Vitalia Health Products, bringing Alternative Health and Technology together to promote health and well-being. No, I don't work for them - but I am a neuroscientist and like the science behind these. I play them all the time in the background as I work and sleep. You really need to want to 'embrace' a new way of being. The Topa has given me the chance to 'try this on for size' and I am liking it. I really like the No More Hangovers! I also had the guts at home to say 'No' to the usual round of drinking parties which have been the norm for my trips home to Ireland over the last 10 years.

I am feeling brave at the moment and have considered dropping the Topa altogether to see if I can go it without it - I have a very busy period coming up - however, it may be wiser to simply go down to a 25mg maintenance dose. Any suggestions anyone????

Best wishes to you all.

[Cinders]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

100 mg seems magic for me

I think it is probably different for everyone.

The 25 did nothing, the 50 did nothing, the 75 did nothing, suddenly at 100 mg, I am down to 1 glass of wine/day and really think by end of week (at 100 mg for less than a week now) I may actually be able to go AF for a whole week, however have made those predictions before and fallen flat so NOT doing THAT again. (Need to quit adding failure issues to my psyche at this point.)

However, I do have skin side effects and some mental "fogginess" shortly after taking the dose. It does go away. So, I get up early and take my a.m. dose and wait a while before driving. I then go home, take my evening dose before dinner and BEFORE I consider drinking.

I am not going to titrate up until I settle down a bit and see if I can go AF at this dosage.

Paddy alludes to a thread that is worth reading. It definitely is.

As an aside, I tried Campral prior to Topa. I gave it my all and went 5 days AF, pretty much in tears the whole time. It did nothing for the cravings for me. It has worked well for others. I think one person's chemistry is very different from another's. I did find a doctor who was willing to try different things to help. Thank Heavens!!!!

For me, the Topa is working really well. Despite the skin issues (I have some small bumps on shoulders and neck) and transcient brain fog, being able to stay sober after several years of drinking to blackouts is a wonder. I truly don't think it is a placebo effect.

I do agree that the lowest dosage that works is the best way to go!!

Best of luck to all!!

Cindi

[ChooseToBelieve]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Update - Day 25 and have not had any alcohol except for 1/2 glass of wine - wanted to have it - want to moderate. YAYYYYYYY. Am only on 50 mg's of Topa and am staying here. My Dr. has been won over and is ok with it now. The side effects were terrible with varying degrees and types of terrible (dopiness, sleepiness, diarhea, followed by constipation, headache) up until day 20. Now just a very mild headache. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because I have not been free of this alc addiction this long for years. Hooray and best of luck to whoever is reading this!

[Niblet]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hello ChooseToBelieve, what a great thread you have started... I've asked that question myself... Does 25mg of Topa work???.. Reason I ask is when I chose to drink atall, I take 25mg of Topa... That is the only time.. It might only be 2 or 3 times per week... I wonder if I should just take 25 mg every single day and stay there.. Why is it that people gradually increase the dose if they feel 25 mg is doing its job... Would a person become immune to a low dose after awhile and that is why they increase it ? I really do understand that it would be difficult for one person to answer that because we are all so different... Any thoughts anybody ?
P.S. ChooseToBelieve, I'm so glad that this has worked out so well for you.. You stood tough and you can beat this ! Yahoo !!! How long can a person stay on Topa? Will it damage your internal organs or anything ? Boy oh boy I'm right full of questions eh? Take Care All and thank-you in advance, Hugs, ~Niblet~

[YoungAtHeart]

Will Topa Low Dose Work?

Hi, this is a good thread.

Niblet, does taking 25 mg only when you are going to drink work for you? Because if it does, why change it? I don't think it is dangerous to take it that way. I think that it would be if you were taking a higher dose, say 100mg. Also, you can stay on topa indefinitely. There is some danger of kidney damage at higher dosages, but drinking plenty of water is a good way to keep the risk down.

I've been on topa for a year and a half now with varying success. I need more topa, but my desire to be abstinent has a lot to do with it too. When I started my most recent period of sobriety 6 weeks ago, I was up to 200 mgs of topa, but the topa dopas were too much. I was able to go down to 150 (50/morning and 100/late afternoon) and remain sober. I recently went down to just 100 in the late afternoon, except on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, when I still take 150. So far that is what works for me to abstain. But I am very tired, and it is hard to motivate myself when I have unstructured time. I have been talking with my psychiatrist about ways to deal with that. I am remaining sober, and that is very important to me.