So I’ve been on 25mg of Topamax once a day for 1 week. I was to take this in the mornings. After 2 mornings I couldn’t take the zombieness and switched to taking it at night. After one week of this, I was feeling pretty good.
Yesterday, I upped to 50mg. Taking 1 25mg pill at night and 1 25mg pill in the morning. HELLO ZOMBIE-NESS again during the day. :evil:
I don’t want to quit this drug already… I want to perserve because I want to give this drug a good shot, and I was feeling pretty good on Friday AND I KNOW that it was helping my vision symptoms…
My questions to you guys who have tried out Topamax are…
Do you reckon I could beat the Zombie sluggish head in the clouds feeling by taking one whack of 50mg at night rather than splitting the dose??
How long did it take you to beat the sluggishness/evil head?
Any other comments/advice about this drug?
Thanking you…
I’ve been feeling particularly lonely this last weekend… I feel like my family and friends are kinda BORED of me being ill now, they don’t even bother asking how I’m doing anymore… But it’s good to know that at least I can log on here and be reminded that I’m not the only one on this planet who has this thing… Wish I could see everyone ane we could all have a big fat GROUP HUG!!! XXX
I take my Topa as a split dose, at night before bed, and about midday. I guess it could be worth a try in terms of taking it all at night - see if you can take the major hit while you’re asleep…? Personally, every time I increase the dosage, no matter how small, my system gets upset for several weeks - it literally can take up to a month for things to settle, so be patient if you can! Other comments…drink lots of water; don’t be afraid to go more slowly, if jumping from 25 > 50mg is too big a jump (I failed the first time, and had to return to 25mg, and then got there via 30 > 40 > 45 > 50)! I was convinced initially that Topamax wouldn’t be for me, but it has definitely started to come good, so give it a fair trial if you can.
Hang in there - I have my fingers crossed for you!
Tony.
My neurologist has me taking it all at bedtime. Maybe this is why???
He suggested 25 mg to start and then add 25 a week later, and keep going like that. I don’t recall feeling too bad after a week, but a psychiatrist friend of mine suggested I wait 2 weeks for each dose increase, which I decided to do. His feeling is that this is a powerful drug, and 2 weeks gives your brain a little more time to adjust. That sounded good to me. My neurologist’s initial goal for me was 100 mg. I had symptom improvement almost from the beginning (no more severe episodes with tunnel vision), but once I’d been at 100 mg for 3 months my daily symptoms stopped. I had to go up a little higher because of some occasional breakthrough mild dizziness, so I’m at 150 now, but it has been great for me. I take all 150 mg at night.
And we Topamax takers are at slightly higher risk for kidney stones - it’s not a huge risk, but it’s there. I hear they’re very painful, so I keep myself well hydrated because I don’t want to find out for myself. Don’t forget to drink plenty of fluids now that you’re on this.
I would suggest splitting the dose to take 12.5 in the morning. I also had incredible sleepiness with Topamax at first and it probably lasted a good two weeks before it went away. But it DID go away, so hang in there!! I did go slower than my neuro suggested I go up in dosage, but I made it up to 100 mg within a month or so and now I’m feeling great with 100 mg Topamax and 5 mg Lexapro. I take 50 mg Topamax in the morning and 50 mg at night.
If you’re only side effect is feeling like a zombie (not that I’m discounting that, believe me!) I’d say just take it easier with the morning dose rather than doubling up on the evening dose. I was told that splitting the dose is best to keep the levels more even in your system throughout the day. But clearly others aren’t doing that way and doing fine, so maybe that’s hogwash
