i feel like i'm always postin effin crap on the forumz , lmao. but anyways ...
i went to see my psychiatrist today, turns out im NOT bi-polar. which i'm REALLY REALLY happy about .
however, she did say i am depressed which i already knew & my anger stems from my possessive and intense personality.
anyways, she prescribed 20mg of prozac which im not worried about cuz ppl in my immediate family take it ..
its the topomaz? i've read SO many horrible things about it and it's not even approved for depression or anything :-\


so, with that being said? has anyone taken topomaz? did you like/not like it? did it make you lose weight like it says? & if it did, when you stopped taking it did you gain the weight back?! tell me your stories with it (:

Are you sure the name is "topomaz?" because I can't recall anything similar to that, except for Topamax.. which is an Anti-Seizure medication and can also be used to treat Migraines.

http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/top1541.htm

yeah topomax, sorry guys! :(

Doctor.

Doctor.

Go to a doctor.

I went.

I went.

I already went to the doctor!

all i really asked for were stores from those who have taken it? nothing really related to whether i should take it or not .. (:

I've taken topomax for migraines. Took it for about 6 months or so til I ran outta money lol. It was like my taste buds were screwed up, which helped. I couldn't drink anything carbonated. I thought I was going to die seeing as I'm addicted to Mello Yello. But I ended up losing about 15 pounds in no time. When I stopped taking it, it took a bit to get to where I could drink sodas again, and I did gain it back, but I think that was more my eating habits than anything. :/

it was probably the sodas maintaining your weight. they're really good at that. i stopped drinking coke for a while and dropped 16 kgs.

WOW. Sixteen kilos?! Wow. xD Over what time period did you lose the weight?

My boyfriend drinks Coke constantly and complains about his weight. And I, of course, being the ever-conscientious medical student, am constantly telling him not to drink it, and he constantly doesn't listen to me. And I constantly get pissed off. xD My uncle got diagnosed with type 2 diabetes recently; I tried to use that as a scare tactic, and it worked for maybe a week. D:

I always wondered; is there a difference between normal coke and Diet coke for weight gain and stuff? I always used to drink Diet Coke but I kept getting addicted to caffeine and getting headaches when I couldn't have it, so I've gone cold turkey and only drink squash now.
I ask because diet coke has nearly no calories in. But squash has more. Even sugar free squash, which is annoying!

I'm not really sure, but since Diet Coke has fewer calories, I'd say that drinking Diet wouldn't cause you to gain as much weight as drinking standard Coke. If you're trying to lose weight, lots of calories are bad, and lots of sugar can also be bad because the sugar is also a form of energy (which can be stored if it isn't used e.g. via exercise).

And the caffeine in Coke is an unnecessary added annoyance, if you ask me. xD Why else would they add it to the product, aside from its addictive qualities? It adds nothing to the taste or texture of the drink.

In my opinion, the only drink people should be drinking is water. And milk. And MAYBE the occasional juice. xD I think we get enough of calories from the food we eat, and any form of carbonated beverage is just bad news.

With the exception of carbonated mineral water. xD Although I do believe that carbonated drinks are also quite bad for your teeth (I think because of the dissolved carbonic acid, which attacks your enamel).

this.

it was in the space of a year. i gave up coke and i walked to school and back. took about hour half each way. did wonders lol. now i'm trying to give it up again. not going so well this time haha.

I took topamax for migraines. It makes your fingers, toes, and eyelids tingle. I didn't lose weight while on it, but I wasn't on a very high dosage. I stopped taking it after 3 months because the tingles were unbearable.

oh and it also made me feel feel loopy, like i was always buzzed.

I took topamax. one dr prescribed it to me and I had horrible horrible side effects. my family thought I was having strokes becuase of how it affected me. I saw a different dr and he took me off it immediately and said he calls it dopamax. It's some crazy stuff, but it works for some people. I think it's a mood stabilizer. I took it for bipolar. doctors thought I was bipolar, but the moodswings I believe are just from the depression. I don't have any other symptoms of bipolar considering my moodswings are usually depressed symptoms.

Good luck with it. I did lose some weight but I was only on it for like 2 months or so. I did gain the weight back.

I'm on topomax right now, for borderline personality disorder. It's usually used for seizures and migraines, yes, but it's also for mood stability as well at lower doses. It has a lot of side effects. Read up a lot about it before you use it. I built up to it very slowly. I had a really hard time going onto it, but I've been on it for about six weeks and I'm okay. I haven't lost weight yet....if I have, it's not very noticeable. Only at its highest doses (which I'm not at, since I'm not being treated for seizures or migraines) do most of the side effects happen (which is good, since most of them except weight gain are negative). I can, however, go almost an entire day without being hungry. So, yeah, loss of appetite is true. But you obviously don't want to choose your medication based on weight loss.

Everyone's different. All in all, it has helped me. But build up to your full dose slowly. Do your research and stuff and do what your doctor says.

Good luck. You can private message/comment me if you have questions.

she didn't say she was specifically using it for weight loss but she said it should definitely help. i've been doing SO much research on it and i've come up with more horror stores than good ones :( i'm not on a lot, she suggested i start out with 25mg for a few days , then slowly increase until i'm up to about 75mg. i've just read stories from people going blind, being off balance, forgetting simple things, all the way to kidney stones ):

stop scaring yourself; it'll be okay! i felt a little loopy at times, initially after an increase, but it was at 100mg, not 25mg. it sounds like your doctor knows what she's doing, so i would trust her and not worry, okay? i'm up to 200mg now and i'm showing no signs of blindness. ;-) if you're worried about the memory thing, just write things down. i was told that any of the minor side effects wear off after you get used to it. they're REQUIRED to tell you all of the things that can POSSIBLY happen. that doesn't mean it will to you. especially not at 25mg.

As always, you really should discuss this with your doctor if you have concerns about it.

I used to work in psychiatry and I never saw that drug used in anyone for psychiatric problems. Furthermore, does she think you have a personality disorder? In which case the use of ANY drug treatment is contraversial (psychology is better). There's virtually no medical evidence that drugs work in personality disorders, they usually just make people more dependent on healthcare services and make the problem worse. The psychiatrist I worked with felt very strongly about this and would never prescribe drugs to people with personality disorders (if you have depression it's not unreasonable to prescribe the antidepressant though), he'd send them to psychology instead. On some occassions we saw other psychiatrists PD patients who had been treated very differently and some of whom were on ridiculous drugs (antipsychotics etc).

However, ultimately it's down to the individual psychiatrist, but if you're not happy I'd do a little research into what evidence there is for that drug actually working in that situation, the side effects etc and then go back and discuss it with your psychiatrist. I'm not a psychiatrist afterall (as is no-one else here) so she will know better than any of us, but drugs are often used irresponsibly in personality disorders, and it's not unreasonable to question it.

i've only seen her once, so i'm not sure if i should trust things with her. although she did say she herself was considering taking topomax..

btw, valerie i'm trying so hard not to worry! lol yes, i'm sure nothing will happen at 25mg but i'm going up to 75 and then after my next appointment she may feel it needs to be changed to a high dose. i'm not quite sure though. i'm especially glad you're going blind and are feeling fine on it! i can only hope for the same results in myself! ;D

that's what my doctor said: "there are no set drugs for personality disorders, because it's your personality" (or something like that) for me, it's used as a mood stabilizer. what i like about him, is he's very slow to give me anything. sometimes i feel like doctors are too quick to medicate. it's a shame. anyway, i'm glad there's a doctor on bloop to explain things and clarify! lol

I want to be absolutely clear. I am not "on Bloop to explain and clarify". I am on Bloop because I have a personal diary here. I am not here as a source of advice, and no medical advice can be given over the internet. I don't mind sharing my own experience of what I've seen other psychiatrists do, but I am not her doctor, I cannot advise her personally on what she should be taking, and as I already said, she should discuss this herself with the psychiatrist (although it isn't unreasonable to do some research first so she knows the right questions to ask).

Red is absolutely right. She is the only Dr that I know of here on bloop but I know many nurses (myself included) and I must say the same thing.. If someone has genuine medical concerns they need to go see their Dr and talk to them.