Running out of Topamax

[Guest Guest_patheral_*]

When I left the madness (see thread in the relationships forum for full story), I couldn't find my recent refill of Topamax - which would have lasted me two months or so - now I'm down my last 20 pills. That's 20 days worth. But after that, I'm done. No doctor, no refill, and no, Wal-Mart won't cover the "lost" pills (I asked).

I guess I'll be going med-less again for awhile. I can't go to the local clinic here because I'm not a resident. So, I need to wean myself off of Topamax; I know better than to go cold turkey. I'm on 100mg right now. What would the decrease rate be?

[usernametaken]

here it might be good to talk to the women's shelter. i'm sure they've handled med issues in the past and have pathways. more changes, not needed right now for ya.

the only thing women's shelters majorly lack for is people coming forward with their needs. their work is too important. you are so strong going through all this, just don't forget you can get help.

[nalgas]

If you can't find some other way to get it, generally "as slowly as you went up" is how you should go back down. With Topamax, that tends to be reducing your daily dose by 50mg once a week, or 25mg at a time if you're being more cautious. If you have enough for your full dose for nearly three weeks, you have enough left to do either of those safely. If 20 pills lasts you 20 days, though, you presumably have the 100mg pills if you're taking 100mg a day; splitting those into anything more than two pieces is probably a royal pain in the ass, so I'm going to guess going to 50 for a bit then 0 would be the easiest way. As far as finding a way to get your Topamax so you don't have to quit it, I know approximately nothing about the options for that, but I know there are people on here who know a lot more about that, so hopefully they'll chime in.

[crazynotstupid]

My doc has had me go from 200 to 100 to 50 to 0. I'm not saying it's necessarilysafe...but i didn't hurt me. Basically what nalgas says is on the money.