BipolarSpinster Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 And I’m eating more today than most other days. Utterly. Famished. ? Losing hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydroCat Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 1 hour ago, BipolarSpinster said: And I’m eating more today than most other days. Utterly. Famished. ? Losing hope. I remember being more hungry when I started taking SSRIs. It was mostly temporary. Hang in there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 39 minutes ago, HydroCat said: I remember being more hungry when I started taking SSRIs. It was mostly temporary. Hang in there! Okies gonna try with everything I have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 9 minutes ago, sbdivemaster said: Gotta hang in there. I started gabapentin about 6 weeks back. At first it made me dizzy, but that went away in just a few days. Then came the HUNGER. I was constantly hungry, could not eat enough, all day long. I was not happy about that, thinking I would gain more weight, when I am really starting to work up the oomph to start working out again. That lasted about two weeks. I really didn't gain any weight either. Hang in there. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for side effects to wear off. Haha. It’s not a side effect though. This medication is pretty much a weight loss medication. ? and I’ve eaten like a horse today. I mean it’s given to many many people for the sole purpose just to offset the weight gain from other meds and I’ve eaten upwards of 2500 calories. Thanks for caring enough to reply though. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 I agree with @sbdivemaster. Had the same experience with gabapentin, despite it being a weight neutral drug. Got a pretty substantial appetite increase for about 4 weeks, but it then tapered off and no longer has any effect on my appetite. I gained a whole 3 lbs which in well within the realm of just water retention. I found that most of the time you think you're hungry, you're actually thirsty. For me, when the hunger came, unless it came with lightheadedness, I just drank two cups of water and was fine. Lightheaded = time to eat. So long as you're getting other benefits like mood stabilization or migraine relief, stick with it and see where it goes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 it takes some time to build up in your system, hang in there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 38 minutes ago, looking for answers said: it takes some time to build up in your system, hang in there Okay, Any idea how long? Either way, thanks ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
looking for answers Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 51 minutes ago, BipolarSpinster said: Okay, Any idea how long? Either way, thanks ? i dont exactly @mikl_pls is knowledgeable he may know 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 2 minutes ago, looking for answers said: i dont exactly @mikl_pls is knowledgeable he may know Thanks ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikl_pls Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 Topiramate's half life is 19-25 hours, and it typically takes 5 and a half half-lives to reach steady state in your system, so 19 * 5.5 = 104.5 hours (4 days and 8.5 hours) and 25 * 5.5 = 137.5 (5 days and 17.5 hours). I'd probably say it would be a week or so to reach steady state in your system, but I would say its weight loss effects would probably take a little longer. I personally can't say, though, because I haven't had weight loss as a side effect of Topamax. I'm thinking of asking my neruologist if I can go up to 400 mg next time I see him to see if I can get better control of my seizures and to see if it can help me with weight loss, blood sugar, and cholesterol (as it has been known to help with those, too). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 9 hours ago, mikl_pls said: Topiramate's half life is 19-25 hours, and it typically takes 5 and a half half-lives to reach steady state in your system, so 19 * 5.5 = 104.5 hours (4 days and 8.5 hours) and 25 * 5.5 = 137.5 (5 days and 17.5 hours). I'd probably say it would be a week or so to reach steady state in your system, but I would say its weight loss effects would probably take a little longer. I personally can't say, though, because I haven't had weight loss as a side effect of Topamax. I'm thinking of asking my neruologist if I can go up to 400 mg next time I see him to see if I can get better control of my seizures and to see if it can help me with weight loss, blood sugar, and cholesterol (as it has been known to help with those, too). I really appreciate you helping me out. How long have you been on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 @BipolarSpinster what dose of Topamax are you taking? I would give it some time to work. I didn’t notice an immediate appetite suppression help either. I don’t recall how long it took but it stopped the overeating for the most part anyway. I still have my moments. But I’ve lost 22 lbs at least since starting it and metformin too. I take 200 mg Topamax split and 2,000 mg metformin split. For weight loss from antipsychotics. I hope to continue to lose weight! Also, switching to XR seroquel from the IR helped. Since doing all these changes and exercising maybe 2-3 times a week, I’ve lost 50 lbs nearly over a long period of time though. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 She’s titrating me to 200 over three weeks so still just on fifty a day. Today though... I dunno. I just drank one of those little bottled coffees and started throwing up a little back up over and over while driving home. But it’s also blistering hot out too. Hopefully it’s the med. thanks for replying and giving me hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 6, 2018 Author Share Posted June 6, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: @BipolarSpinster what dose of Topamax are you taking? I would give it some time to work. I didn’t notice an immediate appetite suppression help either. I don’t recall how long it took but it stopped the overeating for the most part anyway. I still have my moments. But I’ve lost 22 lbs at least since starting it and metformin too. I take 200 mg Topamax split and 2,000 mg metformin split. For weight loss from antipsychotics. I hope to continue to lose weight! Also, switching to XR seroquel from the IR helped. Since doing all these changes and exercising maybe 2-3 times a week, I’ve lost 50 lbs nearly over a long period of time though. Good luck! Also, does it affect your sleep or make you depressed at all? These are probably my other meds affecting me, but had to ask. Well, ha. Maybe scratch the depression...my mood is all over the place atm anyway. Edited June 6, 2018 by BipolarSpinster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikl_pls Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 23 hours ago, BipolarSpinster said: I really appreciate you helping me out. How long have you been on it? I've been on it for about six months this time around. I was on it once before for about a year though. I've gotten used to the cognitive side effects and it making me kinda "check out" at times. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 20 hours ago, BipolarSpinster said: She’s titrating me to 200 over three weeks so still just on fifty a day. Today though... I dunno. I just drank one of those little bottled coffees and started throwing up a little back up over and over while driving home. But it’s also blistering hot out too. Hopefully it’s the med. thanks for replying and giving me hope. 19 hours ago, BipolarSpinster said: Also, does it affect your sleep or make you depressed at all? These are probably my other meds affecting me, but had to ask. Well, ha. Maybe scratch the depression...my mood is all over the place atm anyway. I didn’t notice much until 200 mg a day of the Topamax IME. It has never made me throw up. I’m confused though. You want the Topamax to make you throw up? Or am I misreading? I’m sorry you got sick. That’s no fun. Topamax has not affected my sleep or mood as far as I can tell. I have a hefty dose of seroquel to make me sleep so no worries there. And I’m on three antipsychotics and a mood stabilizer and Klonopin. So I don’t get drastic and extremely horrible mood swings that require lengthy hospitalizations anymore. I’ve been hospital free for maybe 2.5 years now! That’s major for me! I hope you notice some help from the Topamax soon. I hope it isn’t messing with your mood. I think most people here have found it to be a pretty weak mood stabilizer med. But ymmv and some love it. It doesn’t have an official indication for mood stabilization or anything. Although it is used off label. So again ymmv. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 4 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: I didn’t notice much until 200 mg a day of the Topamax IME. It has never made me throw up. I’m confused though. You want the Topamax to make you throw up? Or am I misreading? I’m sorry you got sick. That’s no fun. Topamax has not affected my sleep or mood as far as I can tell. I have a hefty dose of seroquel to make me sleep so no worries there. And I’m on three antipsychotics and a mood stabilizer and Klonopin. So I don’t get drastic and extremely horrible mood swings that require lengthy hospitalizations anymore. I’ve been hospital free for maybe 2.5 years now! That’s major for me! I hope you notice some help from the Topamax soon. I hope it isn’t messing with your mood. I think most people here have found it to be a pretty weak mood stabilizer med. But ymmv and some love it. It doesn’t have an official indication for mood stabilization or anything. Although it is used off label. So again ymmv. Yeah, no on the desire to puke. Haha. I was just shocked I got so full that it happened when it never has with that amount. I’m getting full quickly today too. I have been crying more since taking it, that’s what I was concerned about. But now I’m realizing it’s happening like middle of the day-likely when it’s worn off, as it seems I feel really calm again after evening dose again. I’m sure it could be my crazy imagination, but I don’t like saying such shit to myself when others do it so readily for me. ? Matter of fact, last night after Topamax, I forgot about Xanax so that was a small celebration. Here come the tears again. Thanks again for your supportive reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 4 hours ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: I didn’t notice much until 200 mg a day of the Topamax IME. It has never made me throw up. I’m confused though. You want the Topamax to make you throw up? Or am I misreading? I’m sorry you got sick. That’s no fun. Topamax has not affected my sleep or mood as far as I can tell. I have a hefty dose of seroquel to make me sleep so no worries there. And I’m on three antipsychotics and a mood stabilizer and Klonopin. So I don’t get drastic and extremely horrible mood swings that require lengthy hospitalizations anymore. I’ve been hospital free for maybe 2.5 years now! That’s major for me! I hope you notice some help from the Topamax soon. I hope it isn’t messing with your mood. I think most people here have found it to be a pretty weak mood stabilizer med. But ymmv and some love it. It doesn’t have an official indication for mood stabilization or anything. Although it is used off label. So again ymmv. Ps: as far as crying/moods go...I don’t know how many other posts of mine you’ve read, but I’m still trying to stomp out a mixed episode and I’ve had it going on for a good month. It’s been mostly irritability and rage mixed with everything else, now it’s mostly sobbing/severe irritability. That is not the entirety of my sx, just the difference between a month or more ago and now. So yeah. I’m grouchy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Have you been given anything medication-wise for the mixed episode specifically? It seems like tackling that would be higher priority because of the safety risk (and pure hellishness of it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 2 hours ago, dancesintherain said: Have you been given anything medication-wise for the mixed episode specifically? It seems like tackling that would be higher priority because of the safety risk (and pure hellishness of it). Yes...we’ve been moving up on Vraylar for the entire month. The weight coming on from the Vraylar is just as detrimental to me therefore I begged for it. I had gastric bypass over 10 years and only now is it starting to pile back on, and that, can’t, happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 7, 2018 Author Share Posted June 7, 2018 2 hours ago, dancesintherain said: Have you been given anything medication-wise for the mixed episode specifically? It seems like tackling that would be higher priority because of the safety risk (and pure hellishness of it). I see you wrote this two hours ago and I only just saw it by chance while scanning activity randomly, so something’s messed up with my notifications. My episode started over a month ago, the Topamax only started Saturday, so you’re right. It’d be pretty mind blowing if a doc didn’t start medicating til now. And only with Topamax. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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