July 18th
2008
8:20 AM
Hello All,
I"m a 50 year old Mother and Grandma who takes Topamax as a Mood Stabilizer for Bipolar Disorder. I took it about 5 years ago and about 6 months after I started taking it I was struck down with debilitating diarrhea, nausea, loss of appetite, extreme weight loss ( 26 pounds in one month ). No one knew what was wrong with me. My psychiatrist actually upped my Topamax dose because I was becoming depressed and having severe mood swings. I was sick for 8 months. I saw a new psychiatrist and he stopped the Topamax because it just was too over medicating at that time and started a different mood stabilizer.
I didn't put 2 and 2 together. I just was happy that the diarrhea and nausea for the most part was gone. I still have nausea frequently but that is from a totally different cause.
In December we discussed that the new mood stabilizer was no longer working so we went back on the Topamax. In April the diarrhea and nausea this time accompanied by vomiting started. I was ready when it started tho even tho I didn't know the cause. I got hooked up with a GI doctor, started probiotics immediately, started eating organic yogurt with as many live active cultures in it as i could find. I would only eat plain boiled rice, boiled macaroni, toast, ripened organic bananas and drink lots of fluid. No gatorade but pedialyte because gatorade has citric acid in it which can be irritating. Pedialyte doesn't. I also drank decaf ice tea with small amounts of sugar.
Now today I read that Topamax can give you diarrhea and if you have a history of diarrhea tell your doctor. Great, just great. Trade my mental health for my physical health but having diarrhea at the most unopertune times does affect my mental health. What am I going to do?
I refuse to take a weight positive mood stabilizer and that is all I'm left with. Like Lithium, Depakote. they will make me as big as a cow. I'd rather have diarrhea to tell you the truth. I don't think I'm gonna tell him.
Missyk10atx
-- By missyk10atx | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
March 25th
2008
5:45 AM
I stopped taking lisinopril for a week now. It was my own decision. I've had it for only three weeks. I thought this was a miracle drug for me coz it really worked for me the very first day I took it and it was really easy on the pocket considering I don't have an insurance. My reading was in the 90+/70+. I was really happy w/ my BP for a while.
Currently, I am trying to observe my body if some of the symptoms I've had (which others have also mentioned here) are just my imagination/due to my paranoia or are really side effects of this drug. I've had mild dry cough especially at night (well I thought it was because of the dry air here in Vegas), nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, dizziness (especially if i stand up from a sitting or lying position which at one point almost made me faint), weakness/fatigue, pain in the shoulder, numbness in the left toes at first then on the day before i last took it, the numbness started creeping up into my left foot and calf. That last symptom really worried me the most coz I thought I was gonna have a stroke or something. When I checked my bp it was way too low 88/64! I thought my monitor was broke or something coz at first it's always making an error. I guess my BP was too abnormal for it.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on calling my doctor to report my symptoms, observations and probably share what I've read on this forum. I was on avapro before my doctor switched me to this one coz after my pregnancy, it doesn't seem to be working on me for a while. I guess I would suggest to him to put me back on avapro and will try to have a better/healthier lifestyle i.e., regular exercise, more fruits and vegetables, less sodium, more fluid intake, good sleeping pattern and better outlook in life for better stress management.
Btw, many thanks to this site and to all who posted their side effects. This somehow gave me some reassurance that I'm not going' crazy about what I've been feeling while taking this drug. Felt like I'm taking a 'killing me softly drug' after all.
-- By chikadora | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me
August 22th
2008
1:48 AM
Diagnosed with MRSA on my right leg 2 months ago, was prescribed Bactrim(2 a day for 7 days) and didn't have any major side-effects. I now have MRSA again and have been prescribed a higher dosage of Bactrim and have some possible side-effects as well. As noted by others, I can not sleep (as is evident by this posting time, if its EST), but I am exhausted! Also, I have occasional shooting pain down my right arm and my fingers on my right hand are numb. This usually occurs while I'm lying down.
Not sure if these are directly related to the Bactrim, but thought I'd post in case anyone else has had something similar. Seems not too much out there regarding the arm pain (as I try to self-diagnose in the middle of the night :) ).
-- By ifeelya | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me