Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Light at the end of the tunnel? (Post 2 of 3)

After considering the medications I'm on, I narrowed it down to 2 & did some research on them. The 2 are: Nortyptyline & Topomax. Then I stumbled on this! I've provided the link if you wanted to read it's entirety, but have only printed the part I consider important to me.

Topiramate dosing @ psycheducation.org

Side effects? Confusion and loss of balance have been the limiting factors to using this medication for a lot of my patients. It's been called "The California Drug -- it makes you thin and stupid" (Californians can take the joke; they get to live there, after all). Remember, some have been able to tolerate doses that caused these side effects by going back to a tolerable dose and increasing more slowly. The confusion starts with having trouble remembering names -- first proper names, then names for everyday things, and then even how to do basic things like using a can opener! The balance problem can be severe -- one of my patients fell into her oven and burnt her arm catching herself. Ok, you got the message: be careful! ~ End

Gee, I'm a Californian & I don't get the joke at all! As a matter of fact, I'd like to find the dumb f*ck that wrote that & box his/her ears! I'm talking to my psych. today & seeing if he'll guide me to getting off this, whether or not he will, I'm starting to taper off of it tonight.
I'm SO relieved to have found this out. At least this is a beginning!

ps...I'm opening up comments again.

posted by jane at 3:22 PM