Hi. After 6 years on olanzapine/zyprexia I've gone from about 100lbs to 300lbs. I am currently on lithium as a mood stabiliser, but I still have real wobbles for my mood. A doctor friend of mine told me I should try topiramate (topamax). She said it helped her lose weight and has imporved her mood. Should it be used with lithium or alone? And also, any advice as to how to persuade my doctor, she is very behind the times. When I asked her about topiramate she didn't even know what it was!
KSx
Hi, Katy. Topiramate (Topamax) is commonly used as a weight-reducer. The down-side is you may feel overly-sedated.
Now to the doctor issue: Any doctor that would tolerate such a huge weight gain probably should not be treating you - not unless there was a very valid clincial reason for keeping you on Zyprexa over the long term, such as nothing else worked.
Moreover, there is no excuse for your doctor to be ignorant of topiramate. The med has been used as a weight-reducer for at least a decade.
You may choose to keep your doc, but you are entitled to be treated by someone who cares about your overall health and who stays current.
Hi Katysara. I have been on topiramate for approx. six years now. I take 300 mg. AM and PM. For me..it's the Miracle Drug. I have had limited or no success with ALL the others. I have been miserable and tried to take my life more times than I could possibly count. Once on topiramate, my moods have stabilized for the most part, I do have my days, but, I can see where I used to be and the topriamate will not allow me to 'go there'. Most of my moods were really, really low. So dark, and I never experience those frightening episodes any more. Nor the several day long highs. It takes time to get the dose right. And you may have to give up things you take for granted like I lost a lot of my sense of smell and taste. I've heard a lot of people taste things different to the point of revulsion, I don't. My mouth is always dry. And yes, I've lost 110 lbs. over two years!!!
I'm not a Doctor, but for me...it worked.
Good luck on your quest
From one who really can say, I know...
B
I have heard good things about topiramate & was going to ask my doctor, as well, since I, too, struggle with my weight due to taking Zyprexa. I just finished a PsychoEducation course for Bipolar at the local university, and they said it is especially helpful in people who have large amounts of weight to lose (as opposed to 10-15 lbs). A friend of mine said it definitely helped him lose a lot of weight and it also curbed his cravings for alcohol. I don't know why this drug isn't used more, except that I've heard it isn't that great as a mood stabilizer & has in fact been removed from that class, recently. Still, it sure has some promise with the other things.
With regards to your doctor, I found it was easier to change doctors (fortunately a friend of mine recommended an excellent pdoc, so I switched) than to try to change the existing one. I've heard some horror stories about doctors who are very pushy with medications & don't take the patient's view into consideration, and unfortunately it is the patients who pay in the long run for the doctors' shortcomings.
Hello--
I have been prescribed topiramate for weight loss (from gain associated with seroquel) and it does work when combined with diet and exercise.I lost 30 pounds over a period of 5 months. I did not go off of the seroquel which has been my saving grace for a horribly medication-resistant case of bipolar. I also take lithium. My doctor told me that topiramate alone is not necessarily helpful for managing bipolar symptoms, but it is helpful for managing weight loss. The only problem is, I did have some adverse cognitive symptoms and fatigue. I am going to school, so that was difficult to deal with. As soon as I went off of it and stopped dieting, my weight came right back. Now I am back on the medication with the hopes that the weight will come off again and I will better manage the side effects. We also had some troubles with the insurance company who did not want to pay for it for a weight managament medication, but my doctor managed to get it authorized. Good luck. It doesn't seem fair that we have to live with trade offs.
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Do you take 300 mg total or 300mg am and 300mg pm??? I take 100mg am and 100mg pm. Feeling like it might not be enough...