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Topamax dosing schedule..?

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Posted 5/19/2011 8:57 AM (GMT 0)
I'm supposed to increase my dose of Topamax by 25mg every 7 days.  I have been on 50mg for 10 days now and the side effects haven't been too unpleasant (knock on wood), so I think I'm ready to increase to 75mg per day.  However, my sleep schedule tends to be a bit erratic, and I'm not going to take 75mg "all at once before bed."  I just don't think taking 75mg all at once is the way to go, as per personal preference.

So if you take Topamax in dual doses, is it really necessary to take it 12 hours apart?

Posted 5/20/2011 4:21 AM (GMT 0)
Anyone?
Posted 5/31/2011 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
I got my rx to start on Topiramate (generic Topomax) today so I can't offer any advice based on personal experience, I can just tell you what my physician and my pharmacist (both of whom I trust as much as I can trust anyone) both told me. As long as I am taking less than 75mg/day I should take it in a single dose, at bedtime. Once I get beyond 75mg/day (fingers crossed that I won't have to) that I should split into two or more daily doses.

The idea behind increasing the dose of a medication is that you increase the level of the medication that is in your central circulation. I haven't had a chance to look at exactly how Topomax functions within the body but I know that with most medications if you split a dose that is to be taken all at once into multiple doses, you either don't reach the desired concentrations or the time at which your body is at the desired concentration is reduced from that which is desirable.

Not sure if that's what you wanted to hear, but good luck whichever way you've decided to go. Hope you are successful in finding some relief.

Lex

Posted 6/7/2011 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
I take topiramate or topamax, whatever you want to call the med. I have always taken it in dual doses, ever since I was bumped up to 50 mg a day.

There are a couple reasons why I like dual doses with this med: It only stays in your system so many hours and I want it in my system constantly (this stuff is my lifeline to a decent life!) when I don't get the meds in or I miss them I get migraines, and It was way easier on my body to adjust to the med when I took them in dual doses and not all at once.

My work and sleep schedule is a little crazy. I take mine 10-14 hours apart, depending on the day.

Posted 6/7/2011 4:28 AM (GMT 0)

I've been taking topomax (the generic equivalent) for 10-15 years now.  I started on 25 mg and worked my way up to 200 mg twice a day.  I simply take one in the morning when I get up and one at night before bed.  My schedule is very erratic, so there are days when I take the meds 10 hrs apart and others when I take it 14 -16 hrs apart.  Changing the times has not seemed to affect the effectiveness at all.

The only side effect I've ever had is what I refer to as "Topomax brain" (and others I know that are on it also use the term) - short term memory loss, especially when you completely forget a word, i.e. it was "right on the tip of your tongue".

Hope this info helps!

Posted 6/7/2011 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
thanks for the responses folks, in fact i'm trying it in dual doses now as well, 50mg before bed, 25mg after I wake up.

for ocean girl:  are you taking topamax for migraines, if so was it chronic daily migraine?  NDPH?

I'm taking it for "head pressure" which might be a migraine, the neuro thinks it is, but can't be sure.

Posted 6/7/2011 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hey! Hows topamax working for you Batman? I know you started it maybe a couple of week after me??? I have been on it for about a month and 1/2 now... on 50 mgs only and its working miracles. I am working 2 jobs, and doing a summer class and Im still smart :) so im quite happy... I had daily migarines...I have had 1 migraine since i have started topamax. Still able to have have a social drink too so its amazing im so happy. Let me know :) !
Posted 6/7/2011 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hey Batman,

Yeah, I am taking topo for migraines.  I was having severe migraines daily, and the topo has worked wonders.  Unfotunately I was in a car accident last June and hit my head and since then the migraines are back again with a vengence.  The topo doesn't seem to be working as well now.  But since in the past it has done such a good job I REFUSE to stop taking it!

The other thing that has helped my migraines, for those times when I still had one even though I was on topo (I was still getting them about 3-4 times a month) was fioricet, (generic is butabital, apap, and caffeine).  My doc told me to take it w/ 3 advil at the onset of a headache.

Since my accident I've also had good results with chirpractic adjustments.

Good luck! 

Posted 6/8/2011 5:47 AM (GMT 0)
Dear kath109,

I don't think it's doing anything for me, except some side effects.  I'm past the 30 day mark, on 75mg, and I don't think it's done anything, despite a few minutes here and there where I wonder "could it be helping?"  But I realize it's probably placebo.  It appears I hadn't done enough research.

On another forum there's another person like me who's had a "pressure-like sensation" for 5 years--I've had mine for 7--and she's diagnosed with NDPH.  She's tried over 50 meds including Topamax and can't find adequate relief.  NDPH is extremely hard to treat, if you can do so at all.  It now looks like I may very well have NDPH...  possibly something Topamax can't even help at the 400mg dose.  And yet there I was last time at the neurologist's office, being told there's a good chance I could take this stuff for 3-6 months, reduce the pressure significantly, and then get off all the meds.  I guess I'm gonna have to ask a lot of questions, next time I see the neuro.

Posted 6/13/2011 12:30 PM (GMT 0)
i had viral meningitis and encephalitis back in march 2009, was in hospital for 3 mths. i collapsed in my local chemist buying headache tablets, my right side went numb, it was as if i had a stroke, i got to hospital, i couldn't speak or move my right side, then after a few hours if come back to life, after a mri. lumper punchers they found out i have viral meningitis, which turned in to a 2nd infection Encephalitis, i was very ill, i went partial blind, untill they put me on acetazolamide tablet to reduce the swelling on my brain, im very lucky i got my eye sight back but i have to wear glasses as i cant read small print or a PC or mobile phone like i used to.
any ways this has been 2 yr since and i have been back to my neurologist as i have suffered with headaches/migraines every day 24/7, my right still goes numb, sometimes my face goes numb, my short term memory has been affect, i keep forgetting important things like passwords, paying bills etc, i go blury eye'd, i have ringing in my ears all time. but my arm is getting worse, numb for 10 mins at a time where i can lift up anything, i cant lift my 3 yr daughter up.
i have been back to hospital, my doc at neurology, put me on topiramate tablets, slowly increased me up from 25mg a day to 100 mg i take one at night, but they dont work, i still have headache from when i wake up till i got to bed. my next appointment is 1st aug 2011.
ive been back to my GP and expressed my concerns with my right arm n leg, headaches etc, as im sick of feeling this way, my hubby is sick of me moaning about it, i dont wont to feel like this any more. i want be well again.
my GP going to write to my neurologist at the hospital to see if i can get to see her before 1st aug for a MRI scan and get a full check done.
Posted 7/29/2012 12:24 PM (GMT 0)
I have a question- my neurologist put me on Topamax a few weeks ago for migrane-like issues and started me at 25 mg every 12 hours. He and my PCP didn't see anything wrong with it, but every forum I visit says a normal starting dose is 25mg per day to ease into the side effects. As it is, I'm having incredible nausea whenever I eat, I wake up a lot at night and I have nearly constant dizziness (probably since I don't eat or sleep). My PCP recommended I stay on it until the sleep gets better, then increase by 1/2 tab each dose, so I'd be at 75 mg already.

It seems like I should have started lower than that, or they should take me off if I'm this sick. Should I be consulting another doctor?
Posted 8/3/2012 9:41 AM (GMT 0)
Alissa, I have been taking Topo for quite a long time now(1 and and half years). I remember at the beginning stages I was so sick to my stomach. Every time it got to the increasing the dose I got so I couldn't eat a thing because the nausea was so bad. It seems like my body would just adjust to the med and then they would just up the dose again. What I did was just simply wait longer before I increased the dose to give my body more time to adjust, like twice the time. My doctor was fine with this approach. After I was adjusted onto this med onto what we were hoping was to be my final dose my migraines returned as badly as they were before, they had to up my dose to be twice as what it was before. I was afraid to even go to my doctor to let her know because I knew I was going to experience another month or more with nausea. With what I learned about very slowly and taking my time upping the dose I was able to have not so much nausea during the adjusting period.
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