Posted by headachequeen on March 5, 2004, at 18:08:33
In reply to Re: topomax and voice changes, posted by cyndie on March 5, 2004, at 10:29:54
> >
> > > Great...more to worry about...but thanks for answering! I too am slurring, and am constantly being asked to speak up...I am accusing the world of needing hearing aids! and it's just me! does this ever level off? I am at 50 mg am and 50 mg pm taking it for BPII and hopefully a little weight loss in the bargain!
> > >
> > I seem to remember reading here on several occasions that these side-effects wear off as the dosages increase.
> > I am taking 600 mg a day at the present time and have no problem with slurring of speech or the cognitive skills at this point...
> > however I do notice a problem with hearing when there is a need to filter out background noise...
> > now, do I blame this on Topomax, Tegretol, or the loss of hearing that came with the mild stroke I had about ten years ago..
> > the only residual effects of the stroke, brought on by stress and overwork they tell me, were a decrease in hearing and fatigue... used to be able to manage an eighteen-hour day and suddenly found myself tired after an eight-hour day and needing a few catnaps to get through those eight hours...
> > how life changes when we don't plan for it...
> > sometimes I don't know what to blame for which problem...
> > Topomax would be such an easy rug under which to sweep it all <g>
> > kat
> >
>
> Hi Kat, again, thanks for answering...very sorry about your stroke...nothing seems slight when it is our health, correct? could I please impose and ask your age when that happened???? and may I say wow! did I read this right: 600 mgs a day?!?!? I can't imagine it. BTW, I also take 20 mg of Lexapro. I believe it has contributed to weight gain, so it sort of fights the possible weight loss possibility of Tmax...and so it goes...
>the dosage had been decreased from 800 mg a day to 400 but had to be upped again unless I wanted to take more Tegretol and that was not a consideration as far as I was concerned!!!!!
As for the stroke, the first, I have had two apparently, occurred when I was 42 --- I was working full time in radio (doing news and open-line talk show) and teaching French and music as well as creative writing at a private school, then in my spare time teaching French and English to students in ninth and tenth grades who could not be in the regular classroom because of emotional problems. There were not many of them thank heaven, only a couple, but the whole thing was simply too much for my system apparently and it let me know by creating this minor stroke... it was interesting in some ways, in others not at all interesting... a few days in hospital and a long recovery time, although I was back at work in a couple of weeks but tired so easily...
and took a long time to recover as I said earlier... as in MONTHS and MONTHS
I still have minimal feeling in the right hand and foot... can stick sharp pin in my right hand and barely feel it in comparison with the left... can stick the same sharp pin in the left side of my face and feel it very clearly and barely feel it in the right side of my face...
another residual effect...
it is never dull being me...
and now here I am with cabin fever... anxious to get out and clamber in the hills and the rocks to take photos and to do all the things I love to do... the surgeon has finally set a date to do the next procedure on my eye... 31 March... I guess that qualifies as before Christmas... I forgot to ask WHICH Christmas...
the stitches come out in early April and then in short order I can use my master eye to use the cameras again... I think... oh joy oh laughter unforseen ...
in this area cabin fever usually refers to winter, but I have a double dose LOL
kat
poster:headachequeen
thread:50878
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040304/msgs/320808.html