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DONT QUIT COLD TURKEY

Posted , 5 users are following.

emma24388
emma24388

Hello I have suffered migraines since I was 9 years old . I have been on topamax about 5 different occasions and the latest stint I had I was on it for about 4 months I worked my way up to 150mg per day. Previously I had the usual side affects.  Tingling toes at night. Memory loss.  Thinning hair. Weight loss.  But that was about it. Migraines were less severe it was great.

THE MOST RECENT EXPERIENCE WAS AWFUL............sad it makes me well up with tears because it was so bad. I'm not sure but I have had a pretty stressful sad couple of month's and maybe this made the side effects worse but about a month into taking 150mg I started feeling depressed. Sad.  Tired. Anxious I couldn't stop thinking that I was going to die all of a sudden.  Then in one day I had 5 debilitating panic attacks which at the time I didn't know wat was happening to me I called them death dreams.  I put it down to my life factors and continued taking the pills. Then another month passed I had another really bad attack and I actually told my husband this was it I was dying.  The attack was so bad I was unresponsive In a semi unconscious state. He was yelling at me telling me to breathe properly.  He thought I was being silly so he walked off when I came too I fell to the floor in a crying terrified mess. Thats the day I decided to get off the topamax. COLD TURKEY bad move. .......... Don't ask me why I didn't taper off I was in such a panic and thougt I was fine the last time wen it only took a week or so to taper. It had been a couple of years so I couldn't actually remember. I just thought the quicker I stopped the better it would be. I continued having anxiety felt like I was detached from my body.  I felt different depressed got really agitated easily. Felt like I wanted to cry all the time.  I tried to shrug it off but the constant anxiety about dying made me go to the doc. She instantly put me on fluoxitine / prozac. Of course at the time I didn't realize to tell her I had quit my topamax cold turkey. Because I was still unaware what the withdrawal symptoms were. So for the past week I have been on forums. typing my symptoms into the symptom checker and then it was like a light bulb went on when I typed in topamax withdrawals I pretty much had every symptom that was listed.  Relief! !! Kind of. Now I have the awful exaggerated symptoms from starting prozac. Which has made me feel worse. My only hope is to start to feel better smile so I have called the nurse today to pass the message on to my doc  about stopping cold turkey. ..

2 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • happyjoy
    happyjoy emma24388

    Posted

    Hang in there. I am glad you are letting your doc know everything. That way they can make sure your care is correct. do your best not to eat extra now you are off the topomax. The prozac should make you feel like not eating too much as you get used to it, so that should be okay. Avoid all migraine triggers. I mean ALL. You are going to be extra vulnerable to headaches and to extreme moods and reactons, so tell all tose near you to be gentle and kind and to remind you it is your brain chemicals changing, and you will feel better in a few weeks. 
    • emma24388
      emma24388 happyjoy

      Posted

      Thanks for the reply.  This site has helped me immensely.  I cant eat very much at all being on the prozac.  Makes me feel full up when I have hardly eaten a thing. Eating makes my anxiety worse. ...... so strange.  Anyway I hope the doc wants to see me straight away when she receives my message about going cold turkey.  Because I may not even need to be on prozac at all......... ive never been depressed before I started taking the topamax a little anxious about certain things but nothing that I couldn't just shrug off. Happy go lucky kinda gal. As for the migraines ive had 3 since stopping the topamax. But they are nothing compared to the withdrawals sad I do feel like an absolute idiot for not researching how to come off it properly. 
    • emma24388
      emma24388

      Posted

      Oh and I haven't had any more awful out of body panic attacks since stopping the topamax ( touch wood) 
    • happyjoy
      happyjoy emma24388

      Posted

      If the doc says to come off the prozac, do it slowly. Your body does not need any more sudden changes. i hope you find another migraine solution. Blublocker sunglasses in the evenings help me a lot. 
    • YorkshireLass1
      YorkshireLass1 happyjoy

      Posted

      Hi Happyjoy, just reading your comment about blublocker glasses, please tell me more.  I have had a similar experience to Emma, regarding topiramax and had to do cold turkey so the migraines have come back.  I've had 40 years of this and I still can't get to the bottom of them.  So anything is worth a try.smile
    • happyjoy
      happyjoy

      Posted

       About blublocker glasses - all you can do is give them a try. They block 100% of the UV light but also 100% of the blue light. Blocking blue light reduces squinting, which can help with eye related headaches. Also blocking blue light allows the brain's natural sleep triggers to act. I don't know much about it, but I have found it helpful.
    • YorkshireLass1
      YorkshireLass1 happyjoy

      Posted

      Thanks for that, I do have very sensitive eyes, I also suffer from Lupus, which causes eye sensitivity, we hardly have any ligts on in the house and if they are they are low and I cannot tolerate fluorescents.  It's certainly worth a try, thanks smile
  • Trudy_McA
    Trudy_McA emma24388

    Posted

    Hi Emma

     I had an awful experience with Topomax too. It made me jittery, anxious and think about death all the time and any time I tried to reduce it, the anxiety about death increased. It took me months to finally come off it. It is a nasty drug. 

    • emma24388
      emma24388 Trudy_McA

      Posted

      Hi trudy. Thanks for your reply.  I really wish I did taper off. And I wish I was told by my doc the exact reason why I had to. I was totally unaware of the bad withdrawals that you go through. I only thought opiate and heroin addicts had bad withdrawals. ......not people that are on migraine meds!!!! And the nly thing I read on the net was you could have seizures but then I thought "well im not taking it for epilepsy anyway" 

      Going to see my doc today 

      Will keep you posted

  • Kelsie717
    Kelsie717 emma24388

    Posted

    What were your symptoms?

    I read several withdrawal symptoms from people who weaned themselves from the Trokendi, but I recently went 7 days without taking it then go suddenly really sick feeling like I was going to pass out and several other symptoms occurred , the hospital never could find anything "wrong" all test were negative for having any type of sickness and they still can't figure out what caused it, I let them know I didn't take my meds for a week because I simply forgot too and they didn't budge on thinking that could be it, now I'm a week out of being sick and no solution or reason why, I'm thinking this could be the cause. 

    Thanks 

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