Topamax in the news

[Its a miracle]

In an article published this morning on MSN.com entitled "Beyond 12 Steps" Frank Vocci, Ph.D., director of the Division of Pharmacotherapy for the National Institute on Drug Abuse is quoted as saying "Two other medications that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for other conditions, Topamax and Zotran, have also been found to help alcoholics quit. There's sufficient evidence for physicians to feel comfortable prescribing them,"

From following the threads on this site - I don't know if that is fully the case. Still seems to be a lot of resistance by the medical community to prescribe Topamax for off label treatment of alcohol abuse. I get mine offshore and just skip the hassle with the medical and insurance industry but it's a shame that a person has to do that. Maybe continued national exposure on sites like MSN.com may help turn the tide and get FDA approval for the use of Topamax for treatment. I suspect some of it has to do with the fact that its an older drug and in generic status and not a big money making block buster for anyone - just something to help people stop drinking - no money to be made off that.

[beatle]

never heard of Zotran

[Cinders]

It's a Miracle,

I went to my GP last week to ask for a long term script for Antabuse. She explained to me that since she is not "trained in the treatment for alcoholism," if she prescribes Antabuse for me and there is some serious side effect, she is open to malpractice AND more importantly to losing her license due to censure from the AMA.

She is a wonderful doctor. I cannot tell you how kind and caring she is. I explained that getting to a psych once a month is extremely difficult due to my travel and his office hours not being compatible with my travel.

My psychiatrist is also a very nice and caring person.

She gave me a short term script for Antabuse (putting herself at risk!!) and I got a call this week from both of them. Unsolicited, if you can believe this, where she and he are going to work in tandem.

This way I can keep up with the Antabuse (and since I am still suffering anxiety attacks, my psych wants me to try half strength Lexapro) and she faxed in my long term scripts to my online pharmacy.

This explains why doctors are so reluctant to prescribe off label use for meds.

I am just amazed at how wonderful my GP AND my psychiatrist are that they both went out of their way to insure I was taken care of.

Cindi

ps, never heard of Zotran, either and Google was not a lot of help.

Can you post a link to the article?

Thanks!!

[Its a miracle]

The article had a typo - the MD was bundling Tomamax in with Zofran (Ondansetron) a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist used mainly as an antiemetic to treat nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy but used off label for alchohol treatment.

I am hoping to see more of these types of articles and references to Topamax in the mainstream media – and I am lately (or maybe I just notice them now). Topamax is saving my marriage and probably adding years to my life and I had to stumble across the MWO website on the Internet to find it. My bet is that most doctors in any given situation would prescribe a more expensive and less effective solution due to the fact that this is an “off label” solution. Hopefully the increased exposure of sites like this and articles in MSN.com will give Topamax more credibility in the medical community.

[Its a miracle]

With Ortho-McNeil's patent on Topiramate (Topamax) expiring in September we will begin to see more companies move into the lucrative Topamax market ($2.2 billion for the twelve months ended March 2008). Topamax is just one of many “blockbuster” patents expiring this year.

This is bound to help reduce the cost of the drug across the board. Here is a link to an article about the first company to win tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for generic manufacture under the patent.

PharmaLive: Lupin Receives USFDA Approval for Topiramate Tablets

[Mags]

Luckily my doctor, who is quite open minded, was willing to give me an Rx for my topamax when I told her I was buying it online and taking it anyhow. I told her what it was for and was an off label use and she seemed to have no problem prescribing it for me. But she does make me have kidney tests every so often as she says there is a possible side effect of kidney damage.

The fact is, doctors prescribe drugs for off label uses ALL the time - sometimes without even knowing it because it is so commonly done. Part of the problem is they are also afraid to prescribe anything for alcoholism. They still think the answer is to send you to AA. They really don't have much knowledge at all of how to help an alcoholic and don't know much at all about the modern pharmacology associated with it.

Hopefully articles such as the MSN one and others will help. We need to give our doctors as much information as we can. I sent mine a bunch of articles from reliable sources about topamax.

[Its a miracle]

Mags – I’ve only been on the MWO site since the start of the year but from what I have been reading here you are right. Many doctors seem afraid to prescribe anything for alcoholism. As you say – they still think the answer is to send you to AA. Also - from what I have noticed - they seem to put a lot of people on antidepressants. I have never done the antidepressants thing but I did do non-residential treatment and antabuse in the 80’s. It worked for a few years but failed in the long run as it did nothing to reduce my desire to drink. For all my adult life the desire to drink has been all consuming and thats the problem.

I think that you are correct that many doctors don't have much knowledge about the new classes of drugs (like Topamax) that work at the glutamate/GABA level to actually reduce or eliminate the desire for alcohol. As you know being a user – Topamax has to be looked at from both sides of the coin because with the benefits (changed my life by taking away the desire to drink for the most part) comes some strong side effects.

I think that Dirk Hanson has a great blog (URL below) that talks about all types of addictions. He also has a great page and very balanced on Topamax.

Addiction Inbox
Addiction Inbox: Topamax for Alcoholism: A Closer Look

Best of luck and thanks for the feed back.