How many days till the topa kicks in?

[elenitak]

:new:Hi folks,
I'm on day two of the topa and am waiting for the CD and supplements to arrive. On day one, I had no desire to drink. Could that be the drug already????
I did feel a little odd yesterday after I took it. A little spacey.

Can people weigh in on this? I've read the book and my MD was ok with titrating up to 300 mg. and then I read about how sick people are getting from this drug and there doesn't seem to be a lot written about it anywhere which is scary.

It's a bit risky playing with your dopamine supply. Although I keep rationalizing that my liver doesn't need to metabolize any more of this ETOH either!

Thanks for any input.
E:new:

[Larisa]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Hi, E,

It's different for everyone. In the MWO book, it sure sounds like the topa had an immediate effect on RJ, but that's not the case with a lot of people on this message board. It didn't affect me in any way until I was up to 200 mg, side effects or anything, and I still don't really have any side effects except occasional foot tingles and sleepiness (that went away). Oh, and I'm sober - there is that, hehe. Some people do have awful side effects, but not everybody, and for a lot of people, they're just mild, or they go away pretty soon.

Good luck!

[DeeBee]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Welcome E!

The first day I took Topa my wine just didn't taste as appealing. I managed to cut down drastically whilst taking the Topa (for 3 months) but I never went over 200mg, I was comfortable with the lower dosage and I also upped my dosage real slow.

I am happy to report that I was sucessfully mod for 3 months and I am now AF for 49 days.

I didn't have any serious side effects - well nothing worse than my normal hung-over state in any case.

I hope it works out for you too :-)

[bestlifeldms]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

elentack,

I started out on 25 mg of topa and felt that I could tell a difference by the second day. My MD had me increase my dosage by 25 mg per week until I was at 250 mg per day. He did not want me to go above 250 mg as long as my cravings/urges were being kept "acceptably" in check. His reasoning was, in the event that you would have a major event that would trigger your urges, you wanted to keep the option to increase the dosages for those periods - without exceeding 300 mg. I experienced some brain fog, early on, with the topa, but that discipated. I had some minor tingling in my hands and feet. Also experienced a metal taste in my mouth from any carbonated beverage. Thank heavens, my drink of choice, other than alcohol, is ice water. LOL! Good luck and glad you are here with us!

[DeeBee]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Here is a link to the research page on MWO, it has a couple of interesting links about Topa

Medication, Hypnos, Kudzu and other Strategies to Quit Drinking

[Kimme]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

:new:I've been following the program and taking the topa and supplements for a month now with no effects at all, good or bad. I'm up to 100mg on the topa and getting somewhat discouraged, although I have been able to cut back some and get a few AF days in here and there. So I have the same question, when is all of this going to kick in? Would like to hear more experiences.
kimme

[Larisa]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Don't give up! Note that in at least one study, the doc said that he believed a person had to be at at least 200 mg to get the benefit of the topa: Topiramate: a potential new medication for treating alcoholism.

(Obviously, some people on here have proved that theory wrong!)

[Kimme]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Larisa,

Thank you for pointing that out to me, I missed that study and thought I read them all. It was very encouraging. :thanks:

Kimme

[Larisa]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

You're so welcome! I just know I drank right up to the first couple of days on 200 mg, and I'm glad I didn't stop there.

[vera-b]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

Hi Elen and Kimme,

I'm sorry I can't contribute to the conversation on Topa - I was on Campral when I started MWO, so stayed with that. Hope it all works for you and you stay here for the support. It certainly helps to have others who have been in your shoes to correspond with - keeps us going!

Vera-b

[WaitingToExhale]

How many days till the topa kicks in?

elen, I'm kind of in your same shoes, wondering when the kick in happens. I did 7 days at 25mg and then 7 days of 50mg and tonight will be my 8th.

I think I am going to move up a bit slower than the book recommends since I am doing this without a DR. Perhaps 10 days before I go to 75mg.

I've cut WAY back, but I think a large part of that is the supps, CDs and the mindset. I'm sure part of it must have to do with the Topa.

I'm still waiting for the red wine to taste bad since I intentionally switched from white to red because Dee Dee said it would taste bad! LOL Not yet! Then again, I'm making spritzers now and adding lemon juice.

Keep us posted. We CAN and will do this!

** also wavingto Kimmie - let us know how it's going! I want to hear how everyone is doing on this!