Topomax(Anyone with PTSD taking it?)

Topomax(Anyone with PTSD taking it?)
H

Happenstance

Registrant
It has been a few weeks since I was here, and much has happened. Will fill you guys in, and I do have a concern or two...

Doe is my stepson, if you recall, and he was abused by his baseball coach, who is dead. Doe was having problems with drugs--got in trouble at school and with the police. That's the recap; here's the new stuff.

Doe had previously indicated that he was having hallucinations, that he would see the coach/asshole at different times; sometimes at school, sometimes in a mirror, etc. Now, on occasion, I still catch a certain smell or particular taste which reminds me of the perp that got me years and years ago. It would upset the hell out of me and freak me out, but I don't recall ever having thought I had seen him. That would have sent me raving, I think. Doe's psychologist suggested he go to a psychiatrist--medication, praise Morrison(J.).

Well, he saw the psychiatrist yesterday, and she diagnosed him as having post traumatic stress disorder. Why the hell did I never think of that? She said he was not having hallucinations, but rather he was having flashbacks. Bingo! So, now she has perscribed him topomax, which he starts tonight. Don't know why I never thought of post-traumatic stress disorder--that makes so much freaking sense now. I think it even hit a chord through me(I have decided to live extraneously through my stepchild's therapy). Do we all suffer from post-trauma? Is that a correct clinical diagnosis for what ails us?

On a lighter(and brighter) note, Doe has made the high school baseball team. His grades will keep him from playing, but he will be a bullpen catcher for junior varsity, then move up to varsity and play next year. He is excited to just be on the team. Little league ball just started, too, and he wants to help coach his little brother's team. It will be so...I don't know. Reviving? to see my two boys playing ball. Doe is 15, and my son is 9. His little brother looks up to him a lot, and I know they are both excited about the start of a new season, and a new year.

So, my concern/question concerning the post tramatic stress disorder and the meds, which the doc said are "mood leveling drugs". The drug is called "topamax" or "topomax", not sure of the spelling. Anyone out there familiar with that one? Thanks in advance for listening.
 
Happenstance,

First of all, that is such good news that Doe is on the baseball team, even if he cannot play just yet. This will motivate him a lot and will inspire him to do better in his schoolwork. And coaching for his little brother's team? How cool is that!!?? :) And this is not even to mention how this will help you and your view of things. The whole development is really great.

On the hallucinations, with them being so visual and immediate it seems yes, they are flashbacks. Did the T talk to Doe about what flashbacks are and are NOT? He will need a lot of advice and support on this. For example, how to cope with a flashback, how to recognize that one is coming, how to avoid being triggered, and so on. Most of all, he needs to know that it isn't "girly" or weak if he is frightened or cries, and that he should not feel that his reaction should be to "tough it out" alone.

I have PTSD and I know that many survivors suffer from this, but so far as I know it isn't universal. My new T in Oxford surprised me in December and told me that she doesn't worry so much about classifying things like despression and PTSD, since they can vary so much from one person to the next. She prefers to think in terms of issues and problems specific to each of her patients. I kind of like this shift to a "me"-oriented perspective, but it is so new to me that I rreally can't say much more about it yet.

Much love,
Larry
 
Thanks for the input, Larry. After my wife told me the phsychiatrist said it was post traumatic stress disorder, I felt like kicking myself in the eye. 'No shit!' I kept yelling(internally), stupified that such an obvious answer had been right there the whole time. It's like you know the answer to a Jeopardy question and you think you have the answer and all of a sudden, the fat old lady from Sacramento says something else and she's right and you know she is but...how could you be so blind?

Oh, well.

Has anyone out there ever been perscribed topomax? Any behavioral changes? I hope it is just a mood changer, not a personality changer. Doe is a great kid and I'd hate to see him doped and slow.
 
Happenstance,

You aren't blind. You are a good man worried about his son. We so often nail things in others that we would never see in ourselves or those close to us.

Much love,
Larry
 
Is there anyway to re-name this topic? No one at all has responded to my question concerning the drug, and I am wondering if I put this in the right place. Help, anyone?

(Not to sound ungracious, Larry--you know how much I appreciate your comments!)
 
Well I don't have any experience with Topomax but I did want to say that I think its great that Doe is starting to head in the right direction. Its great to hear that Doe's childhood has not been fully taken away by this man.
 
A quick Google search on Topamax throws it up as something used to treat everything from binge eating to kleptomania, but I'm no doctor.

I did read the other day about research into the effects of Beta Blockers with PTSD patients, and it looked interesting, again a Goggle search for PTSD / Beta Blockers will show results.
I believe that Harvard did the research.

And this site has abpout the best information anywhere -

https://www.ncptsd.va.gov/

Dave
 
Happenstance, I have PTSD and have been on Topamax for about four years now. I don't know what to tell you about it. One of my t's calls it dopamax and says it can make you sleepy, etc., but I never had that problem that I know of. My psychiatrist has mentioned that it will help cravings and some doctors use it for eating disorders I believe. I think originally mine was part of my treatment for bi-polar disorder and was, indeed, used as a mood leveler. But they gave me so many drugs all at once, I'm unable to tell you exactly what it did for me. It was just part of the "stew". I really do trust my psychiatrist with my meds and know he knows his stuff. I'd be interested in knowing anything you find out about it. Thanks, Bobby
 
Thanks for the responses, JTT, Dave, and Bobby. Interesting little side note, here. Saw an add in the Sunday paper(the PARADE section) advertising Topamax as a remedy for migraines.

Wonder drug? Lord, I hope so!
 
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