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mixing topamax and marijuana?

Fri, 05/07/2010 - 12:39

 

 
 
 

Comments

Re: mixing topamax and marijuana?

Submitted by kelly77 on Sun, 2010-06-13 - 11:40
I have epilepsy. I was diagnosed around 7 months ago. I had a large tumor on the left side of my brain. The tumor was benign and fully removed. I was told my recovery would be very long but I was up a going within 2 weeks after the surgery. Now when I say up and going I mean I was able to walk, talk, and watch tv. Since the surgery I have a very high level of emotional stress. I take 1500 mg of Keppra. I smoke pot. I started smoking it again about 4 months after my surgery and since then I smoke everyday. I have never had any side effects with the combination of pot and seizure meds. It actually helps me with the stress I now have from the surgery. I would start out slow and go from there. Hope this helps. :)

Re: mixing topamax and marijuana?

Submitted by amy71 on Fri, 2010-07-02 - 21:38

I was a pot smoker for about 20 years or so while i was taking things like tegretol and lamictal. A year ago my Dr. put me on topamax and my craving for pot went away.  A few months ago, i decided to try smoking anyway. I didn't seem to feel right at all when I got high. I was kinda paranoid.  I had NEVER been that way before.  Felt kind of sick and dizzy, and did end up having a seizure the next day. (mine are petit mal if i have)  Also, congrats on your operation.  I too had a benign brain tumor removed from left side of brain. I was 16.  I'm 38 now.  Everything was fine.  I was out of hospital in 5 days...       Good luck....     :)                                                                                                                

I was a pot smoker for about 20 years or so while i was taking things like tegretol and lamictal. A year ago my Dr. put me on topamax and my craving for pot went away.  A few months ago, i decided to try smoking anyway. I didn't seem to feel right at all when I got high. I was kinda paranoid.  I had NEVER been that way before.  Felt kind of sick and dizzy, and did end up having a seizure the next day. (mine are petit mal if i have)  Also, congrats on your operation.  I too had a benign brain tumor removed from left side of brain. I was 16.  I'm 38 now.  Everything was fine.  I was out of hospital in 5 days...       Good luck....     :)                                                                                                                

Re: mixing topamax and marijuana?

Submitted by spike-wave on Sun, 2010-11-28 - 16:46

I'm on Trileptal and Lamictal (huge doses) and was recently on Vimpat for a while. I found both THC and Vimpat seem to have a potentiating effect on Lamictal (THC immediate, Vimpat delayed). Which makes sense for Vimpat because it's supposed to be an adjunctive medication to Lamictal. (THC isn't marketed that way at all.) There is an annoying side effect which appears to be from Lamictal: partial paralysis of the eye muscles lasting about an hour, forcing you to sit down and wait for an hour until the room stops spinning.

I was convinced that Vimpat was causing this alone, because I could usually at least sense it a little after taking Vimpat (even if I wasn't totally dizzy, a faint weirdly-dizzy feeling took effect 90-120 minutes later, which became easy to recognize). One morning I spaced on the Vimpat and didn't take it until I got to work, but the dizzy feeling became noticeable anyway, after the Lamictal dose. So Lamictal is at least one culprit in the eye-muscle dizziness. It's hard to figure out though because Lamictal and Vimpat have 25 and 13 hour half lives.

Normally THC doesn't seem to cause any problem, but when the dizziness is happening, THC can exacerbate it immensely, to the point where I've had to hold onto furniture to keep from crashing onto the floor. (Vimpat+Lamictal can do this too without the help of THC.) This isn't a big deal usually since THC has a brief half life and titrating the dose of a smoked drug is easy. So you have to lay off it for a few hours.

I'm on Trileptal and Lamictal (huge doses) and was recently on Vimpat for a while. I found both THC and Vimpat seem to have a potentiating effect on Lamictal (THC immediate, Vimpat delayed). Which makes sense for Vimpat because it's supposed to be an adjunctive medication to Lamictal. (THC isn't marketed that way at all.) There is an annoying side effect which appears to be from Lamictal: partial paralysis of the eye muscles lasting about an hour, forcing you to sit down and wait for an hour until the room stops spinning.

I was convinced that Vimpat was causing this alone, because I could usually at least sense it a little after taking Vimpat (even if I wasn't totally dizzy, a faint weirdly-dizzy feeling took effect 90-120 minutes later, which became easy to recognize). One morning I spaced on the Vimpat and didn't take it until I got to work, but the dizzy feeling became noticeable anyway, after the Lamictal dose. So Lamictal is at least one culprit in the eye-muscle dizziness. It's hard to figure out though because Lamictal and Vimpat have 25 and 13 hour half lives.

Normally THC doesn't seem to cause any problem, but when the dizziness is happening, THC can exacerbate it immensely, to the point where I've had to hold onto furniture to keep from crashing onto the floor. (Vimpat+Lamictal can do this too without the help of THC.) This isn't a big deal usually since THC has a brief half life and titrating the dose of a smoked drug is easy. So you have to lay off it for a few hours.

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