Phentermine & Topamax Combination

2

Replies

  • KreepyCaddie
    KreepyCaddie Posts: 2 Member
    this is day 4 for me and i have had no side effects , I have been eating healthy and getting my cardio in .. its crazy how the feeling of of being hungry disappears . Good luck
  • christianteach
    christianteach Posts: 595 Member
    I went for a follow up visit with my doctor today. My blood pressure and pulse were great, about the same as the last time I was there before I started taking the phentermine. It's been 3 weeks and 3 days. According to her scales I was down 15 in that time. She looked at my diary here too. She was pleased with my progress and liked my food choices and the exercise I've been doing. She did tell me to make sure I at least hit 1,000 calories after exercise...for a while I wasn't eating them back. She had originally told me 1200 but its hard to do on exercise days. Since I'm doing well on them, she gave me an Rx for another month.
  • jpalocy77
    jpalocy77 Posts: 114 Member
    I started phentermine 3/4/2013. At first it made me jittery and dry mouthed, but I definitely lost my appetite. I have lost 10 lbs in the month (was dieting a week before I started taking the med) I have been watching my calories. I have been tracking just about everything..stayed away from any junk, and eat between 1000-1200 cals a day. I haven't been doing any vigorous exercise yet, but plan to start the exercise plan as soon as spring break is over. I work in a store, and I am on my feet 8 hours a day, lifting, and walking and doing alot of regular activities.

    I can't say too much bad about the drug, but that it gives me a little bit of a headache and dizziness at the end of the day. I have been able to sleep, and function perfectly on it. I am eating healthier and making much better than choices than I was, but I was doing that even before I started the med, just keeping better track. I think its a good jjmpstart for me, and I've had friends that lost and kept it off after the meds. Good luck!
  • farley109
    farley109 Posts: 3 Member
    This is week 3 on the Phentermine and Topamax Combination. Im down 15lbs. My script was for 1 phentermine a day. 37.5mg...and 2 topamax a day. I found that half of a phentermine was plenty, so I break them in half. And I only take one Topamax. The topamax makes soda taste like Im sucking on a copper penny! Most disgusting thing I've ever tasted! I think its been the best thing for me! Ive always drank diet pop, but even its bad for you! So I havent had a pop now in 3 weeks! I have no appetite and have to make myself eat. Im logging my calories and trying to stay below 1000 calories a day. I wanta drop another 10 to 15 lbs, Im only taking my pills every other day now. I mainly wanted them to give me the motivation to start my diet! To help shrink my stomach!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    This is week 3 on the Phentermine and Topamax Combination. Im down 15lbs. My script was for 1 phentermine a day. 37.5mg...and 2 topamax a day. I found that half of a phentermine was plenty, so I break them in half. And I only take one Topamax. The topamax makes soda taste like Im sucking on a copper penny! Most disgusting thing I've ever tasted! I think its been the best thing for me! Ive always drank diet pop, but even its bad for you! So I havent had a pop now in 3 weeks! I have no appetite and have to make myself eat. Im logging my calories and trying to stay below 1000 calories a day. I wanta drop another 10 to 15 lbs, Im only taking my pills every other day now. I mainly wanted them to give me the motivation to start my diet! To help shrink my stomach!

    .25 mg of topamax and I can't think. I have no appetite whatsoever and would totally forget to eat if I didnt set an alarm. When I do eat, it tastes OK, but the aftertaste is like when you ate hot pizza and kinda burned your mouth, if you know what I mean. Doesnt hurt, but not pleasant either.

    I have short term memory loss and word association issues. Like I fought with my DD about her having internet for school. I was thinking TV!!

    I went to the ER for heart arythmia (sp) due to dehydration so DRINK UP!! (you do not realize how much water you get from the foods you eat!)

    good luck! Stay healthy.:flowerforyou:
  • farley109
    farley109 Posts: 3 Member
    In the beginning when I took two topamax, It made my thoughts so foggy, I drove to town, then couldnt remember why!!! I had a very hard time staying focused! And Im a NURSE! So that was a BIG deal! I only take one a day now and I take it early, so it has time to wear off some before work! My mind is alot clearer now. But it does make things taste bad! Im still only taking them about every other day. Im trying to do it without the pills.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    In the beginning when I took two topamax, It made my thoughts so foggy, I drove to town, then couldnt remember why!!! I had a very hard time staying focused! And Im a NURSE! So that was a BIG deal! I only take one a day now and I take it early, so it has time to wear off some before work! My mind is alot clearer now. But it does make things taste bad! Im still only taking them about every other day. Im trying to do it without the pills.

    Oh that is good. You are aware of what to look for. The taste stuff stinks! But of course on for a weight loss 'starter' it certainly kept me from any Easter goodies.

    I hope it helps you achieve your goals. It is hard when you get down to the last 20.
  • Dustybugger
    Dustybugger Posts: 13
    Topamax is a nightmare. It did make my headaches go away but one if the side effects is word loss-- drug made me a bumbling idiot. I lost a few pounds on it- Maybe like 6-7 lbs, so I weighed like 130, but ever since I've been off it, I've been having the hardest time losing the weight I gained back- which I gained 10 pounds and weighed 140. I think it destroys your metabolism bc I've been eating 1200-1400 calories every day for last 3 weeks while running 3-5 miles 5 days a week and only lost about 3 pounds. Stay away from it, once you go off you gain back more and then some.
  • fancylola
    fancylola Posts: 2 Member
    I have been on Phentermine & Topamax for 2 & 1/2 months. I have gone from 293 the day I began taking them to 244 today. My Dr had me start the Topamax 2 weeks before the Phentermine to see how I tolerated it & to see if I even needed the Phentermine. With the Topamax alone I noticed no side affects what so ever - with the exception of soda tasting funny but at the time I didnt realize that it was the rx ( nor did I experience any weight loss ). However when she added the Phen, all of the side affects I had been warned about with the Topamax came to a head. I was exhausted, I couldnt think. I was scared to drive! This went on for a weekend untill I was able to contact my Dr & ask if I could take my Topamax down from the 50mg that I was taking to cutting it in half & taking only a 25mg. After doing that it took away all negative side affects! After a few weeks I upped my dosage back to the 50 mg without issue. And have been absolutly fine ever since! I have completely changed my diet. I eat mainly raw - probobly 80%. Have drank only water this entire time. The topamax has killed any sweet tooth I had before - so even when something looks really yummy - its much easier to walk away. I think the fact that I have had soo many people tell me how I was going to just "gain the weight back as soon as I went of the meds" has been actually super good for me. It has been the reason I knew I had to change things completely so that when the meds were no longer there to rely on - I could count on myself! Im sure they arent for everyone. And maybe for some the side affects for some are much worse. But I was miserable! I needed help! This has given me that start! That lifeline!... I know at one time there was a question about a diabetic taking these meds... My husband is a diabetic, but he also has blood pressure issues. I know his Dr would not prescribe this for him but I think that it had everything to do with the later. As long as you are keeping your sugar were it should be - and doing it by eating healthy & eating enough ( eating enough is sometimes difficult). I dont know why it would be an issue. But I would only ever recomend doing this thru a Dr. that is familar with you & your condition. This is my first post - hope I did ok & didnt bore yall to death :smile:
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    Very interesting! and WELCOME!! So glad this is working for you. Using MFP, and learning about healthy eating will help you when you come off the meds. I know I have no appetite at all. So being here before I started has helped me to make better choices. Logging my food is KEY to making sure I eat enough each day.

    Good luck to you!
  • psue321
    psue321 Posts: 2
    Hi. I'm new and just looking around. I've been taking phen (37.5 once a day) and following the 17 Day Diet since 3/22. Have lost 19 lbs (my ticker wouldn't let me put that in so had to start with todays weight. If anybody knows a way to change that please let me know). Been thinking about the phen/topamax combo. I'm not doing too bad right now so maybe should save that for when loss slows down more. Side effects sound a little scary. Phen just causes dry mouth and hard to get to sleep, which I can live with. Anyway, just wanted to say hello. Going to go look around the site some more.
  • SouthernStyleMaMa
    SouthernStyleMaMa Posts: 4 Member
    why would anyone want to take this with only 20 lbs to lose?????
  • SouthernStyleMaMa
    SouthernStyleMaMa Posts: 4 Member
    Just started on Wednesday July 24, 2013 Phentermine 37.5 mg/ Topiramate 25/mg. Starting weight was 287. I'm 40 years old and sick and tired of being 'tired'.:sad: I have NO health problems other than I just want to get this weight off.. it takes a lot of effort to move this body around with this 5'3 inch frame. anyhoo.. i'm on it! Fired up! :laugh: I report into myfitnesspal every day and will be posting on here once a month.. lets get this party started..:smile:

    5'4 40yr Female
    Starting weight: 287
    2X tops
    20 pants

    I'm chubby from my nose to my toes but I am encourage by those who wanna be accountable with me. :blushing:

    I have no adverse side affects thus far!

    Lets be friends and do this! Add me! :):flowerforyou:
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    back when i was searching for pills to make me lose weight, i took a phentermine type med, from a diet clinic... i lost about 10 pounds in 4 weeks, however, in that 4 weeks, i also was taken by ambulance about 5 times to the er because i kept having horrible anxiety attacks because my heart felt like it was going to beat clear out of my chest. i actually thought i was having a heart attack, and thought i was dying. i quit that stuff after 4 weeks... never would i recommend it to anyone! decided to do it the good old fashion way, calories in, energy out, and the weight melted off just as fast as with the pills... only difference is im not affecting my heart like the pills were!
  • blc1971
    blc1971 Posts: 170 Member
    The only experience I have regarding Topamax is my cousin who took it for migraines and it did cause her to lose weight but she also lost hair. Her hair thinned drastically and noticeably, and it took a long time for it to come back in.

    I took phentermine and lost over 63 lbs about 14 years ago. It took about 8 months and I was thrilled with the results in spite of the dry mouth, heart palpitations, and headaches. However, when I quit taking the meds (and I slowly weaned off of them) I had not really learned how to eat so I immediately began gaining back the weight. I was working out and running on a daily basis, but in spite of that I gained it all back. Over the years I attempted to go back on the meds to jump-start weight loss and they didn't work as well. I believe the phentermine slowed down my metabolism and since then I have been working to repair that.

    I decided in September, 2012, that I would try to get this weight off using the old-fashioned "eat less-move more" tactic. It has worked well for me, but definitely more slowly than using the drugs. That being said, I know the changes I've made are sustainable. I decided I want to be strong and healthy more than I want to be thin. However, being thinner has been a really nice side-effect! LOL!!

    I don't judge anyone who decides they need weight loss drugs to help them reach their goals. I would caution anyone to make sure you are being monitored by a doctor and that you are making long-term, sustainable changes to your lifestyle. That is the only way you will be able to keep the weight off.

    Good luck on your journey!!
  • MFPRat
    MFPRat Posts: 201 Member
    I tried it for about a week. I called the doctor because I was having tingling in my feet. She told me to stop it right away. So I did.

    Phentermine alone only gave me more energy and clarity. I didn't lose any weight, but I felt great.
  • anna_lisa
    anna_lisa Posts: 486 Member
    bump
  • buffermarie
    buffermarie Posts: 54 Member
    Hi everyone,

    Just wondering if anyone else has been on the combination of Phentermine & Topamax ?
    I went to the DR today. I had lost about 13 lbs, but today it was back up 6 lbs again. I am
    a type 2 diabetic, and every medication he has given me - with the exception of Actos has
    made me sicker than a dog. There is just no medications that help my blood sugars without
    adverse effects. So today he prescribed this combination to help speed up my metabolism
    and hopefully get the weight off quicker which will help my blood sugars. I am extremely
    sensitive to medications so he is starting me on very low doses, but I am very nervous to
    start this program tomorrow. Does anyone have advice or experiences they can share?

    Thanks so much!
    Kim McNamara
    Future Healthy Person.

    I was prescribed Topamax for binge eating disorder. While extremely effective, it TOTALLY messed with my cognitive skills. One day I actually thought that Walgreens had put hits of acid in the pills because I was "trippin" out!!!!! I lost my train of thought frequently, came to work with my shirt on inside-out and backwards.. Just be really careful! That stuff is nasty!
    I've since been given Naltrexone which works the same way without all that crazy side effect stuff.
    Good luck!
  • jdm_taco
    jdm_taco Posts: 999 Member
    I hope you don't like carbonated drinks. All of them tasted flat when I took Topamax for migraines.
  • laylaness
    laylaness Posts: 262 Member
    I hope you don't like carbonated drinks. All of them tasted flat when I took Topamax for migraines.

    This happened to me too, I thought I was going crazy. Well, crazier.

    I was on 100mg/day of Topamax for migraines. I went off of it a couple of months ago after being on it for 4 months. At first, I wasn't hungry, but that side effect went away in a couple of weeks. Everything else, like carbonated drinks tasting flat and mental fogginess, stayed.

    Wasn't worth it.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    The soda side effect has stayed, as has the loss of appetite, but food tastes good so all is well.

    I am only on 25 mg for my migraines and it is working because I also have drastically changed my diet. I think I found my biggest trigger by accident. GLUTEN!

    When I had no hunger, I chose to not eat white. I figured I would eat protein first, then veggies, and if I could get it down some potato or rice. Turned out bread/pasta just didn't fit. So after some research I decided to cut gluten.

    Long story short, I have done a 4 month experiment and it definitely is the gluten. Hoping I can get off the Topamax at some point.

    2 good things : 1 no migraines when I take the meds and no gluten and 2 I have lost 15 more lbs:drinker:

    Oh and who needs soda, tea still tasted good :laugh:
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    The only experience I have regarding Topamax is my cousin who took it for migraines and it did cause her to lose weight but she also lost hair. Her hair thinned drastically and noticeably, and it took a long time for it to come back in.

    I took phentermine and lost over 63 lbs about 14 years ago. It took about 8 months and I was thrilled with the results in spite of the dry mouth, heart palpitations, and headaches. However, when I quit taking the meds (and I slowly weaned off of them) I had not really learned how to eat so I immediately began gaining back the weight. I was working out and running on a daily basis, but in spite of that I gained it all back. Over the years I attempted to go back on the meds to jump-start weight loss and they didn't work as well. I believe the phentermine slowed down my metabolism and since then I have been working to repair that.

    I decided in September, 2012, that I would try to get this weight off using the old-fashioned "eat less-move more" tactic. It has worked well for me, but definitely more slowly than using the drugs. That being said, I know the changes I've made are sustainable. I decided I want to be strong and healthy more than I want to be thin. However, being thinner has been a really nice side-effect! LOL!!

    I don't judge anyone who decides they need weight loss drugs to help them reach their goals. I would caution anyone to make sure you are being monitored by a doctor and that you are making long-term, sustainable changes to your lifestyle. That is the only way you will be able to keep the weight off.

    Good luck on your journey!!

    IMHO that is because people stop eating and don't watch their vitamin and protein intake. I love my hair, and I only went on the Topamax as a last resort after a full month of migraines. NOT a day....... or a few a week.........a MONTH on a migraine day and night. Thank God for MFP because I knew to watch my macros, and I haven't lost hair on my chinny chin chin.......:love:

    I totally agree with the eat less, exercise more tactic for weight loss. Everyone I have met on here who started with pills, stopped in a short time and continued to lose weight because of the great tools and supportive help from us!! :drinker:
  • jpalocy77
    jpalocy77 Posts: 114 Member
    I admit I was taking Phen..and I stopped about 6 weeks ago.. I gained a FEW lbs back, but other than I haven't noticed that much of a difference as far as being more or less hungry,. When I was on it, I ate healthy and exercised... I'm off of it..and I'm still eating healthy and exercising. After about a month of the phentermine, it really didn't work anymore, so its not much difference. They started me on topamax, and I saw no difference except weird tingling in my feet and hands, and the soda.. I didn't care for it at all... I took it for maybe a week, and stopped.. now I am clear of any medicine.. I take a b complex sub lingual vitamin (that I buy, not a shot I go and get which I used to do) and I'm still feeling great...this has been a life change...not a fad diet. (can't take those meds for the rest of my life)
  • skibunny2k
    skibunny2k Posts: 1
    I've been on Phen for three weeks as of tomorrow. So far I have lost 9.2 lbs. I am happy with the speed of my weight loss. Since I am not hungry as much, I am finding it easier to enjoy healthier options instead of high calorie bad foods. I am trying to keep my calories between 1,000 and 1,200. I have a significant amount to lose so the lower the better, but not too low to put myself in starvation mode. I have a check up with my Dr. at the 3 month mark, at which time she is hoping I will have weened myself off it a bit. Depending on how the effectiveness goes, I may do one month on, a week off, a month on and so on until I can get to like the last 20 or so lbs. I know the last 20 are usually the slowest to come off so I'm hoping that I can go off the Phen by that point and really amp up exercise and really tailor my dieting to be as clean as possible.

    Anyone out there have any positive experience with taking Phen and not gaining it back? Can you give some tips on how to cycle off it at the end of weight loss in hopes of not gaining back?
  • jpalocy77
    jpalocy77 Posts: 114 Member
    I haven't taken it in 6 weeks and have been up and down 5lbs. Eat healthy choices and exercise and you will keep it off. It's all about self discipline in the end
  • lmland
    lmland Posts: 2
    I started this combination a week ago, I'm not diabetic though. I've lost 10 lbs so far. Now I can't stand the taste or smell of sweets especially chocolate and so far all carbonated beverages taste horrid. I'm only able to choke down about 800 calories a day, anymore than that and I feel nauseous. My doctor advised me to stick to a low carb menu, lean meat and dairy, vegetables, some fruit. No juices, sweets, breads, or processed foods. That hasn't been a problem because my cravings have absolutely disappeared. The only time I have thought about food this last week is a reminder I had to put on my cell phone to eat and record my calorie intake. I'm hoping this doesn't change. I hope you are able to find something that works for you.
  • michellepeterson5264
    michellepeterson5264 Posts: 1
    I take 300 mg Topamax, 37.5 mg phentermine (it's supposed to be the equivalent of Qsymia) it worked for awhile and along with maintaining weight with help of lap-band I stayed at 160. When I stopped and got sick had to go on steroids and various other meds shot up to 189 within a few months... Going on a week now back on track. How did yours work for you??
  • ambrosij
    ambrosij Posts: 317 Member
    Oddly enough I believe I have found Gluten to be a trigger as well.
  • hixona
    hixona Posts: 7 Member
    I started the combination 2 weeks ago and I am down 12lbs with light exercise after knee surgery. My doc said she wanted me to lose 10 by the time I came back in two months.
  • cindyb327
    cindyb327 Posts: 15 Member
    have you tried everything else? i just worry about these meds. what about more nuts and beans?more protein. more walking. no sugar, no white flour. adding some weights to work outs. i just care.:)

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