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boz2004 wrote: »

doomah2014 wrote: »

I find it interesting that ppl don't seem to have a problem with OP taking medication for her depression and ADD, but pass judgement on using medication to help with diet struggles. Honestly, our food problems can be just as life consuming and destructive as other mental health issues. I know I am projecting my own inner struggle before I started taking medication (Topiramate and bupropion for binge eating, if any one is wondering). The decision my Dr and I came to was that I had tried a lot of things for a lot of years and the weight and food were were effecting my life adversely and with my family history, it would most likely get much worse, so trying medication was an option. Also of note, medication is not a quick fix or something you take for just a little while. The right medication can just make it easier for you to follow through with your diet and exercise goals. You'll need to continue to eat right and be active to keep the weight off, and staying on the medication that helps you to do that will probably be necessary.

I would really like an update on how you are doing on this. I have been taking bupropion(to stop smoking) and now the DR. suggested I ad Topiramate.

I'm doing ok. I still have to watch my eating, but the struggles feel more of a normal proportion than titanic. I think the bupropion makes the little things in life easier to deal with, and I think I might have been dealing with depression in addition to my eating problems. The Topiramate is a strong medication. I am only taking 50mg, and my side effects are small enough that they don't cause me real problems. The best way I can describe the Topiramate is that it slows down your mental connections just a little. This takes the edge off cravings (they're still there, but they are manageable), and gives me a little space to think differently about some things I would have automatically taken as hunger signals before. For example, now I might experience pressure in my stomach or throat as gas instead of a cue to eat, eating always took away those feelings because it moved the gas around so I thought it was hunger and would get very distressed over what I thought was an unmanageable and excessive appitite and this could lead to a binge. That said, I think it slows down your other connections just a bit too. At my dosage it is a very slight effect, but I think I search for not often used names a little longer than I used too. I could up my dosage and have more defined benefits, but the side effects scale up as well so I keep it at the smallest amount I can work with. Other things of note: the bupropion helps with my energy levels through the day, the Topiramate might make me sleepier than usual.