Topiramate

[rpowell01]

Well I have been having a lot of problems; Tachycardia and heart rate been just jumping up to 180 for no reason. This started months ago around January and we all thought it was linked to Thyroid issues. But, I think what happened was I was having Thyroid issues for a long time now, since 2013 and my VA PCP didn't care one bit about the levels. The TSH levels with the VA has been OVER .6 THREE times since 2013 and each time it was check I had some kind of Thyroid attack during that month or weeks following up or right after it was checked. My VA doctor tells me in a secured message that "The medical field doesn't get worried unless the TSH levels reach a 10"!!!!! OMG, WTH is wrong with these VA doctors? The cut has been LOWERED to something like .3 two to three years ago and they are still saying anything over a 10 they are worried. Guess what, now I have freaking Hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's Disease)...Thanks VA Doc for caring and thanks for looking out for me because I know you want me in the 6 feet under club...Thanks Bud..

Then in January of this year my heart would just start racing to up to 180BPM for no apparent reason. They thought it was the Thyroids because some nurse had the same symptoms. I am still having these issues and I think I have linked it to amitriptyline I take at night to help me sleep. I have been waking up since January with a dry mouth and I mean a really dry mouth. Didn't think nothing of it. So we tried the switch to Topiramate but after they attempted to wean me down off of Gabapentin my feet and toes would just be in severe pain so it was agreed for me to quit taking the Topiramate and stay on the Gabapentin. The other day I decided to try to do some work in the yard and after taking a shower BOOM heart rate to 180 again for no reason, well I thought so. The ER doctor said these issues must be linked to the amitriptyline which has a habit of creating dry mouth in people. Whenever a person has a dry mouth they are, you guessed it, DEHYDRATED. So I came home and threw every amitriptyline in the yard. See I was suppose to have surgery for excessive snoring on June 18th. They were going to fix my "uvula" and remove my tonsils. Since I threw out the amitriptyline my snoring has been pretty much down 75%. My wife said I snored very little last night and none the night before. So, a forewarning about that stuff, be careful. So, I just take my .5mg Xanax at night to help me sleep. The amitriptyline effected me so bad I was having weird dreams and I mean some weird dreams of just things in my past history but with people out of sync, they were in the wrong places where they should be, LOL. Anyway I am feeling much better but to make sure nothing is wrong with my heart or arteries I am going to see a private cardiologist next Friday. Also on June 15 I am getting another EMG on my legs but this time from a Private Neurologist to see how bad the nerve damage has spread.

BTW I love it when you receive a letter from the VA on a reconsideration and they say "There is no diagnosis" whenever its written in the medical records at least over 100 times. They have something coming to them during my hearing at my appeal hearing at the RO. I hope its a man so I can see how far his softball go up inside him whenever I present him all this evidence I have. See the RO just looks at the "Problems List". This is a NO-GO. Because many diagnosis' are made but not placed on the problem's list. Remember this on your claims and read your records carefully.

[TALON II FE]

I have had an accelerated heart rate for at least two years. Not even close to yours, but, even in the hospital , post op, they started freaking out a little and put me on a valium drip but my resting heart rate just stayed in the 105-110 range with the valium. I had not considered it may have anything to do with the nortriptyline. I will have to do some investigating. Good luck! I hope you have good results at your cardio appointment. If you have had EMGs before, you already know they suck. One thing I would mention is that they do have some smaller needles for the leads now, but I don't know if all the Docs use them yet. I think they were designed for children, but they work just as well on adults. They are more like a real needle instead of those thicker, dull ones that are like being stabbed with a cheap dart that someone sanded the tip off of

[Oiler1995]

They had me on gabapentin for anxiety,did absolutely nothing,but made me gain weight.

[TALON II FE]

rpowell01,

I am so glad I responded to your post now! As I thought about my issues with my heart racing, I realized that I notice it mostly at night and I assumed this was most likely because I was at rest and just more aware of it. Well, I did a little experiment last night. I take 75-100 mg a day, 75 at night and occasionally 25 mg at lunch. within 45 minutes of taking my dose last night, Boom! Accelerated heart rate! I have been taking it for a few years and I guess I had become complacent and I did not even remember that as one of the side effects. Now, I just need to figure out what to do about it, since I just saw my Neurologist and am not scheduled to go back to him until August.

[TALON II FE]

They are shifting me back to Lyrica, but I have to taper off the Nortriptyline over the next month before tapering onto Lyrica. I hope it is still effective for me. The other problem is that Nortriptyline has antidepressant and relaxing properties to it, so I have a feeling I may need to go back to taking Robaxin or Flexeril soon, as well as finding a non-benzo antidepressant.