9 replies to this topic

[metabrain]

Hi All,

 

I spent 6 months taking Piracetam for it's cognitive and anti depression effects, I have Bipolar 2. I took Piracetam on it's own without any other medication or stimulants. Piracetam started to make me agitated so I quit it cold turkey and decided that I needed to go back on regular medication. I tried a few different SSRIs but didn't like the side effects and then I was tried Topomax, I took Topomax for two days and then something terrible happened. 

 

My vision became full of stars, My speech became slurred, I was drooling and I had almost complete amnesia, I didn't have a slouched faced but I thought stroke. I didn't really know where I was what the date was, who I was and I couldn't remember anything, that was about 5 months ago. I was given blood tests and a standard MRI as the doctor thought I had a stroke as I was unable to answer basic questions, day, month, year, details of my life. My MRI and blood tests came back clear. I spoke to two psychiatrists who ruled out any psychological issues.

 

I have made some improvement, I don't drool any more, I know who I am but my memory is still very bad. I know my memories are still there. I tried taking Piracetam to see would it help but every time I do my memory gets worse. I tried Ginkgo Bilboa and when I closed my eyes it was like I could see the memory but it was hard to pull out. I am trying Quetiapine at the moment and when I go to sleep I can see my suppressed memories and I lucid dream them in amazing detail but when I wake up I forget them. 

 

It's weird I feel like my memories are being suppressed, I feel my brain has been re-molded to prevent memory retrieval, I have no problem with memory encoding just retrieval, Did I take Piracetam too long or was it the Topomax?

 

Has anyone ever had issues with memory from long term Piracetam usage or a bad reaction to Topomax?

 

Is there medications which perform the opposite function to Piracetam or Topomax? Maybe I could try and reverse the process.

[PhaQ]

They call it Dopamax and Stupamax for a reason. It seems you had an extremely sever reaction to it. I know when I was on it briefly it gave me pretty intense brain fog. I wasn't in school at the time and was willing to live with it. I stopped because it gave me palpitations. I'm pretty sure it was due to the acidosis it can cause. It butchered my appetite and made eating almost impossible. This is some powerful shit. I'm no doctor, but I'd bet money that it was the Topamax that messed you up and not the piracetam.

[metabrain]

Is there any way to reverse what it did? I imagine Topomax sensitizes some receptors and I could take something that desensitizes them again?

[Gorthaur]

Taking piracetam without a choline supplement may lead to choline depletion, which includes a lot of the symptoms you're experiencing. The exact mechanism of topamax is unknown. But for memory problems in general, it's a good idea to take a choline supplement like CDP choline or Alpha GPC.

[metabrain]

Yeah I took a choline supplement with Piracetam because I would get a headache otherwise. I have tried choline on its own, B Vitamins and a load of other supplements. Nothing seems to help. This is serious amnesia and not just brain fog.

Edited by metabrain, 22 September 2014 - 11:47 AM.

[Flex]

I´m taking low dose 25-50 mg, although unregulary, topamax for pseudotumor cerebri.

 

The first time I felt like stoned and had an improved sleep, but now I dont notice much from this dosage, apart from slight decreased anxiety

and slight memory impairments.

But after wearing off, everything is normal again.

Edited by Flex, 23 September 2014 - 03:32 PM.

[metabrain]

Yeah everyone reports the memory problems went away but mine never went fully away. I am hoping I will find something that can help me.

[Flex]

Just wanted to contibute a report, whitout any problematic side effdcts.

 

Could it be maybe th piracetam ?

http://selfhacked.co...egative_Reports

http://link.springer...1064-011-0450-1

[metabrain]

It is looking like Topomax was the cause of the problem but I don't know what it actually did to me which is pretty scary. I got an MRI which showed no physical damage so I am thinking it suppressed something.

[Flex]

Afaik the usual MRI shows only big damages (holes in the case of alzheimer & etc.)

but not very small ones or the glial cells do grow over so that the holes arent detecable !?

or something like that ( I forgot the reason)

 

According to a post of someone here on longecity, a (IIRC) functional MRI or a PET would be suitable for that.

Please dont ask me for references, its a pain to find it.

Unless You insist on this.

 

Anyway, little example:

Cocaine stops, due to (very) strong vasoconstriction over a timeframe of more than 45 min, the blood supply in very fine neuron-vessels.

This causes "micro" strokes, so the cells die.

However this is not dectectable via an usual MRI.

 

You could search for this study to get a evidence for my statement.

I really dont want to scare You, I think it would be just better to know this, independently whether You got actually a damage or not.

Edited by Flex, 26 September 2014 - 02:59 PM.