Diamox and side effects

[sosochop]

I suffer from severe neck and head pain, have had a cervical spinal fusion to no avail, and have recently been given Diamox to try... in the past, I took Topamax and it worked like nothing I'd ever tried, completely freeing me from the constant pain in my neck and head.  At first, it even made me feel clam and serene in a way I hadn't felt for years, but I eventually (about 3 or 4 days in) began to hear constant voices/mumbling in my head and I began feeling so anxious and scared that I couldn't sleep and had to go off.

I want to be aware of I might experience the same reaction from the Diamox.  As long as I don't feel crazy and am out of pain, I can deal with the tingling and the bad tasting pop.  

If anyone has any thoughts on Diamox (espeically if you have tried both Topamax & Diamox), what to expect and any tips on what I should do while on it (drink more water, etc.), I would be ever so grateful.
Soso

[medchick0523]

hey there! I've been on both,... neither were long lived, but I'll see what I can offer!

Topamax... I see you are a proud fan of it, too! Holy c r a p. I had a total personality change, I was inappropriately blunt, I started sleep-walking (when I actually slept that is), and although we never caught anything on an EEG, my doctor believes I was having simple seizures while I was on it. I went cold turkey off of 300 mg/day. Not the brightest thing I've ever done, but I got off it as fast as I could.

I was on Diamox before I was on the Topamax.. gosh that was almost two years ago. I would most definitely say drink more fluids, I had a very dry mouth while I was on it, (only on it for 3-4 weeks) but the diuretic effect does ease up. Some ladies I know that have been on it for quite a period of time say the metallic taste does go away eventually. I didn't stay on it because I had issues with the tingling-- to the point it hurt to walk. My neurologist wanted me to stay on it ... suggesting I increase my vitamin C and B 12 intake to lessen the tingling... however, being inpatient as I was I didn't want to try taking the vitamins, and discontinued the diamox instead. One last suggestion, I don't know how many times a day you are/going to be taking it, but if I could space my doses out as far as possible (I was on it 3x a day, first thing when I woke up, the last dose no later than 6pm... and the middle dose right in between)-- I felt it worked better, and I wasn't hit with having to go to the bathroom all at once for hours at a time.

Hope it works for you!

Samantha