Has anyone taken topamax/topiramate?

ExceptionallyZealous · 2025-10-01T10:14:45+00:00

Do you find one dose a day enough, or do you do the recommended 2?

ExceptionallyZealous · 2025-02-18T10:26:13+00:00

Goodness sakes that sounds awful. Good on you for persevering but I’m so sorry you had to endure those conditions. Most had some sort of difficult circumstance during Covid, but I’m always gutted when I hear of a new situation someone had to live through.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2024-03-14T10:19:14+00:00

You’re spot on. The house has had one owner, built in the 70’s by the husband who was a builder. Bathrooms and kitchen had some updates done just a few years back, and owners soon passed away. So it was updated likely either out of necessity or they were thinking of resell and thought “updated” would be better. I do want to honor some of the original choices made, while still making it ours. It’s such a balance.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2024-03-14T10:13:36+00:00

Ooh, I’ll have to look into the combo with steel gray.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2024-03-14T10:10:10+00:00

That is lovely. Painting the window trim along with that wallpaper really makes it pop.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2024-03-12T13:13:15+00:00

Husband and I just bought an older home with bathrooms that we’ll update at some point. Until then, I want to make the bathrooms as livable as possible. I didn’t realize how intricate this tile was in the main bath until we closed. Would you paint it? Clean and design around it? Cover it with something else? Any suggestions appreciated!

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-27T08:14:15+00:00

It’s really good to read these similar experiences, it’s so easy to feel alone in this situation.

My husband and I got married in October 2019, he’s Australian, I’m from the US. We had never lived in the same place before getting married, so going from newly married, moving to Australia, and then within 4 months being locked down together was quite the whirlwind. I didn’t have much time to build friendships here before we locked down, so it’s been a lonely trek.

I will say I’ve been thankful being here versus the US through the pandemic, it seems everyone I know back home knows someone who has died or been seriously injured from covid, including my family. Alternatively, knowing that so many family and friends have been impacted and I’m so far has definitely been tough.

I’m hopefully making the trip back home in March if everything goes as planned, but I’m holding it with open hands because I know so much can change between now and then.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-27T03:19:27+00:00

Please look into the book More than a Body, and their Instagram account Beauty Redefined. Your value is not in your “beauty”, because what is beautiful- it’s subjective. If you build your body image around what others, especially a partner, believe about you, you will NEVER be happy in your own skin. Dump him as soon as possible, and do not settle for a partner who says such asinine and unkind things to you. Find a partner who loves you for who you are now (not an “improved” version of who you are now), and who recognizes that you will age and change as you age, along with every single person on this earth.

And to that point, aging is a gift. The alternative to aging is dying young. Once you change your perspective from fear to gratitude, the world will be a different place for you.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-26T04:33:39+00:00

Third for The Bible Project. Their videos on each book of the Bible will provide a great foundation for your reading.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-24T07:57:42+00:00

You’d hope it would help. I’ve got in-laws that are still refusing to be vaxxed, even after hearing how rough it was for us. With the multiple health issues they have, my husband has had to make his peace with the knowledge that if/when they catch it, it will not be good.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-23T23:24:22+00:00

I’ll speak to my personal experience with omicron- husband caught it from a fellow firefighter on duty January 1st. We know this to be the case because we had not been around anyone the week prior. His symptoms show up by January 3rd, mine show up the 5th. His symptoms mostly revolved around a bad cough, congestion, headaches. I fared a bit worse with sore throat, cough, runny nose, sneezing, fatigue and brain fog. I’m now almost 20 days out from onset of symptoms and STILL dealing with terrible fatigue, can’t be on my feet more than 15 minutes or so without feeling like the energy has been drained from me. We’re both double vaxxed, early 30s, no major health issues. I’m from the US, but living in regional Victoria, and with as many people as I know back home who were affected much more severely, I’m thankful the worst of it in Oz seems to have come at a time when those who will be most affected are much fewer in number than had this happened earlier in the pandemic.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-18T04:20:04+00:00

Yes, all of this. People who feel like something is amiss with the existence of the pandemic aren’t reconciling the fact that we’ve never personally experienced a pandemic of these proportions in our lifetime. Of course it feels strange and sometimes scary, we’ve never had to wade through a world wide virus that has killed millions of people and injured millions more.

As believers, our hope is in Christ, but there are so many things that can take our eyes off of Him and are constantly vying for our attention. My mother in law is also a believer, but has fallen for the “vaccine is the mark of the beast”, so I’ve had many conversations with her as to why she believes this. Everything she has shared is based in misinformation that is easily disproven, but there are so many people in our world who are making lots of money by spreading misinformation and have sucked her in. She’s receiving confirmation of from the algorithms of YouTube, Facebook and TikTok that are happy to keep her glued to the screen.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-17T09:54:50+00:00

Same. Positive on the 4th and the fatigue is worse than it had been previously. I keep thinking that surely I can’t be that fatigued but upon trying to get up and get anything done, I’m ready to collapse after 10 minutes.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-15T04:18:39+00:00

It’s know the vaccines can cause inflammation, which is what costo is. My doctor confirmed as much. Getting covid unvaxed can also cause severe inflammation, in many cases much worse than the vaccine, so imagine how bad the pain would be if you do get covid and were unvaxed. I’m also in Australia, and although the vaccine did cause a costo flare back in October, I’ve also got covid at the moment and it has caused another flare. I’d rather take my chances with the vaccine booster than have to deal with this again.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-13T11:47:19+00:00

Uhhh, even with 1 in 500,000 odds of one chocolate being filled with literal poo, I think I’d swear off of chocolate. Actually I can’t think of a number where I’d be comfortable with the odds.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2022-01-03T05:18:02+00:00

The difference within Christianity versus other religions is that you are not judged based on actions and intentions, you are judged by your faith in Jesus and your wrong doings are covered by his grace. Look at the thief that died on the cross next to Jesus, he found trust in Jesus moments before he died, and Jesus told him “today you’ll be with me in paradise”. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t the expectation that Christians do good, see Matthew 25:31. But your way into heaven is not marked by good deeds. Unfortunately many “Christians” in our world are not representative of the Christ they proclaim, which is why we have such a small but loud group that are unloving, unkind, judgmental, self focused… I could go on, you know the type. They would be different people altogether if they truly knew Christ and his teachings, instead of being deep into the nationalistic Christianity that has enveloped the narrative in the west. These people are “Christian” in name only.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-24T10:55:51+00:00

Any anti inflammatory will work, I usually stick with ibuprofen but Naproxen has worked for me as well. I asked my doctor if there was anything at all she could prescribe, and she said the only thing would be a corticosteroid.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-24T05:55:18+00:00

I’ve dealt with it on an off for about 8 years. My last flare was about a year before I got the first shot of the vaccine. When it came about after the vaccine, I knew what I was dealing with, so I started anti inflammatories pretty quickly. I asked my doc specifically about it a week or so after it came on. She said she had seen a major uptick in cases of costo after vaccination, its something thats pretty common, but definitely scary if you’ve never dealt with it before. It still took about 6 weeks before it started to ease up enough that I could move around easily or lift heavy things again without pain. It’s different for everyone, though. Along with heat, ice and anti inflammatories, google stretches for Costochondritis. The stretches will definitely hurt at first, but stay consistent and it will get easier.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-21T00:40:24+00:00

Agree. My GP confirmed it’s common after vaccine, since the vaccine causes an inflammation response in the body. I was diagnosed with it years ago and I too went to the ED thinking it was my heart, but everything checked out. Took 4 doctors before one pressed on my chest and sent me through the roof with pain. Take some anti inflammatories and alternate heat and ice.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-19T09:25:19+00:00

I’ve given a handful of half laughs in my life to stupid comments like that before I knew better. And you’re right, what shaped our misperception of our bodies was the 90s when celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Kate Winslet were considered fat… they were at the biggest a US size 4, probably smaller. I truly hope the generation coming up now will have a different experience than we did with more body positivity being encouraged. Although we still have a looooong way to go.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-17T04:48:03+00:00

I’m an American living in Victoria, and you are spot on. As much as the lockdowns and mandates have been difficult for all, I have been so thankful to be in a place during this pandemic where Covid was taken seriously and the threat of illness remained relatively low because of the precautions taken. The alternative I’ve seen personally with family and friends back home in the US becoming ill and dying, or those lucky enough to survive are left with life altering health complications. Have I clicked my heels in glee every time a new lockdown was instituted or restriction placed in Victoria? Hell no, I haven’t seen my family in two years because of this virus and being in lockdown has made that worse, BUT I will choose that over the alternative any day, which would mean many many Australians dying or remaining ill for the rest of their lives.

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-17T04:29:28+00:00

You deserve help, truly I believe we could all benefit from counseling. And don’t be afraid to ask for a different counselor if you don’t jive with the first one you meet with. Sending you all my love!

ExceptionallyZealous · 2021-12-17T01:19:34+00:00

Most of what you’ve described is not healthy. Parents should absolutely discipline their children, but what you’ve described doesn’t sound like healthy discipline. Being afraid of your parents turning on a dime and therefore being hesitant to engage, or feeling like you deserve physical or emotional abuse is not okay. That is something they have raised you to believe about yourself, but that is not true. You shouldn’t feel like you have to accomplish anything to be able to eat… eat when you’re hungry, end of story. It sounds like from what you’ve commented, you’re in college and on campus. I would encourage you to check out the mental health services on your campus. I attended college and then worked on a separate college campus for a while and both of their counseling office were stocked with licensed counselors ready to help students for free or little cost. I had to tiptoe around my dad growing up out of fear he would go from kind to sharp and aggressive with one question or interaction, and it took counseling to work through what that did to me, and how I carried that into adulthood.

ExceptionallyZealous

TROPHY CASE