Pseudotumor Cerebri Support Group

Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is a neurological disorder that is characterized by increased intracranial pressure, in the absence of a tumor or other diseases affecting the brain or its lining. Diagnosis requires brain scans and lumbar puncture. Characteristic symptoms are headache, transient visual obscurations or transient visual loss in one or both eyes usually lasting...

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Weight loss pill and IIH

armywife96
armywife96
I can't remember if I have posted about this but this really has me curious. I know some people find the weight loss drug Adipex very debatable. As a military spouse our military doctors won't prescribe it but my neuro will. I tried it last fall for a month and lost a few pounds but not much. He gave me another script for another month but because my hyperthyroidism was messing up so much I decided not to finish taking it. I remembered how great I felt on it, all the energy, no headaches, clear thinking, etc. So I ran across the bottle last week and had about a week left of it, so I took it. Within 3 hours of taking it every last one of my IIH symptoms disappeared. I felt like I did a few years ago. I felt AWESOME! As soon as I ran out of that week of meds I went right back to the way I felt before. Not bad, but not great, always a low lying headache and exhaustion, etc.
I don't get why it makes my symptoms disappear, it is a stimulant but it should raise my bp which should make my IIH worse.
I am just curious if anyone else has ever used this before and if you had the same relief from symptoms.
loveyalots143
loveyalots143
I haven't tried it before, but when the neuro and I were talking about different methods of weight loss he had specifically said that he did Not want me to use any sort of diet pill and did not send me to someone who would prescribe any. His reasoning was something with how I react to meds in general so I'm not sure if that is a "normal" IIH thing (if there is such a thing) or just a personal thing but wanted to mention it just in case.

Kristena
notsurewhat2puthere
notsurewhat2puthere
I was going to the bariatric dr was losing weight. For some reason she thought that would help. I took a day or 2 of pills and ended up with the worst headache of my life. I don't get much head pain with iih. She said to stop the med and it wasn't worth it even if that wasn't the cause. She hasn't had anyone else have an issue in years and years...
Sophiasmom06
Sophiasmom06
oh yeah with IIH and hyperthyroid I would not take a stimulant. it may be it was just the stimulant effect that boosted your mood. I get a similar thing with caffeine, which most talk about it increasing CSF formation. however there is some evidence that it reduces brain edema and I have seen this in myself, that I will have more brain fog if I do not use caffeine. the problem in IIH is poor jugular venous drainage and brain edema, so this at least addresses one of the issues. for some of us, caffeine really helps. since CSF formation is not the problem in IIH, I think increasing or decreasing it is a round about way to get at a solution, hence the Diamox dilemma.
I suppose if you really feel better on the Adipex, it's worth continuing especially if it can help you lose weight. but just be VERY cautious and watch your blood pressure. maybe if you take a BP med with it you can limit its effect on BP and cerebral blood flow/ICP.