Lamictal

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:53 am

I was given this for obsessive thinking. I was being pounded with so many negative thoughts at once just upon awakening. I dreaded going to bed at night because of the way I was going to feel when I woke up. Upon waking, I felt the panic attack before I even had a thought. My doctor reminded me that we do think while we're asleep. I'm not bi-polar. I started with 25mg once a day for 2 weeks. 50mg once a day for the next 2 weeks. I'm now in week 5 at 100mg once a day and that's where I'll stay. It takes 8 weeks to level off. Slight drowziness at intervals, but not enough to fall asleep. That's just about stopped. Dry mouth, which is now constant and is also listed as one of those side effects you're probably going to have to deal with. Other than that I haven't had any. Everything else has been very positive.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 6:09 pm

I love my Lamictal.
It has been a wonder drug for me it has helped me with bi-polar, obsessive thoughts and OCD.
You have to start on a low dose and build up - I am on 150 mgs of Lamictal and I feel great.
No problems - no side effects.
My new Dr. wanted to take me off it for some reason because he thought that I was on too many meds but I fought that and I am still on it. I would never give it up it works too well.
Give it a chance you will see that it is really a wonder drug.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:00 pm

I too love my lamictal. Of all the meds I've had over the years, this is still the best. About a year ago I went off cuz I didn't think it was working. I was weaning off and trying Cymbalta. I can't remember what it all did just know I was getting worse. It was my Psychologist who said he didn't think it was the Cymbalta as much as it was going off the Lamictal. He asked how long did it usually take to take effect. I said maybe a day ( so much better than waiting 6 wks. like many meds). By that eve I was feeling better and the next day back to what I had been. Maybe I needed to go off to realize how it was working or take a break for a while, who knows. I take l00 mg. twice a day. When I get past my time even an hour or sometimes l/2 hr. my body tells me to take it. We need to listen to our bodies about everything. I am noticing more and more how different foods make a difference. For some reason Triscuits really cause problems for me. I'm noticing wheat is as much a problem as sugar. Not all wheat but for some reason Triscuits which I love cause big problems in my feet.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:21 am

Well, I tried to take the Lamictal again at 5mg and immediately my skin turned red and I started tingling and buzzing around my mouth. I wish I could tolerate some kind of an a/d.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:42 am

I'm so sorry turtleshoes. Good luck and let us know. I am probaly still going to need an A/D. Just waiting for the Lamictal to level. I dread that process again

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:19 am

Hi everyone,
I tried Lamictal for 8 months. It almost seemed to make me MORE volatile instead of more stable. The same thing happened with other mood stabilizers I tried. I was prescribed them for similar reasons as some of you mentioned -- depression + anxiety, and as an adjunct to my antidepressant (since it wasn't working). I have a horrible time tolerating many meds.

My therapist told me that many people with anxiety have similar difficulties with medications -- our systems are extra sensitive. I have found that I can only tolerate micro-doses of medications (e.g., 1/8 to 1/4 of the smallest dose available). Even at those small doses, I can find some relief.

Have you tried Abilify? It is the only thing that has helped me along with my SSRI (Lexapro), Klonapin at night for racing thoughts, and Adderall during the day. I only take 1/8 of a 5 mg tablet of the Abilify! When my depression seems to spiral down to a scary place, I increase the Abilify to a 1/2 tablet and within a day or two my depression lifts. I can't stay at 1/2 tablet for long or I will start getting extremely agitated, so I cut it back down again after about a week.

Sounds crazy, but with this non-bipolar condition that acts like bipolar, and being so sensitive to medications, I have to juggle things like that. I work closely with my pdoc on all of this, of course!

Just thought I'd share my experiences ... perhaps Abilify would be worth a try. It is used for bipolar disorder but is not a mood stabilizer. It is called an "atypical anti-psychotic" but don't let that scare you! A lot of doctors have been using it as an adjunct to antidepressants.

Sorry for the long post! I hope it helps a little ...

Take care and hang in there -- you will find the right med to help you, and hopefully we will all be able to reduce our meds with the help of this program!

Maureen.

Since the mood stabilizers didn't work, and the ADs didn't work alone, I have tried many things to help.