Doses Too High?

[ZoeGurl]

Hi There,

I saw a new pdoc today. Old pdoc moved out of state a while back, and I haven't been to see one for a while. GP has been prescribing my meds, but refuses to handle my meds now, because I have become too unstable and she says she doesn't have the training to handle me when I'm like this.

I really liked the new pdoc, she seemed understanding and accepting. But my question is about what she did with my meds.

She increased my Risperdal to 5mgs a day, (was on 3mgs,) and increased my Lamictal to 300mgs a day, divided into 3 doses. (Have been on just 100mgs for a while now, and she wants me to just jump up to 300 right away.) I heard that 200mgs is the standard dose for Lamictal, and with Risperdal, I know some people are zombified at just 1 or 2mgs. (Though I have been handling 3mgs fine for a while now.)

Are these doses too high, and is this too quickly to up the dosages so much? Is anybody else on these amounts of either one of these meds? I admit that I am very unstable right now, and that was apparent in my apt. with her. So I can see why she did it. Just concerned that the doses might be too high, and she might be moving up my doses too fast. So I wonder what you guys think. Thanks.

[maybetinymaybesad]

i would think that the jump in risperdal would be less worrisome than the jump in lamictal. you will probbaly experience pretty significant side effects with the extra 2 mgs all of a sudden, but there is only a very small chance that something dangerous would happen. with lamictal, the risk of getting the "rash" makes the 200 mg jump a little alarming. keep in mind that the rash is more likely to happen in the first eight weeks of taking lamictal, that making greater jumps once the dose is higher is considered pretty safe (not sure about 200 mg at a time, though) and that many rashes that one gets from lamictal are allergic reactions (that are NOT fatal.)

so basically it is not an ideal situation, but the general thinking is that when someone is unstable, it is best to get him/her stable even if that means some uncomfortable side effects for a little time...then once a semblance of stability is reached, decrease doses carefully. i would check in about the lamictal increase and the rash with the doctor.

[LunaRufina]

If you are really uncomfortable with the swiftness of the increase, you could call your doctor and ask if you could split the lamictal increase. But as far as that goes, my guess would be that it depends on how you did with side effects when you were originally starting it- did you have any negative side effects that made it more difficult for you to increase your dose? If you haven't had problems and have been on it for a while, that could be what she was basing it on.

As far as the risperdal- I don't really see a problem with it as long as you are ok with it. If it turns out to be too much at once, you can go slower.

They do seem sort of large, but not outrageous to me considering you have been on both of them for a while. Like maybetiny said, it is likely because you need to do something pretty quickly to try to address your symptoms.

~navy~

[ehygon]

Personally, I'd make a comprimise. If you're not comfortable, make a titration schedule for yourself, and wait out side effects before the next jump, etc, to ultimately get to where you were told to go.

Maybe it's not the best thing to attempt on ones own, but I'd really hate to lose good meds (which i'd assume they are if you still take them) because of going to fast.