Starting Lamictal

[Guest Guest_zsepthenne_*]

After three weeks of some sort of hell I finally get my hands on Lamactil! I've had easier times scoring street drugs damn! ?

My rotten county pdoc is on med leave, so they kick me over to "med clinic" complete with someone passing out punch and coffee? The fill-in dr. tells me he can't switch me from Lithium to lamactil, doesn't give a reason really other than county bureaucracy. So after an failed Er trip, I finally get it from my primary doc. SIGH.

So My doc said to start at 25 mg for two weeks then titrate up. I think I'm going to do 12.5 for a week and then go up, I reaaallllllyyy want this to work. I'm so fat from 1 1/2yr of Lithium that I'm utterly depressed. I know this is all part of the medication-merry-go-round-with-russian-roulette-feature, I'm just tired.

I have dosed my Lith down to 300mg, am wondering if i should just discontinue, or do an every other day thing?

Also, Lamactil at night, or day?

I'll appreciate any info, the doc I saw today is internal medicine so he's flying a little solo too. At least I didn't have to go inpatient! Yea!

Seems to be Lamactil month....

[Cetkat]

That's rough. I'm glad you were finally able to get it.

You can really do either with the Lithium. Or even just take half a pill a day, then stop, if you're worried about discontinuation. Every other day doesn't always work well depending on how long it takes the drug to get out of your system - you just end up going off then back on. I, personally, have always stopped at 900 cold turkey without a problem.. so it shouldn't be too difficult for you at 300.

I've always taken Lamictal durring the day, and started at the 25mg both times.

[Unregistered]

Can't comment on the Li, but lamictal seems pretty tolerant about when and how you take it. Some find it sedating, others activating, and others neutral, so split the dose, take it AM, PM or whatever works for you. The chances of getting The Rash

[wifezilla]

Hubby takes it at night. It makes him a little sleepy. Nothing like Seroquel, but sleepy enough where night seemed like a good idea.

The only side effect he had were some weird muscle pain/aches, but they went away after a couple of weeks.

[zsepthenne]

Thanks for the replies! I started at 12.5 and will continue for a week and then up to 25 & so forth. I'm trying to be extra careful as I want this medicine to work so badly for me! I'm sure ya'll understand.

I'm ready for any side effects within reason, as most go away. I just stopped the lithium at 300mg, with seemingly no noticeable effect. Besides the wonderful fact that I can now sleep for a WHOLE night without having to pee 500 times!

[whynot]

When I started Lamictal, I got very nasty headaches, but they went away after a couple of weeks. It's supposed to help if you keep yourself well-hydrated, but if you're already on Lithium, I'm sure you're taking care of that. I also had severe problems with post-nasal drip the first time I used it, but now I'm on it again, it hasn't been an issue. Some people do have vision problems with it, but that's fairly rare.

I take mine at night. I honestly couldn't tell you if it affects my sleep or not. Some people take it in the morning, because it does tend to give you very vivid dreams. I kind of like the dreams myself.

It sounds like you are following an extremely safe titration schedule--I really hope it works for you. I know Lamictal is the best thing I've ever had for my depression.

[zsepthenne]

Hey I'm going along ok. Have some questions for the experienced. My anxiety level has increased 100%, I don't know if I can attribute this to SE as I have alot going on in my life and I discontinued my Lithium due to weight gain 35lbs. I know people said it can be activating but in what way? And if it is activating does it die down? Strangely someone in another post mentioned mania might be decreased by increasing the dose as I did last night. I chew my nails and the sides till they bleed, like on both hands all ten fingers! I've always done this, but not as bad as this.

And hey the dreams are sooooo vivid that I would attest to the fact that surround sound is coming out of my bedroom and technicolor colors are seeping from under the door! I think I can complete all those failed years of my own dream therapy.

[crazynotstupid]

Well...lamictal can cause anxiety, yes. Ceasing lithium could also do this. With time and dosage changes, acitvating effects and anxiety caused by lamictal could very well ease or stop.

Since it seems like you're on lamictal alone right now, well, who can really say about the anxiety? It may well be you need another mood stabilizer or something. You need to bring this up with your pdoc when he gets back--or your primary doc if it's too bad.

[Cetkat]

With time and dosage changes, acitvating effects and anxiety caused by lamictal could very well ease or stop.

How often is this the case, you think? I get a mixed activation/tiredness on Lamictal.. I took it to be a trait of the med rather than a side effect or dependent on dose. Perhaps I was wrong.. That would be good.

[SashaSue]

Lamictal doesn't usually start being much of a mood stabilizer until you get up to 100-200mg dosages. Until then, it tends to be more activating, often very effective as an AD, but not likely to do much as far as preventing/treating hypo/mania, or mixed states.

[Cetkat]

Lamictal doesn't usually start being much of a mood stabilizer until you get up to 100-200mg dosages. Until then, it tends to be more activating, often very effective as an AD, but not likely to do much as far as preventing/treating hypo/mania, or mixed states.

Yeah, I got the boost.. but also the negative from 25mg through 100mg. I was on 100mg for a week before I stopped it. Now I have other meds that help with that (hopefully) side-effect. I plan to go up to 200mg and see what happens. I really hope that works and I can stay on it.

[zsepthenne]

I know part of the suffering I'm going through is my own fault. I started fooling around with all my meds trying to see if one particular one was the cause of my weight gain, so i axed almost all of them. Now I am riding solely on titrating lamictal 25mg, and seroquel 25mg, the xanax doesn't do a thing for the anxiety. I have to find a new pdoc, I know. I've had the same crummy one since 92, and he didn't think bipolar might be an option until i had created much destruction in 2005\6. He doesn't return until dec, so I am going to be my own pdoc I guess as I'm county.

I'm so backwards here I don't know what to do. My sleeping schedule is from anywhere from 8-10am--5-7pm. I'm trying to move the med to mornings instead.

I have lost weight already so i know the weight culprit was my Lithium, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to pick it up again in a few weeks. At least for awhile. I'm terrified mostly as winter is approaching and that's when I can normally count on being incapacitated from dec to mid-march.

I don't think I'm making much sense. Any suggestions to get me back on track appreciated. Play my pdoc! I'm sure most here could do a better job.