Lithium & Lamictal

[pinkiemarie]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but at this point I don't have the physical energy nor the mental capacity to perform a meaningful search to find the topics that have previously discussed the combination of lithium and lamictal. And since my stress level doesn't look to be leveling off and my calorie intake continues to be non-existent, I doubt if I'll be able to find this info on my own for a while. Would someone be so kind?

[AnneMarie]

More info would help those who would respond.

What doses? Taken how long? What is the illness (seems obvious, but ya never know)?

What other meds? What other related illnesses if pertinent?

What specifically do you want to know?

Lamictal and Lithium are a good combination for some. It is a good antidepressant cocktail, especially if you can't take antidepressants. Lithium takes a few weeks to work *once you are at a therapeutic dose.* Lamictal takes forever to titrate. So, if you just started these for depression, you are a ways away from relief, and might want to ask you doc for something to hold you over until your at effective doses of these meds.

[Persephone]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anybody know if this combination works for the non-BP? Lamictal is giving me a little bit of AD effect, but it's not enough. Would adding lithium (I don't want to give up the Lamictal because it's the only thing that has helped me at all) be overkill if you don't have mania? Or has anyone with MDD had success with this combination?

[tryp]

Try this and this from CrazyMeds Talk

And here, there is this

There are loads of other topics on this, but I can't link the search results for some reason. Click "Advanced search" in the top right, then type "lithium lamictal" without the quotes in the search box. Then check "search titles only" and change the dropdown below that from "last update" or whatever to "relevance"

And shazam

[AnneMarie]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anybody know if this combination works for the non-BP? Lamictal is giving me a little bit of AD effect, but it's not enough. Would adding lithium (I don't want to give up the Lamictal because it's the only thing that has helped me at all) be overkill if you don't have mania? Or has anyone with MDD had success with this combination?

Lithium is prescribed to people with unipolar depression. So, no, it wouldn't be overkill.

Fwiw, my pdoc thinks it's a good combo for BPII.

[crazynotstupid]

I'm worried about the caloric intake. Certainly nothing about lithium (except maybe me...) leads one to think about less eating and rarely does lamictal lead to less eating.

Yes, please, more history...

[pinkiemarie]

Thanks guys. I'm BP of some sort, II I guess (mostly depression and mixed episodes with really nasty mania thrown with antidepressants). I'm also extremely sensitive to SSRI withdrawal so I want off celexa, which is why I'm interested in the lithium & lamictal combo. I'm currently taking 1200 mg of lithium with minor side effects and I really don't want to increase my dose for fear of getting the really bad side effects.

As for the caloric intake, something horrible happened last weekend and I've been so stressed and anxious that my throat closed up and I haven't been able to eat anything more than yogurt, milk and orange juice for a week. That should go away with time.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to check out the threads that tryp linked. Merci.

Oh and Persephone, don't worry about hijacking. I was really just looking for links to threads where it's already been discussed. I've heard of people with unipolar depression taking 1800 mg of lithium before so it certainly wouldn't be unheard of.

[AnneMarie]

Hi again.

As is probably stated in the other posts, some will get an antidepressant effect from Lamictal on the first 25mg. Others won't for some six to 10 weeks after titrating up to 100-200mg. In the meantime, Omega 3s can help. Look for fish oil with a high concentration of the EPA ingredient (300mg - 600mg so you don't have too take many pills). About 1000mg can be an effective dose. Sometimes more helps more. Also, if that Lamictal is slow to help, and maybe especially since you are trying to quit an AD, you might want to talk to your pdoc about an atypical antipsychotic to hold you over. Abilify and Geodon were formulated to address depression in addition to the rest that AAPs address. (You do not have to be psychotic to benefit from them. Many w/bipolar are not.) Seroquel helps quite a few. Even Risperdal and Zyprexa can, too. Depending how serotonin senstive you are, the first two may be to AD-like. I can't take them because they effect me in all the bad ways ADs do, but that's not true for most. Otherwise, the Lamictal-Lithium combo is one of the best anti-D cocktails there is supposed to be.

[pinkiemarie]

Hi again.

As is probably stated in the other posts, some will get an antidepressant effect from Lamictal on the first 25mg. Others won't for some six to 10 weeks after titrating up to 100-200mg. In the meantime, Omega 3s can help. Look for fish oil with a high concentration of the EPA ingredient (300mg - 600mg so you don't have too take many pills). About 1000mg can be an effective dose. Sometimes more helps more. Also, if that Lamictal is slow to help, and maybe especially since you are trying to quit an AD, you might want to talk to your pdoc about an atypical antipsychotic to hold you over. Abilify and Geodon were formulated to address depression in addition to the rest that AAPs address. (You do not have to be psychotic to benefit from them. Many w/bipolar are not.) Seroquel helps quite a few. Even Risperdal and Zyprexa can, too. Depending how serotonin senstive you are, the first two may be to AD-like. I can't take them because they effect me in all the bad ways ADs do, but that's not true for most. Otherwise, the Lamictal-Lithium combo is one of the best anti-D cocktails there is supposed to be.

Thanks, that was some great info. I really appreciate it!