AnneMarie Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Hi. Just wondering. What has your Lamictal experience been? Did help with depression? Did it make you a zombie? Did it leave you tired all the time? Whatever you personal experience has been, please share it here. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slicey Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Got the rash, discontinued usage. I think it helped stabilize my mood though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nalgas Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 It's one of the few things that increased my energy level, but then it made my mood worse, so that was the end of that. My brain's backwards like that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetle Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I was exhausted all the time. I know, I'm a freak or something because it seems to be activating for most people. I titrated to 100mg, I think. It hadn't done anything for my mood to that point and the pdoc just dropped it. I wanted to try going higher but she didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scatty Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 I love lamictal. It keeps my mood stable, and my depressions aren't as severe. It peps me up, so I take it in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjauron Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 For the first 8 months, I loved it - really evened out my moods and prevented depression from getting bad. For some reason though only the name brand seemed to work, generic made me really irritable. After a while it didn't seem to do much anymore, and it was expensive, so I've discontinued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazynotstupid Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Has pretty muched stopped depression. So, yay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 it did the last bit of yanking me out of the depression and has kept me stable since then. it also did well for me for 3 years, before I (w/ medical advice) decided to try life w/o drugs. learned that lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam_I_Am Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Hi. Just wondering. What has your Lamictal experience been? Did help with depression? Did it make you a zombie? Did it leave you tired all the time? Whatever you personal experience has been, please share it here. Thanks! I know that this may sound strange, but I feel that it helped me with my abandonment issues. But that wasn't a "controlled" experiment because I started Lamictal at the same time I was doing DBT, so I think I may be overattributing the positive effects to the Lamictal and not to the DBT. I guess it helped me with the mood reactivity that goes along with my PTSD and abandonment issues. However, it also had the unfortunate paradoxical effect of causing severe mood INSTABILITY twice a month. It interfered with the effectiveness of my BC pills and I started getting two periods a month, and would become severely depressed/anxious/irritable the two days before each "period" So on a "regular day" it made me less sensitive to perceived rejection/criticism (in turn making me less depressed and anxious), and on a pre-menstrual day, it made me MUCH more sensitive than I was premedicated (making me even feel suicidal). To my knowledge, my experience with Lamictal interfering with the BC like that is not typical but not unheard of. I recently tapered off the Lamictal (with doctors advice, of course) and the periods and pre-menstrual moods have begun to restabilize. In fact, my pdoc and I are trying to get me med-free to see what the "problem" even is and whether the abandonment/reactivity stuff are things I can manage using skills. However, if I do end up "needing" meds, I will go off BC in a second and try Lamictal again. I did find it very helpful except for those few miserable days a month. Best wishes, Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowen Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I'm a fan. It stopped my depression without aggravating hypo/mania. I have had some side effects, but nothing major. Mostly headaches and muscle aches that go away with increased water intake. Didn't affect my energy levels any. Titrating sucked (I was a little hypomanic during it), but I was OK once I hit 150 mg. Even took it while I was pregnant, and kiddo came out just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherta7 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I too have seen improvements since I have taken Lamictal. I have had depressive episodes, but that is only because we are still tinkering with my dosage and meds. My pdoc and I both agree that the Lamictal is doing wonders for me, so I am staying on that. I have only had one depressive episode. I started out taking my Lamictal in the morning, but it made me tired. I then started playing around with it and taking half of the dosage in the morning and half at night. That didn't work so now I take it all at night. And for me, that works. Another thing I like about Lamictal is it did not make me feel like a zombie. I have had a lot of meds that did, but this one just never had that effect on me. Side effects I got were acne and itchiness in the back of my head. It sounds funny, but others have experienced it too. The itchiness went away after about three months. The acne unfortunately has not gone away. I do have a great cleanser system I purchased that has taken care of it, but if I miss one day of using that stuff...well, the acne comes back. Good luck to you. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resonance Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 It quietly and effectively keeps me out of months-long episodes of major depression. It sure tastes awful, though. I don't know why they don't coat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Titrating here...will reach therapeutic dose Thanksgiving Day and notice I'm "not feeling bad" for a change. The lamictal was causing vivid dreams but did not make me drowsy, so switched to taking it in the morning and sleeping/dreaming has returned to normal. No side effects at all, for which I'm very thankful. One very good sign...I use a mood tracker and usually am "all over the place" with rapid cycles and mixed states galore. However, for the past couple weeks or more, I notice my moods are steadily at "baseline" with only occassional irritability or anxiety and no mixed states or, what I refer to as "mood whiplash" (bouncing up and down like a f***ing yo-yo- wake up expecting to feel depressed like the day before, only to realize I feel super-great, only to crash and burn again...) Beginning to see there's hope for me after all (reference previous Rx list). Lamictal and I look to be a real good fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swashbuckle Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 I was put on brand name lamictal in the hospital (for bipolar) and titrated up to 200mg. I was doing really well, no mood swings, no uncontrollable rage and no major depression or mania. Then I was given a generic at the pharmacy and it all went downhill from there. All of the negative symptoms I didn't have on the brand lamictal were back on the generic. A lot of people including doctors, nurses and pharmacists told me that generics were identical to the brand name. Well my personal experience shows they either don't know what they are talking about or they are misinformed. I had to argue with the pharmacist to give me the brand name and was told I would probably have to pay full price. At this point I really didn't care. Thankfully insurance (medicare) covered it without questions. My experience led me to ask why if generics are so good, why aren't the psychiatric hospitals (at least where I have been) using them? Seems like they would save a lot of money... I found this website that further explains the differences between brand names and generics http://www.crazymeds.us/BvsG.html Hopefully if someone else reads this they won't have to go through what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mejeba Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 It seemed to help pull me out of the deep depression I was in 4 yrs ago. I had no side effects until I titrated up to 400 mg and then I had balance problems, shaking and bad cognitive failure. I had to discontinue it when i went on a govt psych drug plan for low income ppl and Lamictal requires special authority on that plan, which means Valproate, Lithium and trileptal has to fail before it can be provided for free. I think it is expensive, thus this run-around. I hope to be able to go back on it. the Epival is a bust, Lithium I started 2 wks ago and haven't had any help from it so far, and I don't know about Trileptal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toronto_girl Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Lamictal in my opinion, and I have tried the following for Epilepsy: Tegretol, Keppra, Lamictal, Epival, Depakote and Topamax IS THE BEST. I just wished my family doc didn't see the small rash I developped and took me off of it. (My vacationing Neuro was so mad!) Lamictal will help if you have ADD! It will make your thoughts clearer! It is weight neutral! It does protect you against seizures... But I'm not convinced it stabilizes your mood... That being said I'm about to beg my Neuro to put me back on it... (so ask me again in a month) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdbee Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 one of the worst medications i've ever been on. the side effects hit me HARD (though I didn't get the rash). my mood was all over the place. and this was all on 25mg! i can't remember exact symptoms at the time (my short term memory is horrible and i'd have to refer to my journal which i don't have with me) but they were bad. my pdoc ordered me off of it immediately. after taking lamictal i tried so so hard to convince myself i wasn't bp so i'd never have to try another mood stabilizer again. of course that didn't work as i'm bipolar and all Stacia- It was very activating for me... didn't make me a zombie. Sure as hell didn't help with depression, though. I was on it for about a month or so and my depression hit one of its all time lows. in reference to toronto_girl, lamictal didn't help at all with my add. made it worse. glad it worked for you, though it seems to be a drug of choice for a lot of people judging by what i read in sig. lines... i just wasn't one of the lucky ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytwinmom Posted December 31, 2009 Share Posted December 31, 2009 It has been keeping my rapid cycling down some. Started cycling again, so my dose is going up. Not sure to what dosage my doc wants me at. No side effects that I know of. Hard to tell what med the side effects come from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarGenius Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I'm on Lamictal and it gives me the most terrible side effects. I didn't get the rash = instead I got muscle soreness that turned into severe muscle pain. It felt like my legs had turned to stone and that they were going to cramp at any second. It sucked! I've been back and forth with dosage but no matter what I say or do my doc is convinced its the best medicine for me. I get dizzy spells, headaches, dry mouth, short term memory loss and the shakes. I'm REALLY hoping one day to find this 'magical' dose that makes it all go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I like it. It helps with my mixed moods, and I need a bit of a boost toward the "higher" side of the mood spectrum. I was on 100mg for about three months, and then 150mg 6-8 months. I have some minor muscle aches, and I have a few patches of rash, but not "The Rash." I have been happy with it, even though I am barely on a therapeutic dose. Constipation is a MAJOR issue for me, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papertrees Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Lamictal + Lithium has been a godsend for me. Somebody would have to pry them from my cold, dead fingers. I love this combo. I've never felt more alive, more focused and so level. I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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