Lamictal Aand insomnia

[JulieAnn]

I have been on lamictal for 5 weeks and I can't even begin to go to sleep before 4am. Anyone have this problem?

[TheActress]

I have been on lamictal for 5 weeks and I can't even begin to go to sleep before 4am. Anyone have this problem?

Hey JulieAnn! When in the day are you taking your Lamictal? I've found that if I take my Lamictal at night, I get insomina very badly. Pretty much I have to take it between noon and 2pm and I'm totally fine.

Ha, I forgot to take it till about 9pm last night and ended up staying awake till 5am. So, play around with the time you take it, I'm sure you'll find a time of day that works for you.

[bluesme]

That where my insomnia started back up - when I was taking Lamictal. I was probably on week 4 or 5 myself. I ALWAYS tank really bad when I get insomnia. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any more help. I'm not taking Lamictal anymore, but still have insomnia.

[JulieAnn]

Thanks. I'll try to take it in the mornings for a few weeks. I think I am on my fifth week.

[Opalita]

Thanks. I'll try to take it in the mornings for a few weeks. I think I am on my fifth week.

I have been on Lamictal for about 13 weeks--9 weeks on 100 mg. I went up to 200 for a couple weeks and then went down to 100 again recently, because I hadn't slept more than 3 drugged out hours in 4 days and I couldn't stand it. I started to have horrible insomnia coupled with sleep-related anxiety about 5 weeks ago. It came and went for a few weeks, and I have had insomnia and anxiety daily for over a week now. It started out where I fell asleep and about 45 minutes or an hour later I woke up abruptly with anxiety and couldn't get back to sleep. This happened to me before when I had really bad jet lag after a trip to Europe. I had some leftover Xanax from that time took enough to drug me out and to sleep a little the first time I got insomnia from lamictal. I went on Lamictal because the sexual side effects from my SSRI was wreaking havoc on my marriage and I HAD to try something. I am not bi-polar; no manic episodes, SSRI's worked well except for not being interested in sex or being able to have an orgasm easily, or at all. The intern said I might be bi-polar because I have a "driven quality"!! I hate the psychiatry school where I go; it's connect with a university and we see interns. There is a big shortage of psychiatrists in the 4 county area where I live in Ca. My first intern left soon after I got him and I didn't know it was the changing of the guard (they leave after a year) so I waited 4 days to get trazodone to help me sleep, and propranolol for anxiety. The trazodone doesn't work at all (it did the first few times). When I have insomnia I have anxiety. I can't read, do crosswords, go on the Internet. I can only pace around in the backyard or sit in a chair and try to talk myself down. I told the new intern i can't stand the insomnia and she said "call the front office and make an appointment. The lamictal shouldn't be causing you anxiety. These are good medications (trazodone, lamictal, propranolol). Give it more time." Bullshit! God that pissed me off. She is like in her late 20's and is putting me in a little box and not listening to me. She said I need to stay on the lamictal. I had to ignore her. I went from 100 to 50 2 days ago, and I think I feel a little less anxious today. Last night after an hour and a half of sleep I was up for 3 hours. I took 50mg of trazodone and then 50 more (bottle says only 50). Nothing. Slept for 10 minutes and cat woke me up. Then I took 2 benadryl and finally slept. I want off this stuff, yet I must still take it for a while-antidote to the poison. I plan to go down to 25 starting next week. The lamictal website says I can. I am really worried about getting depressed again. I have felt "psychic pain" depression along with anxiety today, but it could be the trazodone from last night and sleep deprivation. I started 10 mg of celexa today, from my old prescription. I know there is a danger of serontonin poisoning with the trazodone, but I am not going to take it anymore. Last night was the last time. Besides, I took Celexa along with Imitrex for migraines and didn't get serontonin poisoning. I am going to see if, when I get back on an SSRI, I can take an antidote medication like Buspar, or..? Or try to be on a low dose. Or take it at night after I have sex, or have sex "holidays' some weekends. I know I wrote too much, maybe I should have started a new thread instead of grandstanding someone else's.