Lamictal?

[Guest jen]

Hello People, Well my docs have tried to put my on lamictal twice so far, the first time didn't work(for depression anyways). Yet, tried again for reasons of it is suppose to work really good as an alternatave to regular ads. This is the highest dose i hve been on inawhile, my former doc wouldn't raise it pass 100 mgs. But this dose (150)ain't doing enough, and 200 was too strong. I cry at every little thing and the muscle aches and body pains are just unbearable. They are keeping me up at night now too. I hve a pdoc appt. next week and a little scared. I hve tried so many standard ads. and they seem to stop working or don't work enough. This med was kinda my last resort. Don't know what to do. I see that some people take lamictal and othe ads. Iam not sure if my pdoc is going to or should add one or tke me off the lamictal. Just looking for a little advice or feedback. Thanks.

Also my other current med is Lithium which i have been on since 2004/2005

[isthisit]

What's your diagnosis? If it is just Major Depression just there is the possibility the diagnosis isn't correct. If you have been dealing with the same doctor and are getting nowhere try getting another psychiatrist.

Don't feel like you've hit a dead end just yet. Other medications out there deal with depression and they're outside of the AD category. Abilify and Seroquel are prescribed for depression sometimes. Other atypical anti-psychotics might give you some relief. Also, you said you'd been through a lot of AD's, have you tried different classes? SSRI, SNRI, etc.

Don't give up.

Remember:

Reevaluate your diagnosis.

Get a new psychiatrist.

Explore other options outside of just AD's

Don't be afraid of combination's of meds.

Oh, and therapy- therapy can do more than you realize. (I should follow my own advice with that...)

Take care and remember it's never really the end of the road (although it feels like it a lot of the time)

[Guest jen]

What's your diagnosis? If it is just Major Depression just there is the possibility the diagnosis isn't correct. If you have been dealing with the same doctor and are getting nowhere try getting another psychiatrist.

Don't feel like you've hit a dead end just yet. Other medications out there deal with depression and they're outside of the AD category. Abilify and Seroquel are prescribed for depression sometimes. Other atypical anti-psychotics might give you some relief. Also, you said you'd been through a lot of AD's, have you tried different classes? SSRI, SNRI, etc.

Don't give up.

Remember:

Reevaluate your diagnosis.

Get a new psychiatrist.

Explore other options outside of just AD's

Don't be afraid of combination's of meds.

Oh, and therapy- therapy can do more than you realize. (I should follow my own advice with that...)

Take care and remember it's never really the end of the road (although it feels like it a lot of the time)

Hi, i don't thnk i am replyng right. But, my dx. is bipolar II. It hs changed before but i believe tht it is what it is. I previousy was on zoloft which worked the longest, and the best of the ssri's for me. I tried WB, effexor, and cymbalta(whch worked good till it stopped. I tried Abilify, way too activating. And i was on seroquel bt recently tken off.

[isthisit]

Well, since you are in the BP spectrum, your choices aren't as limited as you think. What is your experience with hypomania? With mine I'm more agitated and irritable than euphoric and outgoing.

For me, the way I found out I was BP II istead of just depressed is that the doctor put me on Paxil and I flipped my shit. (ADs often cause those with BP to be manic- however some people can tolerate them) That's the only full blown manic episode I ever had. The climax of it was when I punched my now-husband in the nose and bloodied it. So then pdoc tried mood stabalizers/ anticonvulsants. Lithium (maybe coincidentally) made my glands in my neck swell and hurt. It didn't touch my mental issues. Depakote made my ears ring. Then got a new pdoc (the previous one was a pdoc through a university) and was prescribed Lamictal. That DID help things A LOT...but it pooped out.

Enter the AAP (atypical antipsychotics). See this post if you want the breakdown of how I reacted to meds: My Post on frustrations on "running out of meds"

That Pdoc pretty much gave up on me because I had "tried everything" (he blacklisted certain meds and wasn't big on cocktails). So I got a new pdoc in February of this year. Revisited Abilify but same reaction with vision. Tried Seroquel XR and found that it kept me stable but my baseline was somewhat low. Got on the new AAP Saphris and it worked VERY well- almost as well as Abilify. But my neck muscles did strange things and I ended up on Cogentin to counter those effects. Decided I didn't want to stay on Cogentin just to stay on Saphris and I worried about Tardive and Dystonia becoming permanent.

Uhh...I'm loosing my focus. Back on Seroquel XR now and going to add on an AD in 3 weeks.

It's a long journey usually to get the right meds, no wonder with the large amount of combinations you can try. Also, educate yourself on your illness and the type of medications used.

[Guest jen]

Well, since you are in the BP spectrum, your choices aren't as limited as you think. What is your experience with hypomania? With mine I'm more agitated and irritable than euphoric and outgoing.

For me, the way I found out I was BP II istead of just depressed is that the doctor put me on Paxil and I flipped my shit. (ADs often cause those with BP to be manic- however some people can tolerate them) That's the only full blown manic episode I ever had. The climax of it was when I punched my now-husband in the nose and bloodied it. So then pdoc tried mood stabalizers/ anticonvulsants. Lithium (maybe coincidentally) made my glands in my neck swell and hurt. It didn't touch my mental issues. Depakote made my ears ring. Then got a new pdoc (the previous one was a pdoc through a university) and was prescribed Lamictal. That DID help things A LOT...but it pooped out.

Enter the AAP (atypical antipsychotics). See this post if you want the breakdown of how I reacted to meds: My Post on frustrations on "running out of meds"

That Pdoc pretty much gave up on me because I had "tried everything" (he blacklisted certain meds and wasn't big on cocktails). So I got a new pdoc in February of this year. Revisited Abilify but same reaction with vision. Tried Seroquel XR and found that it kept me stable but my baseline was somewhat low. Got on the new AAP Saphris and it worked VERY well- almost as well as Abilify. But my neck muscles did strange things and I ended up on Cogentin to counter those effects. Decided I didn't want to stay on Cogentin just to stay on Saphris and I worried about Tardive and Dystonia becoming permanent.

Uhh...I'm loosing my focus. Back on Seroquel XR now and going to add on an AD in 3 weeks.

It's a long journey usually to get the right meds, no wonder with the large amount of combinations you can try. Also, educate yourself on your illness and the type of medications used.

Actually i don't really know what hypomania is, and i don't really get manic alot, but when i do, it is not good. Once, i was up all night cleaning for like two days. Another time we upped my celexa to the max and i was up all night paranoid and very anxious. I did lower my lithium once on my own, and i felt alittle high. I had to rationalize myself into not going out and partying. And not really caring about the consequences. I don't know if that was hypo or not. But i get really irritable either way, depressed or manic.

[Guest jen]

Well, since you are in the BP spectrum, your choices aren't as limited as you think. What is your experience with hypomania? With mine I'm more agitated and irritable than euphoric and outgoing.

For me, the way I found out I was BP II istead of just depressed is that the doctor put me on Paxil and I flipped my shit. (ADs often cause those with BP to be manic- however some people can tolerate them) That's the only full blown manic episode I ever had. The climax of it was when I punched my now-husband in the nose and bloodied it. So then pdoc tried mood stabalizers/ anticonvulsants. Lithium (maybe coincidentally) made my glands in my neck swell and hurt. It didn't touch my mental issues. Depakote made my ears ring. Then got a new pdoc (the previous one was a pdoc through a university) and was prescribed Lamictal. That DID help things A LOT...but it pooped out.

Enter the AAP (atypical antipsychotics). See this post if you want the breakdown of how I reacted to meds: My Post on frustrations on "running out of meds"

That Pdoc pretty much gave up on me because I had "tried everything" (he blacklisted certain meds and wasn't big on cocktails). So I got a new pdoc in February of this year. Revisited Abilify but same reaction with vision. Tried Seroquel XR and found that it kept me stable but my baseline was somewhat low. Got on the new AAP Saphris and it worked VERY well- almost as well as Abilify. But my neck muscles did strange things and I ended up on Cogentin to counter those effects. Decided I didn't want to stay on Cogentin just to stay on Saphris and I worried about Tardive and Dystonia becoming permanent.

Uhh...I'm loosing my focus. Back on Seroquel XR now and going to add on an AD in 3 weeks.

It's a long journey usually to get the right meds, no wonder with the large amount of combinations you can try. Also, educate yourself on your illness and the type of medications used.

Actually i don't really know what hypomania is, and i don't really get manic alot, but when i do, it is not good. Once, i was up all night cleaning for like two days. Another time we upped my celexa to the max and i was up all night paranoid and very anxious. I did lower my lithium once on my own, and i felt alittle high. I had to rationalize myself into not going out and partying. And not really caring about the consequences. I don't know if that was hypo or not. But i get really irritable either way, depressed or manic.

Also, when i was up cleaning all night, i was on just effexor, i believe, i took myself off topomax and abilify, so i think i was hypo or manic. But it would of been really good if i wasn't giving away my mothers stuff without asking.