Whomeyeahyou Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I was dx with bipolar and I kind of felt that the DX was wrong. I think I have anxiety. Anyway, when I first started lamictal I felt great! But I started on a low dose. Now I'm up to 100mg and I'm starting to think it's making me manic. I never felt like this before taking it. I have had bouts where I have had a song stuck in my head for days - I think that's what made the shrink think bipolar. But now I have a song stuck in my head all.the.time. Its making me feel crazy. UI'm going through a lot right now, one of my children may be DX with autism and I think I'm close to having soem sort of nervous breakdown or anxiety attack. Nothing injurious, jsut the feeling of constant anxiety and the fucking song in my head. It was waking me up all night last night. WTF is wrong with me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wj74 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I get the repetitive song in my head, everyone does, but when unstable it is insane. LOL It does not stop and I can't sleep because it's so intrusive. Lamictal can be activating at lower doses, I did fine at 100 mg for a while but I vaguely remember feeling yucky on 50-75 mg. Maybe an anxiety med would be in order, call the doc and see. I know it's not easy with having a MI and having a special needs kid. My son has ADHD and features of Asperger's and BP. Sweet. I would be a train wreck without the Klonopin as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obscuremachine Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Last winter, I was taking 150mg of Wellbutrin and 200mg of Lamictal for Bipolar 2. (I've lived with racing and repeating thoughts and songs my whole life and thought it was normal). When my pdoc tried to up Welbutrin to 300mg, I thought I was losing my mind for a week. My thoughts (and songs) were unstoppable and I couldn't sleep for days. He lowered the Wellbutrin back to 150mg and I realized that I had lived my whole life with those 300mg type racing thoughts. He increased the Lamictal and my brain has slowed down to almost normal. This level has ALMOST removed the songs playing in my head. Almost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Call your pdoc to explain what you are experiencing. What you have going on is not the plan. It does happen, so you are not alone, though. Your doc will likely do a med adjustment to help, but you have to let him or her know there is a problem first. Lamictal can be very activating and like an AD in that it can push some people hypo/manic, especially at lower doses. Some docs won't prescribe it without a stronger antimanic. At higher doses, Lamictal acts more like a stabilizer, but even then, for some folks (not necessarily you) it still s/b taken with a stronger antimanic. Lamictal also can exaggerate anxiety, again more so at lower doses. You and your doc will need to suss out whether you are experiencing anxiety or agitation (which would be bipolar caused). So, those are sort of down sides of the med, both of which can be countered. The upside is that for many, it acts as a pretty good antidepressant. That is huge for those who can't take antidepressants. Also, once you get the anxiety/agitation symptoms straightened out, it typically has few side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eccentrik_drummer_chik Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I lived with that anxiety and agitation mixed with either depression or hypomania for two years straight, always feeling on the edge of a breakdown. I THINK I've finally hit on a med that has greatly decreased the constant anxiety. I kept asking for something, but they tend to want to give you something that is PRN to take just in moments of high anxiety, but what if it's always there? Anyway, I started Buspar a little over two weeks ago. I take it three times a day, it takes a while to kick in, and you don't feel something immediate because it's not PRN. Anyway, I feel no side effects, and it has really changed my life, I'm actually being able to deal with social situations again, and my thoughts don't spin out of control everytime I think a bad thought like they used to. Everyone is different, but for me it has helped.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericabeancurd Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I'm increasing my lamictal every 10 days for my bipolar and my nightmares keep getting weirder and weirder. It's funny that you point out the things about getting a song stuck in your head. Lately, I've found myself repeating the same few lines of a song over and over and over in my head. I hummed one at work so much last week that I had other people humming along. While the side effects of this drugs are annoying, I think its helping my depression. Whenever I start feeling ok I get worried I'm starting some hypomania but I'm going to give lamictal the benifit of the doubt and say it's doing it's job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Rabbit Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I have had bouts where I have had a song stuck in my head for days - I think that's what made the shrink think bipolar. But now I have a song stuck in my head all.the.time. Its making me feel crazy. Partial D2 antagonism/partial-agonism kills the songs that have constantly played in my head for years and replaces them with my thoughts having prososdy attached (feeling you hear voices). I love the music that plays in my head and feel violated when it goes away. But it is never quiet in my head. I have had periods of months where the same tune played nonstop in my head when I was not actively listening to something else. I have a grossly unquiet mind. As the joke goes: A man complains to his pdoc about music playing in his head nonstop and wants meds to make it go away. The meds work and are discontinued years later. Years after that the pdoc asks about the songs in the mans head and he replys "they have come back." The pdoc asks "why have you not complained?". The man replys, "because the volume is lower." Are the songs distractingly loud? Can you change the song at will? Can you change the song by listening to a different song on a stereo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericabeancurd Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 When I hear the song it's similar to when I'm manic and I have racing thoughts. There's no changing it or picking what song I want to hear. I get worried that I've stopped hearing it in my head and I'm actually saying the words but as far as I can tell that hasn't happened yet. yet...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneMarie Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Partial D2 antagonism/partial-agonism kills the songs that have constantly played in my head for years and replaces them with my thoughts having prososdy attached (feeling you hear voices). Do you mean the Zyprexa your signature says you are taking? I have had periods of months where the same tune played nonstop in my head when I was not actively listening to something else. I have a grossly unquiet mind. Didn't you just say you got rid of the songs in your head? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blart752 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Strangely this happened to me on gabapentin(the song playing) and hence why i dropped it in favor of lamictal, (need to update signature) i am at a low dose and luckily have little side effects. except for drowsiness, and minor eye twitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeaceAndHarmony Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Having a song stuck in your head repeatedly for a time sounds more like OCD. I have the song thing right before my OCD really starts to flare up. People laugh when I tell them that I have a random song stuck in my head but it, literally, makes me want to slam my head against the wall. I would talk with you doc about it and see if there are some other options for you. I have Bipolar and OCD among other things and I know how crazy the symptoms can make people. Hang in there and I hope that you can take something else that will help you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obscuremachine Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 The music playing in my head is random, and is worse when I wake up in the middle of the night, or when I wake up in the morning. There's no rhyme or reason as to what's playing either. This morning, it was the 70s version of the Captain Kangaroo Theme Song. The lamictal really seems to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I think the repetitive song stuff COULD be BP related, I tend to have that issue at times when I am really manic, repetitive phrases, songs, etc. That being said, you are now with the lamictal at the total upper end of AD effects, while anti manic effects don't really kick in (if they ever do, they don't for some people) unti about 150--200 m.g. So you may need something short term to get you over the hump, to stay at a lower dose of lamictal and use a different AC in combinations, or just try something else. I don't know. I'm not your doctor. So you need to talk to him/her and figure this out. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eccentrik_drummer_chik Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I very often have a song stuck in my head, but I think I'm so used to it that I can just have it playing in the background. The only time it sucks is when it's a song I happen to hate.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Rabbit Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Partial D2 antagonism/partial-agonism kills the songs that have constantly played in my head for years and replaces them with my thoughts having prososdy attached (feeling you hear voices). Do you mean the Zyprexa your signature says you are taking? Actually, anything that partially inhibits/limits the signalling on the D2 pathways. I normally take a low dose of Zyprexa and keep my serum levels below the antihistamine response*. When I take a higher dosage of Zyprexa that partially interferes with dopamine signaling and when Abilify is not fully occupying D2 receptors thoughts seem to get rerouted into an alternate neural network that involves some brain region involved in hearing. When Abilify fully occupies D2 receptors the rerouting does not occur. When Zyprexa fully occupies D2 receptors my brain is heavily shut down and I have little insight due to the H1 blockade. I have had periods of months where the same tune played nonstop in my head when I was not actively listening to something else. I have a grossly unquiet mind. Didn't you just say you got rid of the songs in your head? Not that I am aware of. I have lamented their loss. I would not intentionally get rid of the songs in my head. But tradeoffs are part and parcel for the neuroleptic using patient and losing the songs to lose the fingernails on a blackboard anxiety is acceptable. I also started listening to music nearly all the time to get past this loss and so my insight into whether or not the songs are their is overridden by intentional usage of my brains audio processing centers. * The antihistamine response is a top down neuronal change that removes insight into what is happening in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCBipolar Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I started to hear repetitive music in my head-usually songs I had just heard on lamictal 50. This has continued on lamictal 100 which is where I am in my titration. My mood is much less depressed in fact I feeling a bit hypomanic (more energy, higher sex drive, anxiety, obsessions). I am on Klonopin which helps a bit. Do these symptoms get better or go away at higher doses of lamictal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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