mmasters Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I started out on 25 mg and had some itchyness for a few days but that went away. Then come the third day I felt awesome and my moods almost completely normalized! The effect mostly continued through the next two weeks, though after about a week I had to start cutting back on nicotine and caffeine a lot as I started getting soreness in my chest and anxiety problems. I've had some extensive medical checkups in the past few years and know my heart is good. Anyway, 2 weeks in I've titrated up to 50mg, and while I felt really good the first few hours light chest soreness is there without the stimulents now and I had an anger fit yesterday over nothing and very vivid dreams last night. Should I go back to 25mg or just tough it out and this stuff should go away. I'm also switching to a night dosage today as I get a bit sleepy on it for the first few hours after I take it. The mood effect has been substancial and positive, it's just this chest soreness/anxiety and the weird mood effects from upping to 50mg that have been bugging me. Not quite sure what to do but continue along and hope for the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 When you say anger fit and vivid dreams, what are we talking about here? General irritation and angry words or screaming anger fit? Bad dreams or night terrors? Did anything happen that day to make the above occur, an argument etc? I just wouldn't start worrying about my Lamictal dosage unless I'd analyzed whether those things were part of the fabric of daily life or indeed were a side effect. When you're hyper vigilant about side effects, it can make being on meds really difficult. You don't want to give up a good med because you had one bad day and attributed it to Lamictal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tryp Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Lamictal is known for what is called a "rocky titration" - it is quite common to feel great for a while, then terrible, then great again, and those swings can occur very rapidly or on a slower scale. This could even include some (hypo)manic symptoms, though obviously you know your illness best and if you think something is really wrong, give your doc a call. From an MDD point of view, it is sometimes advised to stop at the lowest dose that works (sometimes) but for BP I believe that the advice is to continue the titration to a therapeutic dose (100 mg at the very least) and wait for things to settle. What kind of chest soreness are you having? Lamictal is known for muscle aches and pains, so that could be playing in, but it's impossible for a non-doctor to say for sure over the internet. If you are concerned don't be afraid to give your doctor a call, but if it were me, I would continue on and see how things play out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhyADrySkin Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 If you are having success with it, I would give it a try. Let your doctor know what side effects you are having. They might be only temporary. I am taking Lamictal and really haven't experienced much success with it. I'm on 100mg in the morning and 150mg at night. And yes, I've also had many aches and pains while on the med. For me they have not gotten any better, but if it helped my mood I think I could look past this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notfred Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Continue titrating up to your target dose. Many side effects go away or get better once you are on a stable dose. Lower doses can cause improvements in mood but it does not last. It will once you are on a stable dose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasters Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 When you say anger fit and vivid dreams, what are we talking about here? General irritation and angry words or screaming anger fit? Bad dreams or night terrors? Did anything happen that day to make the above occur, an argument etc? I just wouldn't start worrying about my Lamictal dosage unless I'd analyzed whether those things were part of the fabric of daily life or indeed were a side effect. When you're hyper vigilant about side effects, it can make being on meds really difficult. You don't want to give up a good med because you had one bad day and attributed it to Lamictal. Well I saw the preview to the new tom cruise movie rock of ages and I almost went ballistic. Took me a half our or so to calm down lol. Last night I had some crappy vivid dreams where I was like the 5th wheel and everybody around me was having sex and tossing me aside. I woke up with my heart racing a bit and stressed out. Today I've been a bit stressed out and had a little bit of road rage over nothing. I think this stuff is irritating me somewhat internally, at least temporarily and it's causing excess cortisol to be released. Anyway I'm gonna take some klonopin to counteract it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I have to say, as unpleasant as the dream may have been, that sounds like the extremely vivid dreams I had when I first started Lamictal. And I am someone who has lucid dreams, and can remember a lot of the other ones, so the fact that they were so obviously different was noteworthy. So I think the dreaming is normal, and will pass. I obviously still dream, but the quality of the Lamictal dreams were somehow different. If something really stands out to you, call your pdoc, but all of your side-effects sound like ones I had titrating up on Lamictal. As Tryp said, titrating up on Lamictal can be bumpy. But a lot of people really love it now that they are past the early side effects. I am on 300mg, but initially stopped at 100mg, and I didn't re-experienced side-effects when I raised the levels after I got to 100mg. Oh, I should say, I had lots of aches and pains when I started, but they were in my legs and back. So I can't actually say I had your exact experience, just aches and pains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joachim Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 The side effect I remember most was that equilibrium (lack of) thing, but it went away... I've been on 300mg for several years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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