Heartbroken...Can't take lamictal anymore, makes me too dumb

[jjizzla]

I am BP2, more on the depressed side. When i finally reached lamictal 150mg it was a miracle. I felt soooo normal, i felt good, i could focus on life. I've never felt that way before, it was fantastic.

Unfortunately, it really affects my concentration and memory. I am a senior mechanical engineer major and i tried to adapt to the side effects of the drug but sometimes i cant even put together a sentance.

I don't know what to do, im so bummed out. I finally found something that helped but turned out, it was only a dream.

i dont know what to do. Is there anything that helps with the cognitive impairment?

I read that all moodstabilizers have that problem, they dont really help my depression anyway.

it sucks cause things were finally going great with my GF, who i really love and care about. Now i know it wont last much longer once im back to my old self.

Any advice?

[AirMarshall]

Never judge other drugs by the reaction to another. It is wrong to think that "all" AD's will have the same effect on cognition.

What to do? Talk to your pdoc, get his recommendation for an alternative and give it a try. Be fair and give it time (like weeks to perhaps 3 months) to see how it does.

Going to school and making med changes isn't easy. All you can do is try your best! Don't give up! a.m.

[Sjs]

My pdoc told me that latuda actually heightens cognitive abilities. I take lamectal also and have noticed some improvement.

Maybe your doc will have a suggestion of sonething to add to counter the dulling affect instead of quitting the lamectal? I hope so its been a miracle med for me too and i KNOW i would cry if my doc even suggested going off it.

[bpladybug]

Lithium, which does have some antidepresant effects, generally does not have cogniive effects.

Depakote, however, made me dumb as a box of rocks. I once had to call my MOTHER from

work to help me with some simple math. Mind you, I was 45 years old at the time.

But on Lithium I can work w numbers, read, speak well, I love it. I have confidence on Lithium.

[in_media_res]

Have you asked your pdoc about increasing the dosage?

I'm at 100 mg working towards 200 mg (steps were 25 mg, 50 mg, 75 mg, and now 100 mg for a couple of weeks). At each step, I've had different side effects. And it's been one of those things where, like you, when it's good it's very, very good -- and when it's bad, it's really, really bad. A tour at 175 or 200 mg might maintain the positive impact and relieve the cognitive issues.

Good luck.

[jjizzla]

It gets worse with the increasing dosage, ive read it's a common side effect.

I feels like my mind used to be this huge mansion with lots of rooms and i could go anywhere i wanted. Now it feels like im locked in a closet.

it seems from what ive read that bipolar meds are mostly for the "manic" stage and dont help too much with depression, except for lamictal.

its so depressing, i had hope and now im crushed

[mcjimjam]

I feel the same way in that Lamictal was the only thing to work for my depression and now it's stopped working and there's nothing similar really.

How long have you been on it though? That side-effect might go away. Stimulants could help I guess if your pdoc was willing to try them.

[Mirazh]

Again, what you read about other mood stabilisers doesnt always mean it'll translate into the same effect for you. Depakote helps my depression, and AFAIK I don't experience cognitive effects either, I am at a lower dose.

I am also on a stimulant, recently upped by the pdoc to up to 108mg/day (split up, not at once,) for my ADHD - maybe the higher amount is due to the mood stabiliser, but given what my past experiences of stimulant abuse were like I really suspect that any effective stimulant dose would be on the upper end for me.

There can be other options. Something else could be added, either along with your current Lamictal dose or as part of a cocktail maybe with a lower Lamictal dose. A different med could work even better, or similarly but with fewer side effects. Depakote and Concerta are my wonder drugs, and my side effects are pretty mininal. And at least four/five months later we're still tweaking my methylphenidate (Concerta.) Deakote took maybe two months to get my dose up where it lifted my depression, and we went very slow.

[Mirazh]

I mean, a week of very low dose Seroquel didn't knock me out and DID trigger my irritability/anger more (as noticed by others around.) Valium gave me worse anxiety. I got an all-over rash from the lamictal when I tried it. Eh.

[crtclms]

Don't believe everything that you read. It just is not the case that other ACs don't work for depression. If that were the case, anyone who couldn't take Lamictal would be screwed.

You can't eliminate an entire class of meds (ACs) because of your reaction to just one of them. Your side effects will really vary.

Tegretol kind of worked, it was what was available when I started mood stabilizers, and I went to law school while taking it. Neurontin worked well for me, although that makes me a rarity. But no cognitive dulling. Zonegran (cousin of Topamax) cause major cognitive problems, that cleared up after a couple of months. But then it started to hurt my kidneys. Depakote worked for migraine for a while, but never affected my mood or cognition.

From what I understand, lamictal isn't even the first line treatment in every country.

You can make an effort to behave yourself with your girlfriend, you aren't required to behave as you used to. Now that you realize it is bad behavior, do your best not to behave that way.

[rainyeffingday]

I take saphris which works winders. It has no cognitive impairemebt side effects.

[Catnapper]

I say give Lamictal a little more time - I'm assuming the pdoc wants you to get to 200 mg?  Yes, I have had some word-finding difficulties and concentration issues on it, but they were worse at first.  I'm not sure if that's because I noticed them more at first, or if my brain has created alternate pathways, or what. 

 

I am also in a highly technical field and work with a group of extremely smart people, so cognitive dulling is a complete non-starter for me.  But the mild side effect I had versus the huge benefit I have received in mood stabilization has kept me on Lamictal.  It's my favorite drug by far.

 

Of course, everyone can have different reactions to meds, and different levels of tolerance for side effects.  But I guarantee you that if you read up on all the possible side effects, you will probably start to have them, at least psychosomatically, if not in actuality.

 

I think that tolerance for side effects is to some degree a function of how sick you've been.  I have had several multi-year depressive episodes, so some minor cognitive issues as an initial side effect of Lamictal was worth it to me. 

[Anna]

I can't take lamictal, and lithium is wonderful.   BP II folks take it as well.  Anna

[notfred]

Time is what helps with side effects so if you have just been on Lamictal a little while i would give it some more time. I would say at least a month once you are on a stable dose,

[Night in Juniper]

Gosh my heart goes out to you on this. Of course, there are options other than Lamictal, but I've been in this exact position. I've been on Lamictal for about 10 years. At first, I had neurological side effects and stopped taking it. I gave it a second go a few months later per pdoc recommendations, and that time it took, only I had this side effect of feeling dumb. 

 

What would happen with me is that I'd be in the middle of a conversation and forget what I wanted to say next. Sometimes, I'd be ready to address someone and then completely forget what the topic of conversation was going to be. I have to say that for me, it has lessened over the years. I used to be on a 150-200mg dosage. I am now up to 400mg/day and not having such a tough time with feeling "dumb." 

 

Perhaps dosage alterations and sticking it out could help. Or maybe other things could be tried and you could always come back to Lamictal and try again if needed.

 

Wishing you well.

[notfred]

I take saphris which works winders. It has no cognitive impairemebt side effects.

 

Right.