Starting Lamictal while depressed

[mjs190]

Hi all -
I find myself in a somewhat lifted mood since beginning Seroquel in November; I currently take 300 mg of the XR flavor. But there are many residual symptoms left in its wake, including emotional reactivity and sensitivity, some tearful days here and there, and an embarrassingly low threshold for stress. My doctor added Lamictal today to augment Seroquel, speaking of the necessary slow titration but good track record for BP2. 

My two questions/concerns:
1. I'm prone to eczema and dry skin. If I do get a "rash" that doesn't meet the criteria for SJS, are there steps I can take to avoid discontinuing Lamictal? I really want it to work out...nothing else has.
2. Is Lamictal good for treating my current symptoms? I know it can prevent depressive episodes and possibly be effective for rapid cycling (part of my Dx), but can it help address symptoms of atypical depression like emotional reactivity, tearful episodes, and a brittle/labile/fickle mood?

[rowan77]

I can only answer your second question. I can't really remember what way i reacted  when i first started taking lamictal several years ago.

A year ago I was taking 200mg lamictal and I relapsed into a severe depression. My pdoc upped the dose to 300mg over a couple of weeks and after a couple of weeks on 300mg my mood had really improved.

[Savannah]

I hadn't been medicated in years and then had a bad manic episode. Saw a pdoc who gave me an AAP and it worked.once I was stable my pdoc had me start to titration up on Lamactal to protect myself from the upcoming depression. I didn't  depressed but we started the titration because you had to move up slowly.

each time I went up on the med my mind would get clearer and I felt less depressed. It was wonderful. Just my experience.