Alien Navel Cord Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 I am on 750mg lithium and having a fatigue issue. I slurr my speech, am always tired or fatigued, and flat. Does anyone know what , for them, has helped with the least amount of tiredness of all of the mood stabalizers? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BipolarSpinster Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) Lamictal for me. If it only still worked. Edited June 19, 2018 by BipolarSpinster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit37 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Slurred speech, flat... could you possibly go down a bit, on the lithium? Makes me think maybe your levels are too high? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 Lamictal stopped working for me. What about Depakote? I have an appt today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikl_pls Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Alien Navel Cord said: Lamictal stopped working for me. What about Depakote? I have an appt today... Oh god no, Depakote will most likely make you a zombie! Perhaps Keppra, but that has a potential to cause the "Keppra rage..." I have personally tolerated Trileptal very well (oxcarbazepine). Edited June 19, 2018 by mikl_pls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 12 minutes ago, Alien Navel Cord said: Lamictal stopped working for me. What about Depakote? I have an appt today... While Depakote didn't exactly make me a zombie, it did make me very tired. I find Tegretol to be energy neutral though some people do find it tiring also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Rabbit37 said: Slurred speech, flat... could you possibly go down a bit, on the lithium? Makes me think maybe your levels are too high? Have you had your blood checked lately? Edited June 19, 2018 by Iceberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Rabbit37 said: Slurred speech, flat... could you possibly go down a bit, on the lithium? Makes me think maybe your levels are too high? That's what I was thinking also. A lot of it sounds like too high lithium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 No I haven't. I made an appt at the PSC tomorrow to have a draw but I did go down to 600mg of lithium because of the tiredness issue. Of course I'm on 3 psych meds tough so it's no wonder I am still tired but it did help to go down. A lil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 What are the other meds u take? Maybe one of them is the culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blahblah Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Lamictal hands-down. Not sedating at all. Did you try it at a high dose? Some people might need higher doses. Depakote was very sedating for me (moreso than Lithium). There is also Gabapentin/Neurontin, it is in the same class as Lamictal I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted June 28, 2018 Share Posted June 28, 2018 Gabapentin is a GABA analogue and is sometimes used as a sleep aid. I haven’t found it too sedating, however I’m on a very low dose, which I split into morning and night. It’s definitely not mirtazapine or trazodone levels of sedation. the efficacy to treat bipolar is questionable at best, with its ability to treat acute mania as no better than placebo. not bp myself but I do find it does quash irritability, anger/agitation, racing or disorganized thoughts and suicidal ideation, if that’s a problem for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 @Alien Navel Cord so gabapentin is a strange one as far as bioavailability is concerned. The more you take at once the less, proportionally your body will use. if you’re looking to try it out, you might want to check with your doc to split up your dose to minimize the potential drowsiness. Like for me 400mg at once makes me slightly drowsy, but 200 at night and 200 in the morning doesn’t make me drowsy at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argh Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 3 hours ago, sbdivemaster said: Yep. I take gabapentin as an adjunct to lamotrigine exactly for those symptoms. Works really well - probably going for another increase at my next quack appointment. I was worried that it would make me tired; not at all - at least at current dose. Curious here. Is the lamictal to help prevent mania and it doesn’t touch the symptoms above? Or does it sort of handle it but the gabapentin finishes it off, so to speak? lamictal is a possibility in the near future for me, per my pdoc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I've always thought that the lamictal comes into play once the mania is already somewhat controlled and then helps prevent a reoccurance, which is what it's FDA approval is for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Gabapentin made me black out so I stopped it. Can't take lamictal. Highest dose was moderate but there came a time when I told the Pdoc it just had stopped working and we couldn't go a whole lot higher so that's why I'm on lithium... I also take abilify 5-10mg and 300 MG wellbutrin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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