Posted by JahL on January 16, 2002, at 16:02:28
In reply to Re: Lamictal worked great, pooped out, posted by Hattree on January 15, 2002, at 14:32:32
> Same problem here, great results at first w/Lamictal at 25mg, basically the same respose at 100mg for awhile, then poopout. Going back down hasn't made a big differnce. What a drag--I was depression free for six months, a record.
Snap. This pattern seems very common. I've been on 400mg for about 6 months (at the behest of ignorant, by-the-book pdocs) and I can't say there's any improvement over say, 100mg. I had the euthymic/hypomanic reaction at about 25mg and it faded over about 6 weeks.
Interestingly the first true hypomanic episode was precipitated by the addition of 0.25mg/Klonopin, which seemed to 'kickstart' the Lamictal benefits.
I continue to take up to 1mg of Klonopin (against pdoc's advice) daily with my Lamictal and I can state with certainty that, for myself at least, a special synergy exists btwn the 2 meds. Neither works by themselves but together they do help fairly significantly (chronically suicidal vs acutely so). Curiously, my brother, who has a milder form of my BPII, only seems to benefit from Zyprexa+Klonopin. Neither works alone. Of course both are purported to have mood-stabilizing qualities.
*Have any of you considered augmenting Lamictal before giving up on it (if you're at that stage)? The consensus amongst pdocs I have spoken to is that Lamictal is very amenable to augmentation, VPA notwithstanding. I have just had Celexa and L-Tryptophan (available only on special licence) added to augment Lamictal's supposed S-reuptake inhibition characteristics.
Best,
J.
poster:JahL
thread:90100
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020116/msgs/90506.html