Posted by JohnX2 on February 8, 2002, at 21:09:54
In reply to Lamictal as anti-depressant- how? what doses?, posted by 3 Beer Effect on February 8, 2002, at 17:43:08
Hi,
I'm not sure about the exact pharmacokinetics,
but perhaps at very low doses the 1/2 life is
not quite 32.8 hrs. I know once you get at least
over 100 mg, once a day dosing is just fine.I myself have been pondering the AD effects of
Lamictal. I seem to be getting serotonin reuptake
like side effects. Mainly loose stools. At 150
mg, it cured my major depression but did not
resolve the rest of my bipolar illness. Since I
added topamax I am retesting the med at 225-300 mg
where the medicine in the past would give me a
tension headache and numb out my emotions very
similar to Zoloft. This time at 225 I actually
am feeling really good, I hope it is not
fool's gold.I did see another abstract suggesting that Lamictal
increased the brain chemical Taurine which is
a weak NMDA antagonist and a GabaB receptor enhancer.
I don't know what the downstream effects of this
are.Alas, I think Lamictal is still a mystery.
I really would like to know what makes this tick.
If it really is the Taurine mechanism that is
doing the trick, then their is a simpler medicine
called Acamprosate that is a carrier molecule for
the amino acid Taurine that doesnt have all the
silly dosing issues that Lamictal does. It might
be interesing just to take that with a regular
anti-depressant. Again, another one of my
hairbrained schemes to make psychopharmacology
easier on the patients.Regards,
John> I am starting with 25 mg of lamictal/day as a mood-stablizer/antidepressant & my dose is to be increased by 25 mg each week. I am quite depressed & was wondering at what dose range does Lamictal work as an anti-depressant. Is Lamictal as strong of an antidepressant as the SSRIs (which I can't tolerate-mania/insomnia). I take the lamictal once at night because it seems to cause nausea for me- Why do some people take it twice a day if the half life is 32.8 hours?
>
> Why does Lamictal have anti-depressant properties? It only has a "weak inhibitory effect on the serotonin 5HT3 receptor & weak effects at sigma opoid receptors." "Lamictal did not inhibit the uptake of serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, or aspartic acid."
poster:JohnX2
thread:93340
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/93355.html