Posted by Ron Hill on March 7, 2002, at 0:13:09
In reply to Need experiences w/ LITHIUM (and versus DEPAKOTE), posted by Janelle on March 6, 2002, at 16:29:39
Janelle:
The general "rule" is that Bipolar I patients typically do better on lithium whereas Bipolar II patients typically do better on the AEDs (eg Lamictal, Depakote, etc). I personally am an exception to this very general rule.
I am BP II and Lithobid works better for me than the AEDs. I liked Lamictal but it gave me a bad rash. The only thing good about Depakote was that it facilitated great sleep and dreams. On the down side, Depakote caused a rash (fairly severe), caused weight gain, and may have made my depression worse. Lithobid (600 mg/day) causes slight rashing but I can control it with a topical skin cream.
A couple of days ago Cam posted a link to a bipolar document that you may find useful since it directly addresses the issue you raise (Li vs. AEDs). Here is a link to Cam's post:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020301/msgs/96446.htmlIMHO, if Lamictal is working well for you as a mood stablizer, I'd be reluctant to switch to Lithobid if I were in your shoes. If it ante broke don't fix it! But I do not know your specific case history, so you of course would know better than I what course of action is best for you.
Li does a fine job of keeping me out of hypomania but does very little for my depression. After several years and more ADs than I care to remember, my pdoc found something that works like a charm to treat my depression. I can not begin to tell you how happy I am to have my depression problem solved. It has worked very well for four months and I have every confidence it will continue to do so. What is it, you ask? SAM-e.
If you want to find out more about SAM-e for depression, click to the following prior post:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020301/msgs/96055.html--Ron
------------------------> The new pdoc is also having me go on LITHIUM (in the form of sustained release LITHOBID) -- I'd really like to hear anyone's experiences on LITHIUM.
>
> I'm currently not on a mood stablizer, although I had been on Lamictal with some success (or so it felt). However, I've heard that DEPAKOTE is a good choice of mood stablizer so if anyone has anything to say about Lithium versus Depakote or Lamictal, I'd appreciate that too. Thanks very much.
poster:Ron Hill
thread:96752
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020301/msgs/96837.html