Posted by SLS on April 3, 2002, at 10:43:54
In reply to Re: Dr Kramer: AED cocktails for BPII/NOS. » SLS, posted by JahL on April 2, 2002, at 18:43:42
> I'm worried about provoking a reaction which could force me off Lamictal, which isn't an option. I've had a couple of reactions before... Any self-induced 'injury' would make me a 'liability' and would give pdocs all the justification they need not to continue treating me. Bit of a lose-lose situation.
What reaction are you talking about?If you are worried about the rash / Steven Johnson Syndrome, I don't think you are any longer at risk now that you are at therapeutic dosages, as long as you maintain a similar blood-level. The only drug-drug interaction I am aware of is that Depakote increases the elimination half-life of Lamictal by a factor of 2. When I added Depakote to an ongoing trial of Lamictal 300mg, I simply reduced the dosage of Lamictal to 150mg. I had no trouble with it. There are blood-tests available to help you monitor Lamictal blood-levels if you feel more comfortable doing that.
I hope you can convince your doctor that it is worth a try. The PDR and the manufacturer's package-insert label describe very clearly how to dose both medications when they are used in combination. Clearly, Lamictal was developed as an add-on to traditional anticonvulsants in the treatment of partial-seizure epilepsy. Please post your progress with this.
Good luck.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:101386
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020402/msgs/101675.html