Posted by Misunderstood on July 21, 2002, at 21:13:25
In reply to Re: Mood stabilizers, posted by cybercafe on July 21, 2002, at 2:26:51
> > Have not felt any side effects yet, but did have a mild seizure the other night and tonight.
>
> ... are you okay? are you actually conscious when you have a seizer? ... i hope it wasn't too unpleasant
>
> >My guess is the dosage is not right yet. Took Lamictal before and it worked great, except for the horrible rash I got. Do you know anything about Lamictal? If the rash is a temporary thing
>
> if you have a rash you must DISCONTINUE LAMOTRIGINE immediately -- i would suggest getting in touch with your doc immediately, if that is not possible, i would suggest going to the emergency room for discontinuation instruction
> .... but i am not certain, so you may have a better idea than me.... i am not even sure - are you are still taking it?
>
> it is suggested that the rash may be caused by ramping up the dose too fast..... how quickly did you increase it?
>
> >and goes away as the dosage is increased, I would prefer the longer half life and stronger effects of Lamictal, but on the other hand, Neurontin does control anxiety. I am taking 400 mgs of Neurontin currently, should I increase to prevent future seizures? What are your thoughts re: Lamictal vs Neurontin putting the rash thing aside?
>
> well i was taken off lamictal prematurely before (changed docs) ...
> but because it is supposed to have an antidepressant effect and a mood stabilizing effect and only needs to be taken once a day and probably has less sedation (the sedation with gabapentin i didn't find to be bad at all, but still... we're all perfectionists) i would want to try lamictal first.... and see what it does for me.. and if the mood stabilizing or anti depressant effects get rid of the anxiety.... and then if they don't, add gabapentin to the combo .... of course if lamotrigine has no effect on depression i would stop taking it...
>
> in your case... i guess it all comes down to whether or not lamictal helps you with anxiety ...
>
> should you increase gabapentin? probably... but if it were me i would want to check with my doc on how high i could increase on my own... especially if you have any kidney or other medical problems ... i'm sure you can read up on it online .. do you need a checkup after a seizure?? ...
>
> ... i mean i would definately not consider increasing a med on my own -- even as a last resort -- until i had spent at least 3 hours online reading up all i couldActually, the seizures are very minor and only last a couple of seconds. Doc says they are called petit mal(don't know if I spelled it correctly) seizures that are indicative of a mild case of epilepsy that I have. My uncle has epilepsy, and from what I understand it is hereditary. As a kid, I suffered blunt head trauma during a sledding accident that caused an onset of epilepsy which my parents thought was nervous tics ie Tourette's syndrome, but they didn't believe in seeking medical help for my condition(don't ask me why, thats the way they are). It took till the age of 26 for a doctor to explain to me what these minor seizures actually are. I wonder if an increase in my Lamictal dose would result in fewer side effects. I also noticed this morning that Neurontin has no effect whatsoever on severe mood swings. Any advice Cybercafe? You seem to know a lot about these things.
poster:Misunderstood
thread:112786
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113208.html