Posted by MarkCSF on October 8, 2002, at 15:22:02
In reply to Re: Lamictal and irrratbility at higher doses, posted by jrbecker on October 8, 2002, at 14:03:03
> I am currently on 175 mg of Lam.
>
> I also felt great with early treatment on lamictal but the effect would wane and I would have to chase the mood effects by increasing the dose. however, I found that every time I bumped up to the next dosage level I got at least two to three days of anxiety and irritability before I get the positive benefits of the drug once again. I also sweated a lot during this period and felt very flushed. I also don't think everybody that takes this drug gets this period of anxiety reaction though (at least they're not reporting it). So know you're not alone on this nd this is a somewhat normal reaction. As anyone that has taken it can attest Lamictal = P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E. But it works for those that can stick it out.
>
> I'm assuming that this anxious period can sometimes take a little longer for other people to adapt as well. And more likely, you are probably reaching your ideal dosage window -- closer to 200mg or 300 mg than your current 150 mg though). Ad it's most likely gonna take even more time to even out and know that dose is your ideal window.
>
> Obviously, you should talk this over with your pdoc first, but my inference is that you try to titrate back up to 200 again, but this time more slowly (do you have the 25 mg pills you can cut in half and just increase by 12.5?).
>
> Oh, and as for the Wellbutrin, it made me terribly irritable. I didn't like it at all. And for you to titrate up to 300 mg so quickly, there's gotta be a lot of irritability associated with this as well. I would talk to your pdoc whether this is a necessary augmentation, especially since you were getting such a good response from lamictal alone.
>
> Stick it out and you'll beat this depressive valley you're in. Good luck.
>
Thanks so much for the reply..! Since you say you had irritability for a few days after moving up, im a little more confident now in doing so, just give it time. As for the Wellbutrin, I dunno. Actually I started on 150mg/day and will move up to 300 in a week. So far it hasnt made me any worse irratbility wise I would say. So, Ill have to see what transpires over the next few weeks until I see my doc again. We were actually debating which one to augment Lamictal with, Wellbutrin or Serzone, cause I have had good responses to both in the past but they made me hypomanic. So we decided on Wellbutrin. Do you think Serzone would have been a better choice? Yeah, that is a thought, not needing an AD in conjunction with the Lamictal. I'll see how it goes for awhile. Anyways, thanks again..-mark
poster:MarkCSF
thread:122728
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021006/msgs/122784.html