Posted by polarbear206 on December 28, 2002, at 17:53:15
In reply to Re: LAMICTAL-END OF MY ROPE-PLEASE HELP, posted by Peter on December 28, 2002, at 13:53:02
> > Peter,
> >
> > Lamictal has been a wonder drug for my cyclothymia. It got better the higher the dose and backing off of the a/d's. I did however have some short lived mixed states as I titrated higher doses. This does subside. You have to be very patient with this drug!! It's been worth the wait for me.
> >
> > Laura
> >But these mixed states are very extreme, and what makes them worse is the heightened social phobia I'm experiencing. I can't leave my apartement; my girlfriend is returning with her dad and brother and I'm so nervous I feel like throwing up! I've been going out with her for almost 4 years! It's completely irrational, but, hey, I feel it anyway. My levels of antisocialness and dysphoria are intense. I'm down to 25mg zoloft, decreasing from now every 4 days by 12.5 until I'm off of it. But pdoc told me to stay on 50mg lamictal, which I've been taking for weeks-and it's taken me over 3 months to get up to 50mg! I realize you have to be patient, but how patient?
> Does the lamictal have any benefits for social phobia to the levels that an SSRI does? Is lamictal seratonergic? Does it deal with dopamine? I just have no improvement at all in any of my target symptom areas from this med.
> Peter
>
>
Peter,You just weined down on the zoloft and depakote rather fast. You are most likely having withdrawal. I got the same way. I think that your dose of Lamictal is so low that it isn't even at a therapeutic level to help you out with the symptoms you are having. MAOI's and tricylics are superior over all other a/d's. Esp in your current situation, I would consider giving them a trial with the Lamictal. Imipramine has been very faithful for me. I was taking a low dose SSRI with the imipramine. I used to take 100mg with 10mg of paxil. I only take 25mg and 10mg of both now. Lamictal has been excellent for anxiety and my social phobia. I'm going up to 200mg of Lamictal tomarrow. My pdoc wants me up at the 200 range. I have learned finally after all these years (14) that mood stablizers need to be the MAIN med for me with a low dose of an antidepressant. Please read this book. "Why Your Depression Isn't Getting Better"
Laura
poster:polarbear206
thread:133324
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021223/msgs/133544.html