Posted by lillabelle on June 8, 2003, at 4:34:38
In reply to Re: Lamictal success stories for Ritch, posted by starlight on June 6, 2003, at 15:10:17
hello to all lamictal users! I am definitely a bipolar 11 individual with some attention deficit thrown in for good measure. My depression is atypical, which means oversleeping when down (among other things). Like so many bi-polar's I had terrible responses to AD's. Wild mood swings, anger, numbness, insomnia or hyper-somnia to name just a few. Generally a horrible feeling of being drugged. Being treatment resistant for so long, I finally settled on 75mgs of serzone, 50mg of lamictal and 25mg of sulpride (an anti-p) The mood swings were better and I wasn't immobile, but I was tired all the time with an underlying depression that wouldn't budge.
Well,I endured two years of this combo, but after two years the depression and fatigue became intolerable and I knew I had to change meds.
So, after reading several posts on this board i decided one day to up my lamictal to 100mg, up the serzone to 200mg and drop the sulpride which was leaving me groggy all day. Suddenly the curtain lifted! I had energy, optimism. I got things done and felt good about myself. Now I have moved up to 125mg to see if I feel better still. The reason I was reluctant to up the lamictal in the past was because when I initally tried it (monotherapy) I had a kind of dysphoric mania. Anger attacks, irritablity and negative thoughts, swinging with a kind of unfocused hypomania and major cognitive impairment.( I teach in a college and my students noticed that I had temporarily lost my marbles._) After insulting several people, and feeling moronic,I cut back the lamictal and added the low dose of serzone. Later, still depressed I added on the dose of supride which seemed to help altho made me more tired than I already was.
Today, with the increase in lamictal and the dropped sulpride, I feel well for the first time in a very long time. I also experience no side effects and do not feel 'drugged'. However, when I move the dosage up I get the small, pinprick rash mentioned by some on this board. It's minor and usually clears after a week or so. The other side effect is insomnia. As it is severe I have started to take 50mg of trazadone at night to help me sleep, which it does too well. I cannot get up in the morning (luckily I am not working at present). As I live overseas in a country which bans all benzos I am at a loss for sleeping meds. I have tried lowering the traz. to 25mg but doesn't do the job. I'm wondering if buspar might help (it's available). The other comment I'd like to add, is that I read somewhere on this board, that lamictal,serzone, and trazadone all work on 'gaba'somehow in the brain, all have similar reactions. Does anyone know about this? Advise for the insomnia also greatly appreciated. Hope this helps some of you out there. Lamictal works splendidly for my bipolar 2, but only in conjunction with an AD. Also as everyone else has written one must take the time to let the med adust, by going slowly. It also seems to me that many have had good results with the 100mg to 150mg window. I want to remain on the lowest dose possible in case it stops working and then i have room to move up. Raising your AD of choice could also help the dreaded 'poop out'. One final comment: in the beginning of my raised lamictal treatment (100mg) I was still taking the 25mg of sulpride. I began to experience hand clenching and some slight tremor. Having read on this site that hand clenching could indicate tardive dyskinesia I stopped the sulpride and the hand clenching ceased. Lamictal seemed to enhance the sulpride as i think it does with other meds as well. Just an observation. Peace of mind to one and all.....lillabelle
poster:lillabelle
thread:99976
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/232336.html