Posted by BryanII on September 18, 2006, at 17:46:32
I am experiencing uneven improvement on Lamictal and would like to know if this is common. And is this transitional to something steadier? I was recently diagnosed as BipolarII (while depressed). I've been on Lamictal for 5 weeks, working up from 25 to 100 mg/day so far.
It seems to have helped the depression a lot overall (huge thanks for that!) but not consistently. Two things seem to be happening along with slow upward trend: (1) Mood and motivation are quite erratic from day to day -- nothing a low as before I started on Lamictal, and nothing hypomanic either, but up and down between 'marginally-OK' and 'still depressed'. (2) Benefit seems to be stonger after increasing dose then fade a bit (not certain about this, just a gut reaction).
Also, though mood and motivation are quite a bit better, my thinking remains almost as slow and dull as it was before treatment started. Not the "why did I get in the car? where am I going?" sort of stupidity like two months ago, but I am not able to deal with anything complicated. My job is all about complicated stuff, and I've been marginally functional in my job for months. This is a big problem even if my glass is half full.
I've looked at some old threads that indicate some folks experience loss of efficacy of Lamictal over longer periods. I'd appreciate any insights about what happens on the front end of treatment.
Thanks,
Bryan
poster:BryanII
thread:687160
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060909/msgs/687160.html