Posted by blueboy on July 28, 2008, at 9:46:11
In reply to Re: Lamictal - Strange heartbeat/Anxiety » SLS, posted by mjbogdanov on July 21, 2008, at 7:24:46
SLEEP: I'm extremely susceptible to various types of insomnia. My experience so far is that my sleep has become better on Lamictal. Well, MUCH better, although how much of that I can attribute to the Lamictal, I am not certain.
Rozarem gave me exactly zero help. I might as well have been taking a placebo, even at 8 times the recommended dosage. But I would be loathe to take a benzo every day, as I have problems with addiction anyway.
There are a lot of excellent fairly new drugs, such as Ambien, Sonata and Lunesta, that provide good drowsiness with minimal side effect and no proven habituation or addiction. (Not extremely new -- Ambien has in fact gone off patent in the US and is available as a generic.)
SIDE EFFECTS:
I have learned to be very careful attributing even marked changes as side effects of a drug unless they are downright bizarre. When I started taking Lamictal, I got a rash that I had never had before, and it scared the hell out of me due to the potential for severe or even fatal Stevens-Johnson rash.
I went to a dermatologist on an emergency appointment and she told me that the rash positively was not caused by a drug. I've had the same type of thing happen several times.
The reason I say all this, is that I have experienced racing heartbeat and arrhythmia when I go to bed on occasion, unrelated to a drug (afaik). One thing that definitely causes it in my own case is excessive sugar or refined carbohydrates. I also seem to experience it as an "anxiety attack" when I have been through a bit of stress.
It's a horrible sensation, but not physically harmful, in my case, although I would be loathe to tell someone that any heart symptoms were not serious. I actually had more extensive tests, including a stress test and an echocardiogram.
Someone posted that this is not a listed side effect for Lamictal; on the other hand, it doesn't sound totally off the wall to me.
One note: The most attractive thing about Lamictal to me is its low incidence of side effects. It is probably the only thing I have ever taken that has any beneficial effect, and almost zero side effects.
The other choices for mood stabilizers have a reputation for noticeable to severe side effects.
> Not sure where things are now with increasing dose. Last appointment wasn't a good one, mainly arguing with the doc about trust issues. I've only been seeing him for a few months. He said that if I don't trust him, I should see someone else.
He sounds like a jerk. A lot of pdoc's (and physicians in general) have their own issues, and it sounds to me like he is immature and has issues with his own self-confidence.
One would expect a doctor to take the patient's complaints seriously, even if he didn't think the drug was causing them. If he is that threatened by such complaints, I would find another doctor ASAP. I consider his attitude *extremely* unprofessional and unsatisfactory.
The same thing happened to my (90-year-old) mother recently, only it was an internist who grabbed a package of Elevil and told her to take it (not for depression -- I think it was for fibromyalgia). When she told him she had taken it before and it caused too many side effects, he got furious, actually yelled at the old girl about "trust" and stomped out of the room!
So I'll tell you what I told her. Don't go back to the guy, period. Any doctor whose ego is threatened by a patient complaining of side effects -- well, let's just say, I'd run the other way.
poster:blueboy
thread:838791
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080727/msgs/842543.html