![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by DoYouKnowHim? on June 4, 2005, at 10:39:01
That's what I have. But I read it is for bipolar. Anyone have any experiences with Lamictal? Please help.
Posted by Nickengland on June 4, 2005, at 11:43:00
In reply to Can you take Lamictal for anxiety/depression?, posted by DoYouKnowHim? on June 4, 2005, at 10:39:01
Hello there :-)
I've taken Lamictal on its own before (i'm bipolar) and was using it when I was very depressed, I suffer with anxiety too.
For me personally I found it to act very much like an anti-depressant and not like a mood stabiliser.
I think it would be a good alternative for depression compared with the more traditional anti depressants eg SSRI's etc..
Theres actually study here in England going on I think which is comparing Lamictal to SSRI's for the use of depression in bipolar disorder.
Sadly my experience was not so good. I suffered from pretty bad insomnia, also I found it not help for anxiety what so ever...in fact it *increased* my existing anxiety and after about 6 weeks this was the main reason I stopped taking it.
On the positive side though, from the first dose I took, (i remained at 25mg the lowest dose when I took it) Lamictal had an immediate effect on lifting my depression. The anxiety though was just too much, to the point of being unbearable. I think some people, in fact the majority have good results...Only way you're know is to try it..
Hope this helps
kind regards
Nick
Posted by DoYouKnowHim? on June 5, 2005, at 9:11:43
In reply to Re: Can you take Lamictal for anxiety/depression?, posted by Nickengland on June 4, 2005, at 11:43:00
Did you ever think about taking something along with the Lamictal to work on the anxiety? It is very interesting what you say because I, too, feel like my depression is lifting a little bit after two days on the med. However, my anxiety is about the same. I take Klonpin (3mg) per day for anxiety. The pdoc told me if anxiety continues, she will consider adding Seroquel to what I am already taking. What do you think about that?
Posted by Nickengland on June 5, 2005, at 12:18:21
In reply to Re: NickenGland, posted by DoYouKnowHim? on June 5, 2005, at 9:11:43
Yes I guess you could add Seroquel to see if it will help - then you'll have do deal with the extra side effect from that though...
For me personally I think like this..if I take a medication it can do either 3 things.
1. Can make you feel better
2. Can me the feel the same as you're original symtoms
3. Can make you feel worse
If I get 2 or 3 then I don't bother continuing the medication. For me personally, I like to stick with as less medication as possible.
I guess you have to way up the pro's and con's of the side effects compared to the benefit of the med. For me lamictal did more bad than good and for that reason I didn't think it was a good idea to keep taking it...I could of tried something like clonazepam, but my psychiatrist here in england wouldnt give it to me as there so strict about benzos here.
Heres another example, say you have a cough and cold -you go to the doctor and he gives you a med, but then you get a chest infection from that med....so do you take yet another medication to counter the chest infection or to you stop the first medication which will stop the chest infection?
Do you feel overall the benefits of the lamictal out-weight the bad side effects?
Posted by theo on June 5, 2005, at 12:58:12
In reply to Can you take Lamictal for anxiety/depression?, posted by DoYouKnowHim? on June 4, 2005, at 10:39:01
> That's what I have. But I read it is for bipolar. Anyone have any experiences with Lamictal? Please help.
Lamictal is not good for anxiety, for me. It made my OCD kick in high gear where I would do weird stuff like if I hit a pothole with my left tire, I would have to go back and hit it with my right tire. It was maddening.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.