Posted by SLS on July 19, 2006, at 6:20:37
In reply to Re: lamictal not working? » Phillipa, posted by greywolf on July 18, 2006, at 23:44:35
> Phillippa, my layman's understanding is that there is no reliable way of establishing therapeutic blood levels of Lamictal, and that the experience of a benefit varies widely regardless of titration method.
>
> I don't know how reliable Crazymeds is overall, but it does have a pretty good analysis of Lamictal. It and other med sites have suggested that while the rule of thumb is to shoot for the 100-200mg range, some people have a positive response much earlier in treatment and at lower dosages.
>
> I'm very concerned with this drug to take it as slow as I can and identify any positive response at the earliest possible stage. I've been on so many other meds where I was either started off at too high a dose or was increased too soon or didn't get far enough that I want to squeeze everything I can out of this one. Especially since they can't add in additional meds I need for the OCD until they get the BP under control.
Lamictal can be a tease.It will give you a short burst of improvement at dosages as low as 25-50mg and again upon dosage increases. You are lucky if it sticks at 200-300mg. Some people even get a brief kick from it when they reduce the dosage. You can become convinced that you need dosages between 300-400mg because lowering the dosage brings on depression. However, this might actually be a rebound depression that passes within a day or two, allowing you to find a lower dosage to stabilize at.
Of course, Lamictal does work more reliably for many people.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:667484
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060717/msgs/668206.html