Posted by Mags on January 2, 2002, at 23:56:20
In reply to Re: Increase of Lamictal dose less effective?, posted by Cindylou on January 2, 2002, at 12:26:19
> Hi Cindy,I don't see my last post so I will send this again....
Don't worry about not positive report...I feel the same. I have been trying tio ignore for days the fact that I am getting very depressed. I am also wondering if I should have left well enough alone. I am at 75 mg. I take 50 at night (midnight) and 25mg at noon. I have less energy than before amd very low. I am going to see my pdoc on the 21st. Iwill see what he says. I keep hoping I will get back the old feeling i had at 25MG.....what a drag this game is...
Mags,
> How are you doing on the Lamictal? Unfortunately, I have to revise my answer to your post now. I increased the Lamictal up to 125 and felt much worse. I decreased back to 100, and am now wondering if I in fact WAS better off on 50 mg, even though my pdoc said there would be no effect until 100 mg.
>
> I'm interested in how you are doing, and sorry for this not-so-positive report.
>
> cindy
>
> > Hi Mags,
> > I am currently up to 100 mg of Lamictal, and like you, I thought I felt quite a bit better right away, at 12.5 and then 25 mgs. However, after 25 mg., each time I titrated up I went through a week of agitation and exhaustion -- the opposite effect of what a mood stabilizer is supposed to do. After about a week, I would start to level off. I kept it up, because my pdoc said there really isn't much of a therapeutic reaction until 100 mg.
> >
> > Now, at 100 mg, I still have the depression, but it feels like I have a "safety net" that keeps me from hitting those all-time lows where I don't see the purpose in living. My anxiety is more under control as well. My pdoc describes me as not having the desperation and urgency as I did before.
> >
> > We are going to try adding Paxil to see if it will help with my depression and social anxiety (which I think is related to my depression rather than being bonified "social phobia." I just feel so insecure, inferior, etc. around other people.)
> >
> > I think we'll hold off on increasing the Lamictal until we see how the Paxil works.
> >
> > Sorry for the rambling message -- I guess the bottom line is that, yes, I did feel an inital lift when I first started the Lamictal, and I don't think it was all in my head. But I'm not really discouraged that it went away, since the Lamictal does seem to be helping "stabilize" me a bit. It's just not acting as an AD right now.
> >
> > Good luck! I think it's worth it to keep it up. I have had the same reactions to meds that you have -- feeling good and then CRASHING big time. It is such a discouraging feeling. I am hoping that Lamictal may help ward off that crash effect.
> >
> > Keep us posted on how you are doing!
> > -cindy
poster:Mags
thread:87753
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011222/msgs/88594.html