Posted by Cindylou on February 13, 2002, at 15:06:40
In reply to Re: Lamictal - is it useful for unipolar depression?, posted by Bekka H. on February 11, 2002, at 17:23:43
Hi Bekka,
Thought I'd throw in my 2 cents here. I have tried adding stimulants to Lamictal and CANNOT TOLERATE them AT ALL -- even in small doses. The combo actually makes me quite sick -- dizzy, nauseated. I'm not the best person to compare yourself with, because I am so med-sensitive it is ridiculous -- even without the Lamictal the stims would work great for a few days, but then I'd crash and be worse off than before.As far as Lamictal helping depression alone ... I don't think it does a great job. It has definitely helped my anxiety, but as far as depression goes, I am just barely keeping my head above water. I've described it before as being like a "safety net," keeping me from hitting the all-time lows.
My problem is, like you, I have a hard time combining meds. I tried adding Prozac last month and got quite sick again. I am going to try some crazy low dose -- like 1 mg of Prozac through a dropper!!! -- to see if that may help.
Best of luck to you! Isn't a bummer not being able to tolerate polypharmacy :(
Take care and keep us posted,
cindy> > I find it to be a gem for unipolar depression (along with Zoloft) and for me there are no side effects other than some itching, which went away after awhile.
> >
> > > Is Lamictal helpful for unipolar depression, or is it only appropriate for bipolar depression? I have unipolar depression.
> > >
> > > About six years ago, I was given Depakote to "augment" the antidepressant I was on at the time. The Depakote made my depression much worse and it brought a lot of other problems with it (bleeding, hair loss, etc.), so I am very wary of anti-convulsants being used for depression.
> *************************************************
>
> Hello, Hattree. Thanks for your reply. Have you ever combined Lamictal with stimulants (like Dexedrine, for example?). One pdoc told me that Lamictal had to be combined with an antidepressant, not a stimulant, to be effective. I have a lot of trouble with polypharmacy (I think my liver enzymes are out of whack), so I like to take as few meds as possible at any one time. Any luck with Lamictal plus Dex. WITHOUT an antidepressant?
poster:Cindylou
thread:93373
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/94011.html