Posted by Ponder on April 24, 2002, at 11:54:18
In reply to Re: Lamictal dose increase-Ponder, posted by Cecilia on April 24, 2002, at 1:02:42
Cecilia, I don't think my dosage increases were as small as yours and my doc allowed larger increases as we progressed. The reasoning there is that increasing from 25 mg to 50 mg is a 100% increase, whereas 50 to 75 is only a 50 % increase etc. But, obviously, your doctor has reasons for wanting to take yours extra-slow. I don't have the clearest of recollections regarding my titration schedule. Increasing as slowly as you are, it is unlikely that you will miss your "window." But, I can see it's taking a lot of patience on your part, when, understandably, you'd like to have some symptom relief yesterday already!
Regarding the effect on the brain of anti-seizure medications, I'd be curious to know your diagnosis, symptoms, meds history, etc. Although most of us on this board have conflicting feelings about having to take meds, there is no question that serious depression, bipolar, etc. has ongoing detrimental effects on brain functioning. So the risk-benefit ratio is always the thing to consider.
> Ponder, how long did you stay on each dose before increasing? It scares me that there might be a therapeutic window that I might pass without realizing it. It`s taken me 4 months already to get up to 156.25 mg., I`ve been increasing by 6.25 mg every 4 to 6 days. If it takes the 400 mg. suggested by Dr. Goldberg, that means maybe another 6 months before I know whether it works. Not that I have any real expectation that it will, nothing else has, and there`s nothing else new on the market to try. But I kind of worry about what taking an anti-seizure med when you don`t have seizures does to your brain. Cecilia
poster:Ponder
thread:103687
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103992.html