Posted by polarbear206 on October 21, 2002, at 19:27:06
In reply to Adverse effects from abruptly quitting Lamictal?, posted by Ellen S. on October 20, 2002, at 21:11:32
> > Lamictal.... I couldn't
> > sleep on the stuff to save my life and gained a bunch of weight
> > on it, so I gave it up.
>
> My teenage son has been taking Lamictal (400 mg daily), in addition to Eskalith, Celexa, and Geodon. He doesn't think the Lamictal ever had any positive effect, and we also didn't notice that it helped him any. However, he thinks that it caused irritability and insomnia, so he secretly stopped taking it a few days ago. He says he is feeling better without it.
>
> I am concerned about the possible consequences of suddenly quitting any medication, particularly after being on such a large dose. Setting aside (for the moment) the question of whether he needs this drug, I'm concerned about the possibility of rebound/withdrawal effects. Is there a "Lamictal discontinuation syndrome" for people who were taking this medication for depression or bipolar?? I know that people taking this med for convulsions can suffer from convulsions if they stop it abruptly, but that's not an issue here.Ellen,
Can you tell what doses of the other meds he is on? Perhaps the Lamictal is not able to work right due to the doses of his other meds. High doses of antidepressants can exacerbate mood cycling with bipoolar disorders. Since Lamictal has antidepressant properties in addition to mood stabilizing, he may be on too much of the others. 4 meds may be too much?
Laura
poster:polarbear206
thread:124239
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021019/msgs/124578.html