Posted by sac on January 9, 2004, at 12:38:23
In reply to Lamictil is NOT a mood stabilizer » Krissy P, posted by BarbaraCat on March 18, 2003, at 15:33:44
This is quite an old post but I am intrigued with this one because I have been having problems with Lamictal. I am Bipolar II and have been on Lamictal on and off (Love/Hate relationship) for the last 2 years. Sometimes, I feel good especially in the beginning of treatment, However this eventually goes away and I am left feeling depressed, apathetic, irritable, and anxious. I keep going back to lamictal because it is supposed to have a good reputation for mood stabilization with good anti-depressant action (which is my main problem.)
So why then, am I feeling so DEPRESSED? Maybe I should give up the lamictal and go for the Lithium. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.> Krissy,
> I have to agree with Ron and Maximus here. You are not, I repeat not, on a mood stabilizer. Lamictal is tossed into that category because of it's anti-epileptic profile but it doesn't work well enough if you need something different. I know this well because I've been in a very similar place to you. I'm fine at 50mg lamictal and if I start increasing I get depressed. I'm on a tricyclic after being on all the SSRI's and SNRI's in the book. The only thing that makes everything else tie together and work is lithium. Without lithium, NOTHING works. Lithium alone does not work but it is a necessary part of my brew.
>
> I HATE taking it because it's caused my hypothyroid condition to worsen and I'm concerned about kidney problems. But I'm only taking 600mg which seems to be the magic number for me. If you have the kind of bipolar syndrome that responds best to lithium, believe me, nothing else is going to work as well. You'll continue to futz around with this med and that. They'll work for a while and then you'll get in that weird mixed hypomanic depressed place again. I can only say to give lithium a try. For what is does, nothing else does it better. After many off/on attempts I am now a greatful believer that sometimes those old fashioned meds work the best - at least for me. As far as the weight, I now feel so much better (since starting nortriptyline) that I'm inspired to exercise like mad and am getting in better shape than ever.
poster:sac
thread:208531
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040109/msgs/298602.html