Posted by rovers95 on October 31, 2006, at 20:04:51
In reply to Re: WOW!!LAmictal is working for me!!! » rovers95, posted by ronaldo on October 31, 2006, at 14:37:27
> Glad you're feeling so good on it, Mark. What dosage did you start on and how long altogether have you been on it? Do you take anything else? I am considering getting my pdoc to prescribe some Lamictal for me. I am a long term Lithium user (like 25 years long) and I want something to combat the flat affect. I also suffer from 'hyperactive, irritable depression'. In my case I think it might be a mixed episode/mood. I am Bipolar. At the moment it is well controlled by 10 mg Olanzapine. I have used Olanzapine for the past four years at 5 mg. Then I came off it, gradual taper... I tried Seroquel for sleep which did not work for me and had to go back on the Olanzapine at 10 mg. My sleep seems to be coming right just in the last few days (touch wood) after a total of 14 days. Has Lamictal had any influence on your sleep? What therapeutic dose are you aiming to get to? I tried amitryptiline, trazodone, and prozac all for about four months each without any relief from my depression/early awakening.
>
> Rather a lot of questions.....I can't stop once I get started. I would really be grateful if you can supply some answers.
>
> ....Alan
>
>hi, wel i started last week on 12.5mg and after 1 week have gone up to 25mg (should have bin 2 but i cheated!) at such a low dose, dont think its a problem (seen as the starter pack they give to neuroligists starts at 50mg!)i am aiming to stay at this dose for two weeks and then titrate up again to 75mg and then 100mg after 6 weeks (hopefully by this time i will be out of the woods for the "rash"!) i will work my way up (maybe even further) and see how i feel until i have gone above my max therapeutic dose!! Think bi-polar target dose may be even higher, but some people get good results at low doses!!
It has effected my sleep in the way that i no longer have nightmares and racing thoughts, today i woke up 10 hours later feeling rested!
i really think my glutamate system is out of wack, due to an intaractable magnesium deficiency which also leaves me with fatigue. Recent studies have shown ketamine to be extremely effective for depression (treatment resistant) by its NMDA antagonist effects.
Although ketamine is not available (for obvious reasons!) lamictal appears to inhibit glutamate and help normalise the HPA axis although it is not a direct NMDA antagonist, im also going to try the low affinity NMDA antagonist memantine (off hand) when i have found my maximum results on lamictal!!!
From what i have read on remedyfind.com bi-polar many people seem to be having great results with it.even better than unipolar depressive people. BTW we are not really sure wot i am but i definetly suffer from anxious hyperactive depression!!
Archived posts on here have also suggested that lamictal and lithium are the perfect match and some have suggested lamictal is just good on its own-guess every1s different so trial and error is the only way forward!!
i am taking SJW and rhodiola wioth minimal results (but hoping lamictal will boost these!). One thing i have found really helpful is l-theanine, as from what i gather have many bi-polars...so might be worth a try?!
hope this can help....also got a bit of a roll with all the info!!!
mark
poster:rovers95
thread:699298
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061028/msgs/699422.html