Posted by SLS on January 25, 2008, at 5:23:36
In reply to Re: Scared to start Gabitril -increases anxiety? » SLS, posted by okydoky on January 20, 2008, at 12:18:17
Hi okydoky.
Sorry for the delay...
> I wanted particularly to ask someone about Lyrica and Lamacitl.
>
> My urologist put me on Lyrica for pain. It worked great for pain decreased my anxiety wonderfully but worsened my depression for several weeks after I went off of it. I was able to take less oxycontin because of it. I originally thought that was why my depression worsoned.
>
> He tried lamactil because he said it was chemically similar? I am so foggy now it did not occur to me until yesterday that perhaps that taking the lamactil for two weeks increased my depression in the same way. Do you think this could be the case?No. I have not yet seen it exacerbate depression. However, it can produce a "brain fog" or memory and cognitive impairments. This happens in a minority of people. Sometimes, lowering the dosage helps with this.
> Perhaps I will begin feeling better in a week or two then. I hope.
You really can't expect much from Lamictal unless you work up to 200mg. So, your countdown should begin one you reach that dosage. In my experience, Lamictal offers an augmenting effect to standard antidepressants as compared to monotherapy. For bipolar disorder, however, Lamictal can be an effect adjunct to lithium and other mood stabilizers.
Lyrica is a different drug altogether. It is more like Neurontin than Lamictal. That Lyrica and Neurontin help with pain is not unexpected.
Good luck.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:803159
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080124/msgs/808832.html