Posted by bleauberry on February 13, 2010, at 17:31:39
In reply to rapid cycling caused by lamictal?, posted by tebasmm on February 12, 2010, at 20:27:19
In the short-run probably the best thing you could do would be to reintroduce some wellbutrin and reduce the lamictal. Maybe not get back to exactly where you started, but at least make a compromise and get halfway there. I think the doctor took you too far too fast by stopping wellbutrin and starting lamictal the way it was done, and compounding the whole mess by adding another new med on top of it all. Geez.
Ya know, I don't put much faith in the names we give this stuff...such as "bipolar"...but ok, let's assume there is enough hint that someone would label you bipolar. With that in mind, that absolute worst thing to do would be to change anything too fast or in large steps. For example, going from 100mg wellbutrin to 0mg is a huge massive step. Going from 0mg lamictal to 25mg lamictal is a huge step. Better...wellbutrin 100mg to 75mg; lamictal 0mg to 12.5mg. Very little moves...so as to avoid the risk of destabilizing anything too much. Stuff is going to get destabilized no matter what, even in someone without any bipolar, and even in a perfectly healthy person doing what was done with your doses...but to keep the destablizing at a bare minimum is crucial. I think too much was done in too short of a time frame.
Lamictal is popular, but lots of people do very poorly on it and deteriorate instead of improve.
Is it possible a med that will "supposedly" benefit you actually do the opposite, create new symptoms that never existed before, create extreme uncomfortableness? The answer is definitely yes, any med can do that.
Some would brush it off as start-up side effects. I know what those look like. In your case, I see other stuff going on that trumps any start-up side effects. Wellbutrin withdrawal is probably the biggest player here, with the introduction of lamictal at the same time making it a double whammy.
In situations like yours I personally feel the best thing to do is get back to the starting line and re-assess. And then, whatever decision is made, do it much more carefully in much smaller steps over a much longer period of time.
Ok, all the above comments are for the short term outlook. For the longterm outlook, but beginning Monday morning, start asking around for another doctor. You don't necessarily need to fire yours outright, but a second opinion is usually a good thing. That said, if you feel your doctor isn't listening and doesn't care, then yes, you should fire him. Be sure to let him know why you are firing him, because he needs some accountability.
I'm not suggesting you do anything I've mentioned. Only that if I were in your shoes, and I have been several times, those are the things I did, and the outcomes had more promising journeys than the one I had been stuck on.
poster:bleauberry
thread:936887
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100204/msgs/936948.html