Posted by SLS on March 20, 2010, at 7:00:19
In reply to Re: Lamictal: Bipolar II dosing difficulties, posted by MistressJes on March 20, 2010, at 2:31:45
> Well, when I first started the 100mg, I started getting anxious and extremely irritable. Then, about two days later, I launched into hypomania for 3 days
Have you experienced mania before? Under what circumstances. Is it hypomania, or is it a more severe mania? Do you cycle?
> after which I promptly crashed hard and fast into depression.
Ouch. That sucks. That initial swing into depression is often the worst.
> However, the hypomania wasn't dysphoric...in fact, it was pretty stellar.
As you found, allowing mania to develop can set one up for a depressive switch. It is usually just as important to treat the mania as it is the depression. There are some exceptions. These involve a stable hypomania that does not interfere with one's daily function. This is an infrequent occurrence, though.
> You think maybe the dose is actually too low at 100mg even thought I felt good at 50mg?
This is usually the case with Lamictal. Sometimes, one will begin experiencing cognitive and memory impairments as the dosage is increased. This can limit dosage. However, most people do fine at 200mg.
> This crap is rediculously complicated to figure out...
It certainly can be.
It is sometimes difficult to avoid the temptation to attempt to predict with certainty the outcome of treatmtent. The presentations of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder involve a heterogeneity of biology and treatment outcomes.
If bipolarity is involved in your case, you might need a mood stabilizer or antipsychotic to temper and stabilize your mood while you continue your treatment with Lamictal. Lamictal is not much of an antimanic agent.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:940027
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100318/msgs/940146.html