Posted by baseball55 on March 2, 2015, at 21:22:07
In reply to Re: Lithium or lamictal in unipolar depression? » fido, posted by Phillipa on March 2, 2015, at 20:28:50
Both lithium and lamictal are effective in controlling suicidal urges. Lamictal takes time to use - you need to ramp up the dose over a few weeks before reaching a therapeutic dose in order to minimize the risk of Stephens-Johnson syndrome. My experience with lamictal is that it has no side effects at all, but others on this list have had different experiences.
Lithium is highly effective for suicidal ideation. The doses needed for this purpose are low, so no need to do blood levels or regular monitoring of kidney function, etc. I have found it highly effective for this symptom - more so than lamictal - and, like lamictal, without side effects.
However, I did not find either drug effective against other depressive symptoms. The only drugs that lifted the worst depressive symptoms for me were parnate (MAOI) and abilify. Abilify was like magic for me and is for many people with depression. EPS is rare. However, metabolic problems are not.
MAOIs are very effective treatments for severe depression. Generally have many noticeable side effects, but for treatment resistant depression, the benefits can far outweigh the costs.
poster:baseball55
thread:1077272
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