Posted by SLS on January 20, 2016, at 15:37:06
In reply to lamotrigine's secret property-how significant?, posted by paulb on January 20, 2016, at 14:34:12
> Hi
>
> I am on 75mg Lamotrigine and am starting to feel the benefits of this highly rated medication. However I would like to ask how significant the mysterious anti-glutaminergic property of the drug as described by Stephen M Stahl may be in contributing to its effectiveness in unipolar and bipolar depression. As regards bipolar depression I get the impression from what I have read in books and on the net it may be the best thing to come along since lithium. That it has a license for bipolar 1 is indeed a tribute to how this medication could help a great many people. PBIf you lose the therapeutic effect at 75 mg/day, you will probably recover it at 200 mg/day. It has been my observation that people feel a transient improvement at dosages as low as 50 mg/day. The temporary improvement at low dosage might only last a day or two. Don't be discouraged if this happens to you. It would be very unusual were you to respond well to 75 mg/day. The effective range seems to be 150-300 mg/day. 200 mg/day is the dosage usually arrived at.
How does Lamictal work? I don't think anyone is sure yet. I developed a theory over 10 years ago to explain why Lamictal exhibits antidepressant properties. I have not seen anyone else attempt to explain it. I've written about it here in the past. To summarize:
Lamictal -> reduced glutamate release -> decreased glutamatergic activity in the thalamus and hippocampus -> suppression of glutamatergic afferents to the nucleus accumbens -> disinhibition of dopaminergic neurons -> increased dopamine activity
This is just a theory. I have no evidence to support it. In a way, it doesn't really matter that much - as long as it is safe and effective.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1085595
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20151225/msgs/1085598.html