Hi there – this one i know about.
i’m sure you’ve done your homework on this one, but for a more “user friendly” version of info about Lamictal, try my favorite site crasymeds.ord – here’s a direct link to the Lamictal section: www.crazymeds.org/lamictal.html
also a good idea to read this general stuff about anticonvulsants/Mood stabilizers: www.crazymeds.org/anticonvulsantsSideEffects.shtml
My experiences?
100 mg Lamictal + 300mg Wellbutrin has helped me MORE than any med cocktail to date. my “official” diagnosis is Major Depression + Generalized Anxiety (MDD + GAD), not any form of Bipolar. Sometimes Depression will respond to a lower dosage than BP.
Getting Started?
i used the “Orange” starter kit – 2 weeks on 25, then to 50, then to 100)
i had 3-4 days of side effects when i first started, and each time after that. When i tried the jump from 50 to 100 my body was very unhappy, so we dropped back to 25 mg increases, over 2 weeks. worked fine. Over all, it took me a little over 6 weeks to get to 100mg/day
my pdoc saw me before each increase to see how i was doing. we’d talk about the severity of side effects, what i was doing to combat them. he would strongly encourage me to continue, but the final decision was mine to accept or refuse.
My side effects
lasted about 3-4 days with each increase.
– a kind of an mildly “itchy all over feeling” when this started i took 2 benedryl twice a day, and that made it stop. Check with your doc on that one – some of these meds are a bad risk with benedryl.
– had a mild version of the “famous” Lamictal “headache from hell.” sometimes aspirin helped, sometimes not. the non-aspirin stuff doesn’t work for me.
– some stomach pain, little nausea, some bowel “irregulatities”
– dry mouth – i NEEDED to carry water around with me’
– some increased drowsiness. this hung on the longest.
It’s real important to take Lamictal at the same time every day.
when my dosage was between 100-150, i took a split dose – 1/2 at about 8AM, the second half about 4 PM (8 hours apart). When the dose went to 175, changed to 8AM and 6PM (10 hours) this is just to keep the level in the blook more “even”
Other things:
– it’s considered weight neutral (hooray)
– dream pattern changes – mine got way more vivid
– some hair fallout issues – it grows back
– some issues with birth control/estrogen and Lamictal levels, one effects the other-- affected when i went off hormone replacement therapy.
– some cognitive issues – forgetting words, the wrong word popping out in the middle of a sentence. i’m having this.
there are also side effects i DIDN’T get. As with all these meds, YMMV.
Despite that, i fight through the side effects to stay on it. I’ve never had any problems with THE Rash. I love what it has done for me.
if you want, i can send you more detailed info, or maybe add to my journal more about my experiences and about my upward titration.
If it works, people LOVE it. If it doesn’t then people hate it. but isn’t that the case with all of these meds.
this one takes a bit more patience than others i think, but for me it was well worth it. that’s why i haven’t given up on my 150 to 200 increase, although it’s been very tough.
Good luck.
hugs and peace,
c.
