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Old May 15, 2011, 10:54 PM
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noneedtoknow noneedtoknow is offline
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Member Since: Mar 2011
Posts: 506
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vossie42 View Post
Hi, everyone! I've posted here only a few times, so I know that ya'll don't know me well at all and may not be able to help. But I'll put it out there anyway.

My pdoc prescribed lamictal to me last spring to replace the lexapro and I have no idea why. I have asked him several times point blank and he refuses to answer. I've had depression since I was a teen and I'm now 42. I was on 40-60 mg lexapro and 120 mg cymbalta for several years. I became rather sedated and still depressed. I was also at risk of developing serotonin syndrome. So I switched doctors and we cut back my meds. After a year I felt I needed something more so he added the lamictal. I wanted to add wellbutrin which I have had good results with before. But I would try lamictal. Well, the lamictal has killed my ability to enjoy anything at all. I no longer have any good moods. Before lamictal, I would have a few minutes a few times a week of feeling okay and maybe even in a good mood. I was disappointed by that but thought that if the lamictal also wiped out the horrible, suicidal lows, that I could work with that. Well, the lows are worse now. I have expressed this to my doctor several times and he refuses to change the meds or provide justification for continuing the lamictal. I have not ever and currently do not display any manic or hypomanic behaviors. I get the feeling I'm a guinea pig in an ill-constructed experiment. I also feel like bipolar is an inappropriate diagnosis for me - if that what my pdoc has diagnosed me as. He won't even share my diagnosis with me. I'm getting frustrated and pissed off.

Am I missing something here that's obvious to others but unknown to me? Or is this a weird situation to you, too?

Let me know if you need more information. Thanks for any help you can give me!

Jen
Wow Jen
I can certainly understand your frustration! You have a right to feel that.
First of all, I am not an MD or Psychiatrist, so I can't really comment about the medication indication other than I know lamictal can be prescribed for BP, mood disorders or depression. I Certainly don't know why in your case.
What prompts me to write back is the fact that your pdoc is not answering your questions about basic things, re: your diagnosis and indications for medications being prescribed. That is just ethically wrong. I would go in there and be right up front and get the answers you need and deserve or I would high-tail my backside out of there and find another provider. I work in the medical field and it is hard for me to imagine a doctor that withholds that kind of information.
Be proactive for yourself-find out what you need to know! Good luck and let us know how it goes!
noneedtoknow
Thanks for this!
Vossie42