Quote:
Originally Posted by joe50000
It's terrible, but i'm glad i'm not alone. When I get depressed, I have to constantly reassure myself. But the problem is that when I become hypomanic, I become egomaniacal and I totally lose control. I don't do anything excessive, but I can't tell myself to calm down properly. If anything, it's the medication that triggers my hypomania, but if I go off them, my depression gets worse. My doc says that it's going to take a while for me to even out, but i've been on my meds for over a year and I don't seem to be getting any better.
I'm on Lamicatal 200mg, Zoloft 200mg, and resperidal. What's the typical dose for lamictal to start working?
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You say that when you go off the meds it triggers your depression, are you stopping and starting your meds on your own? If so that can keep you very unstable. Also a year is a long time to see if a med is going to work for you. I have tried Lamictal but I can't remember the dose. It might be time for a change in meds if you've been taking them as directed and still no change. Or a dosage change.
Moods changing within the day, or hours sounds like it could be ultra-rapid (days) or ultradian cycling (hours). I believe rapid cycling is a little bit slower than this. Also there is often lingering symptoms in many people long after the episode has passed. I rapid cycle and even when I am in a normal me phase, I still have many residual symptoms hanging around.
It can be really complicated to get it all figured out, I would just be persistent with the pdoc about how you feel like the meds are not working. Also are you charting your moods on a mood chart? This would give the pdoc a really good view of how you are fluctuating and help to make a better plan for you.
Lastly rapid cycling (i'm sure you know this) can be a lot tougher to treat with meds. It doesn't always respond to the medications and sadly that means you might not be able to expect really great results with meds. You just have to hang in here and keep plugging away at it. It is frustrating for sure.
