Quote:
Originally Posted by RxQueen875
So I'm glad to say that I've been stable for a year now! Thank you lamictal! But I've been taking the same doses of my meds from when I was really bad. Shouldn't they be lowered since I'm good now?? Shouldn't the pdoc take that into consideration? Or maybe I'm wrong? Well when I was doing bad I wasn't sleeping and I was rapid cycling and just angry allll the damn time. So for sleep I was on 600mg of seroquel. Well without my pdoc knowing, I had to cut my seroquel down to 300 because 600 was making me sleep 12+hours AND a nap or two! I can't live like that. Yes I know it's wrong to change up your meds without pdoc knowing but being zombied out was making me feel so bad. But even though I cut the dose down, it's still helping and I've been having healthy sleep patterns for the first time in ages. I'm actually thinking about going down to 200mg now. And then there's lamictal. I'm on 400mg, is that a high dose?? Should I cut it down a bit now that I'm doing good? I do have the fear that taking less will make me bad again though.
Does anyone else's dosage change depending on stability?? Or is it too risky??
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I'm also on Lamictal, same dose as you (400). My pdoc considers it a high dose and that anything more does not have much of a benefit (if any benefit at all). I was on 600 mg of Seroquel too, but I was also feeling zombied out and so tired, although it helped significantly with mixed mania. After a period of time, I actually noticed my mood was better on 400 than 600, since there was less side effects.
You can think about the decision of cutting down on the Lamictal, but talk to your pdoc and it's strongly recommended to do so under supervision, since Lamictal has a lot of serious side effects and withdrawal symptoms without monitoring. I would never mess with tapering down on Lamictal on my own. You might want to consider that if the 400 mg of Lamictal is benefiting you, then maybe you want to avoid cutting down on it, if it's not causing any harm? 400 mg of Lamictal gives me no side effects, so I stay on that dose.
The Seroquel on the other hand, the less I need, the better due to the side effects. I've been guilty of cutting down Seroquel myself. Luckily, my pdoc agrees with adjusting the Seroquel as needed. I try to stay at 400 mg, which is a happy medium and only reserve 600 + for severe mania/mixed mania/psychosis. She told me anything lower than 300 mg is more of a sleep medication than mood stabilizer, but since you mentioned you use it primarily for sleep....then it's something to consider and talk about next time with your pdoc.
You can maybe try making just a slight change (with your pdoc's permission), and if there's any warning signs at all, catch it early enough to go back to your previous dose. Just throwing things out there! Bottom line: talk to your pdoc about your thoughts on this, since it's well worth discussing to make decisions.