It took me until I hit 125 mg before Lamictal did much for me. After that the depression got better fast, and a side benefit was that it took away my desire to overeat compulsively. I did have to go higher on it over time. I don't think it does much for the manic side of things, but a big bump up from 300 to 400 mg in the hospital really helped with my suicidal depression and it's never been that bad since then.