Lamictal has always been more activating for me than sedating. I remember the first time I was put on Lamictal, I was also on Abilify. The start of that period was pretty darned nice. I specifically remember getting back into dancing (I took 2 to 3 ballroom/Latin dance classes per week for a while), working at least part-time again, if not full-time, and having tons of energy. I believe I reached a dose of 300 mg, at my max. Unfortunately, the "activation" became too much and I became full blown manic and hospitalized. I have bipolar disorder type 1 and historically lean much more to the manic side. I think that many many people who don't, get an extreme benefit from Lamictal and don't have the issue I had with over activation.

The second time I was put on Lamictal, it was following a long period of pure depression. Yes, I have had them, and one particularly bad one. I had recently finished a series of ECT treatments, but decided to stop ECT. Unfortunately, the depression started to come back, but I didn't want to have more ECT. My doctors totally overhauled my medications. The new medications helped a little, but it wasn't until Lamictal was added to that mix that I finally started to come out of the depression. Just as with unicornlady, the starter doses of 25 mg and 50 mg didn't improve my situation, but when I reached 75 mg, I was seeing a difference. By 100 mg, I was actually starting to get hypomanic. My doctor decided to keep me on the 100 mg, but add more antipsychotic. I have been on that 100 mg of Lamictal for about eight years now. I do realize that most people need a higher dose than 100 mg. As Wild Coyote wrote, people respond differently.