I'm really sorry to hear this, Beth. As far as Lamictal goes, it's the other way around. It's supposed to prevent depression, but it does nothing (as far as is known) for mania. But it's also mostly a preventative med, so once you have acute depressive symptoms, it's typically too late for Lamictal to help much with that (at least that's what the guidelines say, and it's my experience as well). Are you taking any meds that are helpful with acute depression? Have you spoken to your Pdoc about a possible med change? I really hope there's something that can be done to make this better for you.