Hi daisy (err, dasiy?)

I have been taking lamictal since last fall, for Bipolar 2. I am not a medical professional or anything even remotely close, so do talk with your doctor about any suggestions I (or anyone else, for that matter) make regarding your meds. However, I have been on tons of different meds over the years, and do try to read everything I can find about the meds I am taking (call me paranoid, go ahead, I'm used to it!)

My concern for you is that your doctor may have you increasing your dosages too quickly. Others may disagree with me here. But, as an example, here's what I went through to get up to 200mgs. I started off with only 12.5 mgs in the morning. After three days, my doc allowed me to take 12.5 mgs in the morning, and another 12.5 in the afternoon. This lasted at least a week. After having no side effects from that, I took 25 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. After about 3 weeks of that, I took 50 mgs in the morning, and still only 25 in the afternoon. You get the picture. About every 2-3 weeks I increased my dosage by only 25 mgs. Now (5 months later) I am taking 100 mgs in the morning and 100 in the afternoon. My psychiatrist (who has degrees from Harvard, U. of Michigan and UCLA) absolutely forbade me from taking all my Lamictal at once. And I have never had any serious side effects from *any* of my meds, so it's not like she was being extra cautious.

I hope I'm not scaring you or anything. That's not my intention. But I have to believe that if you slowed down your increases the side effects would be less severe. Also, like the last reply said, it will probably take a few months to reach an effective level in your bloodstream. Finally, Lamictal has some anti-depressant characteristics, but it is primarily a mood stabilizer. It isn't surprising to me that you haven't noticed much of a change in your depression if the only med change you've had in the last few months has been to add the Lamictal. Most psychiatrists will only change one med at a time, otherwise they don't know which one worked and/or which one caused bad side-effects. Maybe your doctor is waiting to add more anti-depressant meds *after* the Lamictal has reached an effective level.

I hope that helps. Sometimes, if I feel I get good advice online, or if I feel like a post I made conveyed my feelings particularly well, I will print it out and take the copy in to my doctor. On more than one occasion, my doctor has gotten a better picture of what I'm feeling by reading what I've written as opposed to just hearing it from me. Just an idea.

PM me if you have any questions for me.

Debi

PS: What kind of a doctor is prescribing your meds? A regular physician working w/ a psychologist, or is it a licensed psychiatrist?