You can avoid the nasty rare side effects of Lamictal by very slowly ramping up on the dosage, just like you are doing now. The problem is that the wait for it to reach a good dosage is long. My two good buddies (who confessed that they are bipolar when I told them about my diagnosis) said eventually the Lamictal was good at controlling the depressive episodes.

I am still on the first week of lamictal, taking only 25 mg per day.

It is immensely frustrating, but my NP told me to have patience and is giving me other stuff to help stabilize my mood. Lucky for me the Zoloft switched me out of a horrid severe depression right into the highest hypomania I have ever had, so I am not having to be depressed while I wait for lamictal to get to a therapeutic level. NO MORE SSRI drugs for me, I had no idea they could precipitate severe hypomania or full mania in people with bipolar II who never would have reached such a level of elevation otherwise...Of course I didn't even know there was bipolar II until last week. (I was originally diagnosed with unipolar postpartum depression, hence the Zoloft). Maybe I should keep the Zoloft to shock me out of the next episode of depression.....just kidding.