[BipolaRNurse]

Is it possible..........I just started on this med last Friday, and already I feel like maybe---just maybe---I'm going to pull out of this 3-months-long mixed episode someday.

I'm sure it doesn't hurt that my worry over my sister's surgery and slow recuperation is going away (she's doing well now), or that my son and I are not fighting. But I've noticed a slight but definite improvement in my ability to concentrate at work---I'm not quite as scattered, and today I've actually accomplished something. I've also slept better the past 2 nights than I have in months.

Seems like it's a little soon for a small dose of anything to have any effect, but for the first time in what feels like forever, I'm thinking that maybe this long nightmare does have an end and that one day I'll be "normal" again.....whatever that is.

[kindachaotic]

Lamictal worked slow for me but had to increase slowly because of possible rash side effect.
Been on it now for years & has worked well for me. Always have some low level of depression but can't take Ad's because they thro me into mania.
Hope this continues to work & pulls you out of the slump.

Take care.

[BipolaRNurse]

My pdoc started me on a very low dose as well (25 mg. daily and will titrate up every 2 weeks as tolerated). Obviously, I desperately want this to work, along with the Celexa I was put on in January (which made the hypomania even worse at first) and the lorazepam I was already on. Being a nurse, I'm way too conversant with meds in general to be able to just stand back and observe how something affects me, and of course I really want life to be simple and for me to be stabilized on the first BP med I try.

So maybe I'm a bit premature....but I can't deny the fact that it's there, a tiny pilot light of hope burning in the distance.

[moremi]

I think its great that you're so positive. Keep that positive outlook. I think that has a lot to do with things. Hope it works great for you. Sounds good so far.

I had been in a bad depression for several months when I statred Lamictal. I can't remember the exact time frame but I know that I started to feel better in a short amount of time. I have been on it for 15 months & I'm doing really well. Good Luck to you!

[BuggsBunny]

If you already have some Lamictal in your system and are just raising the dose, I'd say it could show a change in as little as a week. At least, it did for me, last time we raised the dose. It was a small change at first, a glimmer of hope, then about a week later settled into a permanent change.

I hope the same is happening to you!

[BipolaRNurse]

This is great information! I'm almost afraid to hope......when I started the Celexa in late January, it helped with the depression part of the episode, but did absolutely NOTHING for me in reducing my anxiety or helping me gather my scattered thoughts. It also didn't help with sleep or with being able to concentrate at work.

Now I feel like I'm calming down a little; today, I didn't even fly into an instant rage when someone (who didn't know what the F he was talking about) tried to blame me and my staff for a resident having a stroke earlier this week. That would've sent me into orbit a week ago. Today, I just thought "hey dude, you can believe what you want to believe, I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it, it's not worth my time to explain it to you and it's none of your dang business anyway".

Yep.......better days are coming. At least I can see 'em from here.

[PrincessxKitty]

i was on a good/stable dose (at the time; 100mg) until i stopped for a couple of months due to insurance issues. i had to restart at 25 mg 1 1/2 months ago and i'll be back to 100 by monday.
i was in a baaad mixed state this past week and half; i'm thinking it might have to do with the lamictal (partly), but i'm not completely sure.

hopefully when u get to ur therapeutic dose you'll feel better

[AniManiac]

Titrating up on Lamictal made me rapid cycle hard. Even though things were improving, I was ready to give up on it because it was so difficult to have such violent mood swings so fast. But since I got to stable (which took two months), it has been great.

[BipolaRNurse]

I was doing the rapid cycle thing before I started the Lamictal, so the calming effect is most welcome. I have yet to titrate up---I start the new dose this Friday---so I hope I don't have anymore drowsiness, that's the one side effect that's been hard to manage. But I'll put up with whatever I have to if this stuff keeps me mellow.

[nacht]

I think like what seems like anything else with psych meds, it really depends on the person. I didn't personally notice a major difference until 100mg, though that could have been because I hit a mixed episode while still on a low dose of the stuff (50mg).

[amaviena]

didn't notice a major diff until 100mg. I'm on 150 now.

[BipolaRNurse]

That's kinda what I was thinking....it seems a little soon, and my current dose a little low, to be doing much at this stage of the game. Maybe it's just the placebo effect---like when you're sick and then feel a little better when you get to the doctor's office because you know you really ARE going to feel better soon.

But there's no question that I'm sleeping better and I can even stay focused at work, at least for a little while, which is a big improvement over the way it was in the middle of that mixed episode. I had the attention span of a flashcube then; now I can work on something for as long as 15-20 minutes at a time. Which is still a ***** when I have a stack of new orders to go through and check off against the medication records, because I hate that part of my job and it takes at least 30-45 minutes every freaking day. But it's better, and for now that's all I can ask for.

[cocoabeans]

It took a long time! I was on 400 mgs at one point and that gave me a major case of the stupids and I was still depressed. We combined that with Celexa and my personality ceased to exist. My thoughts wouldn't come to me. That happens to some so, beware the stupids. On the plus side though, the ridiculously boring and menial tasks that your job requires will become even more tolerable. Just hope no one asks you a question

[amaviena]

400 mg made me stupid and caused more problems. Whatever is the lowest dose that you can function the best at is good. You'll know it when you get to too much.

[BuggsBunny]

I'm currently on 400 mgs of Lamictal and I haven't been feeling particularly stupid. I can still teach just fine, so it must be that some people react differently than others.