Asking for a miracle?

Hello all,

Frustrated with my mood stabilizer, lamictal. My skin is terrible and I feel dull. I am on 250mg.

Maybe I am asking for a miracle here, but does anyone know of a mood stabilizer that: does not cause acne and does not cause weight gain?

My shrink has mentioned some alternatives in the past, but I don't know the side effects. One was valproic acid and the other was carbemazepine. Any experience with these drugs?

I know we all respond differently to meds, but I feel pretty directionless right now.

Thanks for you answers.

I've been on both. Valproic acid made me feel like any feelings where to far away and wrong to express. It's also big pills 2x a day. I stopped taking it because I was scared of weight gain. The carbemazepine I believe that one was good but made my food taste weird and that was unacceptable given my eating disorder past.

Tazorac for acne does wonders for my skin. It is very expensive but a little goes a long way. I get my prescription from a dermatologist, but perhaps a GP can prescribe as well - I do not know. I highly, highly recommend it. It beat Retin-A (although is chemically similar to it). It also helps prevent wrinkles. My 14-y-o daughters sometimes tells me in amazement "Mommy, you do not have wrinkles yet you do not go to skincare places". This is true. I bet Tazorac is to thank for that.

I responded well to Carbamazapene, no side effects and certainly no acne... I hope you find a solution, lithium gave me my very first experience with acne, so I understand your frustration...

Thanks for this! I will ask my family GP to prescribe it when I see her in September. I hope this will work or I am ready to pitch the lamictal.