[SamuelAdams1313]

400mg lamictal 30mg lexapro..racing thoughts and restlessness are still there..OCD still horrible..only thing that is better is depression/social anxiety..and suggestions/advice?

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by SamuelAdams1313

400mg lamictal 30mg lexapro..racing thoughts and restlessness are still there..OCD still horrible..only thing that is better is depression/social anxiety..and suggestions/advice?

So several things:

1) Lamictal is not supposed to help with racing thoughts

2) Lamictal beyong 200 mg is not beneficial

3) Lamictal is not supposed to help with restlessness

4) Lamictal is supposed to help with depression and apparently is doing the job for you so fine, but I would reduce the dose in half

[SamuelAdams1313]

which meds would help with racing thoughts and restlessness? thanks

[~Christina]

I can't take Lexapro or any other AD .. AD's send me right into a climb up the walls hostile mania.

Maybe you can't take them either? Good question for your Doctor

[hamster-bamster]

Racing thoughts are a symptom of mania, so Lithium, first and foremost, as well as AP's, would help.

Restlessness can be endogenous or medication-induced. Do you know which is yours?

[SamuelAdams1313]

it's definitely endogenous, been struggling with it all my life.

[SamuelAdams1313]

I'm 21 yrs. old have ambitions of going back to school and also playing college football...smart, best athlete to ever come thru my high school...but too many struggles with the mind to ever get to that point...finding the right meds is my only shot...it's so frustrating...feel like jumping out of my skin

[QUOTE=hamster-bamster;2741819]So several things:


2) Lamictal beyong 200 mg is not beneficial

/QUOTE]

Not quite accurate. Most people don't hit a therapeudic dose until they hit 200mg. The usual therapeudic dosage ranges from 200-400mg, with around 300mg being most common. It took to 375mg for me to hit therapeutic dosage.

Racing thoughts are usually best helped medication-wise with anti-psychotics. Lamictal works for mood stabilization, particularly on patients who tend toward depression more than mania.

[SamuelAdams1313]

I was fixing to say my doc says he prescribes up to 500mg..any suggestions on which anti-psychotics i should mention to my doc? thanks

[Confusedinomicon]

Have you been sleeping? Maybe asking for something to help you sleep would make it work more effectively.

[hamster-bamster]

I would try Geodon.

Farmergirl, I am in the middle of a very stressful situation so I cannot find time now but I am positive that I have read an article on PubMed that concluded that Lamictal beyond 200 mg was not beneficial.

[treehugger727]

I take 300 mg of Lamictal and just went down to 100 mg from 200 of seroquel. I couldn't get up in the am. Less racing thoughts for sure but have been feeling depressed lately after coming off a fat hypo or something. All over the place good luck.

[SamuelAdams1313]

can't sleep worth anything..it's never a thorough rest

[Confusedinomicon]

It could be the lexapro.

[Ash0198]

Abilify works well for me with sleep...but it's main purpose to help my psychotic symptoms...it doesn't really help much. I take 200mg of lamictal and it helps with my hypamania but not my depsression...so the complete opposite heh :/

[SamuelAdams1313]

thanks for the input! i'll ask my doc about geodon..i have insurance but is it still rather expensive?

[hamster-bamster]

Geodon is very expensive - even generic Geodon is expensive. But with insurance, probably OK.

[Odee]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

So several things:

1) Lamictal is not supposed to help with racing thoughts

2) Lamictal beyong 200 mg is not beneficial

3) Lamictal is not supposed to help with restlessness

4) Lamictal is supposed to help with depression and apparently is doing the job for you so fine, but I would reduce the dose in half

1) Helped with me, big time. First symptom that went away.

2) Says you, says otherwise a lot of people who have been helped over this dose.

3) Repeated: help with me.

4) If Lamictal only helped with depression, then it'd be an AD and not a mood stabilizer.

I believe that Lamictal can and does help with mood stabilizer on the high and low end of the spectrum. It just isn't the thing for when the highs are really powerful. But when it does help with the highs, the dosages required are much higher than those for depression.

[hamster-bamster]

http://bipolar.about.com/od/lamictal...tal-dosage.htm

for most cases, dosing stops at 200mg

[Odee]

That's not even primary source.

And yes, for most cases is correct. You just can't be telling people that over 200mg is not beneficial as if it can't ever be. Not even M.D. + PH.D can tell you what lamictal is supposed to do at what dose with complete certainty.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Odee

That's not even primary source.

And yes, for most cases is correct. You just can't be telling people that over 200mg is not beneficial as if it can't ever be. Not even M.D. + PH.D can tell you what lamictal is supposed to do at what dose with complete certainty.

I cannot find it now but I have read a study that determined that above 200 mg there is no benefit and just increased risk of side effects.

[Blue Poppy]

hello there,

i have found that certain antidepressants put me in a very restless, agitated state

wellbutrin was the worst

lamictal has helped to stabilize me, although I didn't notice a difference until I reached 300 mg

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

I cannot find it now but I have read a study that determined that above 200 mg there is no benefit and just increased risk of side effects.

Even if a study said this, you have to remember that a study is probably saying this for a certain percentage of patients and almost never says their results apply anywhere near 100% of the time. Kind of like the side effects listed on med spec sheets usually only refer to a very small percentage of occurences. It's all quite relative.

[Odee]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

I cannot find it now but I have read a study that determined that above 200 mg there is no benefit and just increased risk of side effects.

No, I've seen it too and I looked for it.

Increased improvement after 200mg diminished mostly because most people responded at that dose and didn't need anything more. However, the results didn't deadline right at 200mg. >200mg doses have been life savers, including 400mg and above.

Now, I'm not sure who is prescribing OP's meds, but I would say if it were a professional psychiatrist then that psychiatrist likely has a good reason to have attempted an over 200mg dose. If a primary doctor has been prescribing over 200mg....then, oh my....

[Passion222]

Lamictal doesn't help racing thoughts?? Oh boy Hamster--I'm in 250 mg Lamictal. It's too much???