[kazine]

Okay my official diagnosis is Borderline Personality Disorder but pretty certain I have Bipolar II as well but my psych seems to think not... I have severe depressive episodes that last 4-5 months and have had episodes of what I believe to be hypomania... I get:

- High Energy Levels
- Unrealistically High Self Esteem
- Inability to sit still
- Rapid speech
- Hypersexuality
- Increased Motivation
- Decreased Need For Sleep
- Short Attention Span

The Quetiapine also completely got rid of both the depression and the hypomanic symptoms, which adds to my suspicions that I'm BPII.

My psych even said that everything I described was textbook Bipolar so I don't really understand why she doesn't think I have it... Anyway that's why I'm posting here and not in the BPD forum, also because I know more people are likely to have been on Quetiapine/Lamotrigine.

Coming off Quetiapine I am hoping that I will lose weight... I am currently taking 600mg in 150mg tablets. Have people lost weight easily coming off Quetiapine? Also has anyone put weight on with Lamotrigine? The sleepiness and the weight gain are the reasons I'm coming off Quetiapine in the first place and I'm hoping I will lose a fair bit of weight when I finally come off it...

Also what is it like adjusting back to sleeping unmedicated? I can get to sleep on 150mg as long as I take it early enough, but how easily will it be to go from 150mg to 0? My psych said that Quetiapine is less sedative as the dosage gets higher? I think that's #######4, I get knocked out more with 600mg of it than I do with 50mg of it...

What are all experiences with Lamotrigine? Like I asked, weight gain? It put my BPII ex in hospital as he got that rare rash disorder, so he wasn't on it long enough for me to really get a good picture of what it's like. I've read that it's the first choice and most effective medication for BPII so my hopes are high for it. Just hoping to get rid of the heavy sedative and the weight gain!

Kaz x

[hamster-bamster]

I am not sure but I believe that rapid speech is Bipolar I, not II.

[BipolaRNurse]

I put about 15 lbs on with Lamictal, but I think it had more to do with the mixed episode I was going through at the time I started it. Then I gained another 25 practically overnight with Zyprexa. Now I've lost all of it and then some, and am at a lower weight than I've been in almost 3 years. I'm on Geodon now and I haven't seen any change in weight---maybe up a couple of pounds, but nothing I'm alarmed about as my appetite still isn't very big.

Some people lose weight on Lamictal, but I wouldn't count on it.

[emgreen]

I've been on lamictal (250 mg) for several years & experienced no weight gain until I went on seroquel & zyprexa at the same time (talk about ballooning up!). Most of the literature suggests that lamictal is fairly weight neutral. It's been an effective mood stabilizer for me. I think everyone's weight can fluctuate 5-10 pounds, but I gained 60 pounds in 6 months on the seroquel & zyprexa. I've only been off of them for a few months, so it's too early to tell how much of the weight gain was metabolic & how much was the increased appetite these meds caused.

[cool09]

Pressured speech is BP symptom.

Been on lamictal since 2003 at all sorts of doses. Does not do a thing for me and no side effects at all. But I'm not classic BP I'm mixed manic I believe (don't really experience extreme highs but racing thoughts, agitation, irritability, poor concentration, etc.).

Lamictal is an anti-convulsant and used mainly for BP that are hypomanic and lean more towards the depressive side.