[Nessa213]

I've never been on any kind of psychiatric meds in my life. So it's all really new to me.

About 2 months ago my GP started me on norvask (high blood pressure) and OrthoCyclen (birth control). I had been keeping a mood chart prior to starting the birth control and it was remarkable how unstable it initially made me the first month. However, for the last few weeks I had really evened out and felt almost "normal" (whatever that means). And for clarification: my last episode was about a week and a half ago (so sure... not quite a full few weeks) which involved extreme depression and me driving around sobbing in my car for a few hours contemplating whether or not to jump off a bridge.

I saw the pdoc for the first time a few days ago and started on Lamictal, to initially start at 25mg. Even the first day it was a marked change to hypomanic. I don't believe it was all in my head as, to be honest, I wasn't really expecting to do much of ANYthing. And, further, it only lasted about 5 hours. (The last time I was legitimately manic/hypomanic was about mid February and it lasted about 3 weeks.)

Today was insane hard for me. It was quite literally all over the place. (I don't believe I've ever had rapid cycling, but I have a new appreciation for it.) I had extreme paranoia, I had to run to the bathroom at work sobbing about 3 times. (This... WAS situational, however even so, it's highly unusual for me to react like that.) And when I got home from work I was so... angry. So very angry. No one else was here and I started yelling at our poor animals. And now I feel bad and kind of want to cry again. At this moment I kind of just feel lost and would almost be ok with going to bed right now at 7:45. Whereas earlier at work, maybe around 2pm I felt literally on top of the world and was convinced that I was going to stay up late and get a bunch of stuff accomplished.

It's only been a few days, but after being relatively stable for a few weeks (apart from a few "off" days) the sudden change has been quite shocking and I'm not sure if it's due to the added Lamictal or if it is just a coincidence. It IS only 25mg right now.

And now I feel like I have creepy crawlies crawling on me. Ew. (I admit THAT one may very well be in my head.)

How long should I wait before calling the pdoc about it? The next appointment is in about 10 days.

Edit: I just realized how lame it sounds that I consider being "stable" for a week and a half an amazing accomplishment. *blush*

[cool09]

Lamictal is started at 50 mg and increased by 50 every two weeks until therapeutic dose is reached. I think the therapeutic dose is supposed to be 250-350 mg. It has to be administered slowly because it can cause a dangerous rash. (Susceptibility for the rash is higher during the first 6 mths.) I've been on all sorts of doses over last 10 yrs and hasn't done a thing for me.

Wait out the skin-crawling. If it doesn't get better within 4-5 days give your Doc a call I'd say.

[BlueInanna]

My lamictal rx starts me at 25 mg. too. I haven't started the bottle yet. Last time I took it was 2-3 yrs ago for about 5 months. I went off because it made me too sleepy.

But also last time when I started at the 25mg dose I was like you Nessa all over the place for several days. Crying spell at a work event, couldn't stop for at least 4 hours. Then next day I'm in bed with a client , feeling like im on top of the world. It all had to be just getting used to the med for my body.

A phone call with the question to the doctor couldn't hurt. They have time for a phone call.