Lamictal

So I recently switched insurance and doctors and my new doctor is even more convinced than the last that I have biploar, or possibly bipolar 2 disorder. Right now I'm on abilify, wellbutrin, viibryd, adderall, and trazadone along with clonazepam for anxiety. As you can see my treatment is mostly for depression which is what I am formally diagnosed with along with adhd.

This new doctor mentioned lamictal to me and even the idea of tapering off of other antidepressants and starting lamictal alone. I've already read some scary side effects but I've also read that it can be very helpful for bipolar 2.

Does anyone here have any experience with lamictal? I'm most concerned with cognitive impairment. Does it make you feel dopy or dumbed down at all?

I took it for years and years. It is a very popular med to prescribe for bipolar. However, the doc thought I was building a toxic level in my body. I began having problems such as just sort of shuffling along and facial movement problems. They did go away after I stopped taking it. I haven't heard of anybody else with this problem. I was taking a high dose, as I said, for many, many years. I don't know if I was being dumbed down by it, but I was dumbed down some. But I was taking a cocktail of meds....

The concern about antidepressants for bipolars is that they are thought to sometimes trigger mania.

I take lamictal, it was the first mood stabilizer I was given at my diagnosis. It did not dumb me down or make me woozy. It does take a bit of time to get up to therapeutic dose because of the slow titrating regimen.

been on 200 for 2 weeks and I'm still depressed.

hope it works for you.

I got no side effects except I have to wake up in the middle of the night to piss.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments. Maybe I'll give this a go once we get all my current meds sorted out. The dr. is concerned that the antidepressants might be causing my hypomania. It would be nice to only have to take one med instead of a coctail but I won't get my hopes up yet.

I've been on Lamictal for a couple of years. I'm on 400 mg right now. It seems to work pretty well for me. It's not perfect, but it keeps my mood swings to a minimum.

I haven't been on it for long enough to say if it works or not. I haven't been feeling any side effects expect that I'm shedding a lot, though I'm not sure if lamictal is the cause.

I'm on 50mg and aside from some headaches, itchy skin, and joint pain, none of the side effects have been too bad. I felt a little dopey during the first week, but that could have been the Abilify that I started at the same time. I feel fine now.

I'm on 50 mg going up and it's been fine. I haven't had any side effects and have had a little more energy.

Been on Lamictal for a year and a half. I've definitely had some cognitive changes and hair loss, but then I'm on a whole cocktail of meds and any or all of them could be responsible. It's been great for keeping me out of bad depressive episodes and reducing intrusive thoughts, and it's also cheap---I only pay about $25 for a 90-day supply.

I know Abilify made me dopey for the first few days, I felt way out of it too. That went away though.

Lamictal has actually been working for me for a while and their hasn't been any really bad side effects. I have lost 30lbs on it so that's always a plus.

One of reasons I ended up on a new stabilizer (lamictal) was because the old pdoc took my old mood stabilizer away thinking I was wrongfully diagnosed and left me my antidepressant. And Like Payne1 said, it can cause mania and for me it did landing me in a hospital for a 72 hr suicide watch.

I've been taking lamictal for several years now, and I don't experience any negative effects. I've had a good bit of depression, but then I have had a potful of powerful stressors. I don't think my pdoc wants to change anything right now because what's affecting my mood is external. If things calm down, then we'll see. I like my pdoc....he actually listens to me.

Have you had your thyroid checked recently? Hypothyroidism can cause hair loss.

I'm on 200 mg of lamictal. I don't think it makes me feel dopey or dumbed down. I think it's the waxing and waning of my depression that makes me feel that way. Funny how a couple of women (?) have been talking about hair loss. Since I started lamictal, I've been losing tons of hair. Luckily I have a lot to begin with.

Too true. Good thought! But I get my thyroid checked every six months because I fit the profile of a hypothyroid patient, and the last one (in May) was perfect. So I seriously doubt that's my issue.

I have been on lamectil for years. No side effects at all. i take 250 mg a day.

Been on Lamictal for about 8 years now. I don't remember experiencing any side effects and it has been and continues to be a miracle worker for depression. Not for mania, though. I take Seroquel for that. But I love Lamictal. I think it's actually the only med I've never felt any side effects from. Wellbutrin can be super-activating and certainly was for me (a long time ago, before I was diagnosed); I think if you're going to take an anti-depressant with Bipolar, it's not a good one to go with. Good luck, hopefully this new medication combo will work for you!

Thank you everyone you guys are great! I feel much better about possibly trying this drug out now that I've heard all your feedback. I wish you all the best in your own struggles!

I'm really encouraged by people's positive responses to Lamictal. I just started it around 6 weeks ago but recently got up to my 100mg target dose since we were slowly increasing 25mg/week. I'm still not feeling the benefits of it but I'm trying to be patient because I've heard good things about it... and so many of you just reported positive experiences.

I'm on really similar meds as you. I've been on Abilify and Wellbutrin (although I don't think I was taking the simultaneously) and I'm currently on Klonapin and Adderall (among Lamictal, Geodon, and Pristiq). While I haven't felt the benefits of the Lamictal yet, I haven't had any side effects either. I believe that starting the medication slowly and building it up helps counteract the scary side effects (my pdoc did this slower than usual because of the scary rash thing). I feel like Lamictal may work.

As for the dopey ness... I feel like the Klonapin effects me more-- do you take yours as needed or daily? I take mine every night so I get the benefits without feeling foggy. The adderall also helps me focus... there's the option of increasing your Adderall dosage if you do feel foggy/out of it.

I've been on Lamictal for about 6 weeks now. I feel a huge difference in my depression. I have experienced a lot of hair loss but I had that on Cymbalta. I was hoping it would stop after getting off Cymbalta. I really like it but don't want to be bald. Lamictal is known for causing thinning hair.

It's what I was prescribed, so reading through the thread helped me in a way, too.

Er, my doctor told me the most common side effect is a skin rash and that if I get that to call them ASAP. The thinning hair is a little unsettling, though. Heh.

I <heart> Lamictal. Been on it as my only psych medicine for about 2 years and the mania is pretty well under control. I still have down-down phases so I'm planning on starting another search for the right anti-depressive.

I love Lamictal. No problems with it whatsoever.

I still take an antidepressant and an AP to manage depression and racing thoughts, but I am convinced that Lamictal saved my life.

It has done a great job for managing my long term moods and has really helped with my anger problems.

I've been on Lamital for a couple of years. I still go through the motions but hardly ever experience hypomania. I do still get depressed but I think it's a good stable drug.