New intro and question about Lamictal

Hi everyone!

A little back story. I just had my first daughter 3 1/2 months go. I have always had a little depression on and off my entire life. When I was 13 I was sent to a psychiatrist who believe I was bipolar, so she put me on Risperdal. According to my parents at the time it made a big difference. I finally decided I didn't want to take it anymore and was put on Zoloft years later which I don't think helped me at all. It didn't make things worse, just no improvement. So I was weaned off of that at my own decision. When I got pregnant, my hormones were just everywhere. That is to be expected. I was hoping after the baby blues, I would finally get my life back. Unfortunately, it just got worse. To the point where I was losing patience way too fast and I was scared I would do something I would pay for and regret in the long run. I wanted to breastfeed for as long as possible (my goal had always been 4 months) but I made it to about 3 1/2 when I decided I needed some intervention (meds). I saw a different psychiatrist (twice) and she diagnosed me with social phobia and bipolar disorder. She prescribed me Lamictal and Trazadone to help me sleep. I'm side eyeing the Traz because I know it is actually an anti depressant too.

What are your thoughts on both of the meds and does anyone have any experience with Lamictal and how was it?

Thanks in advance.

I took trazadone many years ago for sleep and do not remember ever having any problems. After more than a year on depakote I was switched to lamictal and it has been a godsend, I really have no bad issues and am very pleased with it.. I hope it works for you, best wishes....

Trazadone when used as a sleep aid in small dosages has no antidepressant effect.

Lamictal for me has been a good med , No side effects at all good mood stabilizer. As Tucson say in low dose trazadone is not working as an AD, more so as a sleep aide.

Bipolar cant be fixed with just with medications , Therapy is very helpful and learning all the coping skills you can and healthy lifestyle plays a huge part in staying stable as much as possible.

Welcome to PC

Hi ! Lamictal didn't do anything, at all, for me, so I stopped taking it. Trazodone initially worked very well for me as a sleep aid, but I've now developed a tolerance to it, so it doesn't do anything for me.

Thank you all! I also see a therapist which has also helped

So what does this drug make you feel like?

Lamictal for me pretty much feels like I'm on nothing, seems quite common with this drug. I'm actually wondering if it's doing anything for me at the moment. Not sure if I need to up my dosage or change meds hmmm. Keep a mood chart and see how you go.

Hi there, I'm on week three of Lamictal and just went up to 100mg tonight. Right after I started taking it, my depression levels just suddenly tanked (I started keeping track of my moods using a free iPad app called "Optimism" when I got dx'd last month with BD), but it's unclear if that was because of starting Lamictal or just my depression suddenly just getting worse. I noticed my anxiety levels also increased significantly at the same time, but my pdoc said it was "possible but unlikely" that it was from the Lamictal. The therapeutic dose is 200mg, so I'm hoping I start to feel something better once I get up to that...I've been in a depressive episode more or less for a year and nine months now. A lot of people have said Lamictal works great for them, so I hope it does for you too. Good luck!

Lamictal is the Best thing that has happened to my family.

I'm on lamictal. I definitely notice when I am off of it.

Is it normal to feel hyper from it???

Lamictal is amazing. I've been on tegretol, depakote and gabapentin over the years and lamictal has had the least side effects and has been the most consistently effective. I've been on it a year now after a surgery changed the paradigm of my condition. I've had no significant side effects but the medication has been adjusted (once up, once down) a little here and there but that comes with the territory.

Lamictal is usually a bit more of a down type mood stabilizer. . There's only one out (that I know of) right now that is kind of a up type mood stabilizer. . Probably just the starting out period.. give it 3.. really 5 weeks to settle in

Lamictal is also a prophylaxis for mood swings.

And it should help with irritability? I feel like it's already working and I start 2 pills on Tuesday

Loophole. Will it make me feel zombie like? I would like to keep a little personality lol

I am on lamictal and I really like it. I am not on a high dose. I am also on lexapro and zolpidem.

I am in therapy and that, along with enough sleep helps me the most.

Lamictal is the best thing to happen to me. Just be careful, as you may know, if you get a rash you need to stop taking it asap.

I don't feel a personality difference from taking Lamictal - actually I don't feel it at all. I think of Lamictal like a safety net. When my mood starts to drop, the med keeps me from falling deep in the rabbit hole. I usually feel like a zombie on those days but it's not because of the meds - it's my sad mood being caught by the net. It feels like being "in limbo" and that can make me feel like bit of a zombie.

Good luck on the meds

Speaking for myself irritability is tied to my mood, stabilizing my mood helped out. I haven't had zombie effect either. I'm prone to hypomania and it's more effective when depressive episodes are dominant, but not unipolar in nature. It means I have to be honest with the doc and report the hypomania so things can be adjusted accordingly. I take other stuff in conjunction and compared to depakote or tegratol the side effects have been nominal. I've been on it a year now.

I'm hoping soon that it could help with my racing thoughts. The trazadone helps get me tire enough that I can trick myself in to falling asleep. But as soon as the baba by gets up to eat at 5 a.m, I can't go back to sleep

I love Lamictal! I am on 150mg and it has evened me out so much. My angry outburst have declined by at lest 90% and my mood is very stable, but I still feel all the normal emotions (happy, sad, hurt, excited, etc). It makes me very tired so I take it at night. I am also on wellbutrin as an antidepressant, but also as a kind of energy boost. I take Prozac and have for years alone and when I started seeing my pdoc she kept me on it, but not sure why. I take .5 xanax at night for sleep.

I had very bad post partem depression with my first (she is now 15). It was a rough time but thankfully I have an amazing husband who took up the slack when I couldn't. It did get better, and when I had my son 2 years later I was fine after (well, as fine as I ever am

I wish I were able to take Lamictal because I've heard so many good things. But after just 3 days on 25 mg my legs and one foot became very swollen. That's a very rare, but apparently dangerous, side effect.
I did notice a lot of itching from day one, but I didn't worry about it. The edema thing caught me off guard.

Sorry if I missed anything in between just replying to the post.. it won't make you feel like a zombie... for me it's been the best med I've taken for bipolar bar none... while I've been in therapy for 3 years and have learned self help the lamictal helped to "take that sharp edge off".. the edge is still there but it's not as sharp now... hard to explain.. but i give it credit as it was a huge help in saving marriage 3 years ago.. I've gained some self control... it's not perfect but it's necessary for me.. very