[sunnydisposition]

For my Bipolar 2, I'm taking a mood stabiliser Trileptal 600 mg, an anti depressant wellbutrin 150mg, nonetheless my depression is still flaring up into a full blown incidence.

I'm gonna ask my pdoc to put me on Lamotrigine as i understand its FDA approved for treating Bipolar, especially type 2 depression. Would switching to Lamotrigine be enough to treat depression, or should i consider adding another antidepressant to my drug regimen? Im still going to continue taking wellbutrin.

Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated.

[wiretwister]

lamotrigine has worked very well for me ..... hope you find your answer ...

[Wild Coyote]

Everyone's experience with meds is so different, it's hard to say what would work for you.

It may be possible to increase your Wellbutrin, only with your prescribing doc's say so though.

On the other hand, lamotrigine and bupropion (Wellbutrin) may work well.

My depression is very resistant to treatment. I take Latuda and Wellbutrin for the depression. I wonder if/when I will get either better or less of a response. I am 30 years into treatment and many meds no longer work at all.

Although I am impressed by Latuda (in my own experience), I am very dismayed with the cost. I may have to stop Latuda just because the co-pays are outrageous! (Hundreds of dollars a month for co-pays. Thousands without co-pays/coverage.) What good is a drug if the population in need cannot afford the drug?

Definitely do a good, solid trial of affordable med combinations first!


WC

Originally Posted by Ravdeep Singh

...Would switching to Lamotrigine be enough to treat depression, or should i consider adding another antidepressant to my drug regimen? Im still going to continue taking wellbutrin.

Any advice you can offer would be much appreciated.

Adding lamotrigine might do the trick. Personally, I'd try that before adding a second antidepressant.

What does your Pdoc think?

(If you end up trying more than one thing, try one thing at a time. Making more than one change at a time makes it impossible to know what's causing what, whether it be a positive effect or a negative one. Seems common sense, but you'd be surprised how often it's done.)

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Innerzone

Adding lamotrigine might do the trick. Personally, I'd try that before adding a second antidepressant.

What does your Pdoc think?

(If you end up trying more than one thing, try one thing at a time. Making more than one change at a time makes it impossible to know what's causing what, whether it be a positive effect or a negative one. Seems common sense, but you'd be surprised how often it's done.)

Good luck!

My docs have tried to start me on more than one med at a time and I've said "with my history of side effects, we must try only one new med at a time". They have been understanding and accommodating thank goodness.

[JustJace2u]

I just started taking Lamotrigine about a month ago. I know sometimes it can take awhile for things to really take effect, but I do feel at least somewhat better. Also, I'm taking Bupropion (Wellbutrin) but that has been decreased from 300mg to 150mg, whereas my Lamotrigine has been increased from 50mg to 100mg. It's all trial and error it seems. And like someone else said, what works for me may not necessarily work for you or someone else.

[Wander]

Sorry you are depressed. It can be difficult to treat for us BP's. Lamotrigine is a good one to try. it helps a lot of people. An extra AD could help if lamotrigine doesn't work. I am BP so AD's mess with me, Lamotrigine and Latuda didn't help either so I fear getting major depression again. I hope you and your pdoc can find something that helps. Good luck!

[still_crazy]

lamictal does help a lot of people. you could see about increasing the wellbutrin. I take 400mgs/wellbutrin daily, in the sr, 2x daily version.

provigil, nuvigil, ritalin. adding an ssri or remeron.

Hope you find something that helps you.

[Moreta]

I'm on lamictal, but what I really think helps with my depression is carbamazapine. You shouldn't add it though if you're already on trileptal. Trileptal is the newer version of carbamazapine, and you don't need to do blood tests with it, if i remember correctly. The lamictal titration is very slow, so it'll be a while before you see results. Usually when people get up to around 150 mg they start feeling something. The big thing to watch about lamictal is that you can develop a serious rash if you go up too fast on it. Most of the time people don't get a rash, but always be on the lookout for it. The first time I was on lamictal I got some kind of rash, so they took me off it, but I'm pretty sure it was from changing laundry detergent. This time I've gotten no rash. Have been on it since 2010 with no issues except having a swiss cheese memory. I've gone up to 400 mg for the longest time. Now I'm on 200 mg and my brain seems to be working a bit better.

Like other people said, meds work diff for everyone. If you want more info about meds check out the crazymeds website.